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CONDO OWNER – WANT TO SAVE YOUR HOME?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published September 27, 2024
The media is permanently reporting about condo-owners
complaining about the financial impact of the
CONDO SAFETY BILL HB 1021. We hear stories from owners
complaining about huge special assessments needed in order to
pay for the structural repairs needed according to engineering
reports. Many of these owners are trying to blame the
legislators for enacting such a bill, but they seem to forget
that they only have to look in the mirror to see the guilty
party: The Owners!
Let’s make it very clear that buildings requiring serious
repairs have been badly maintained over the years and, if there
is no money in the reserve funds to pay for these repairs, it’s
obvious that the owners voted down fully funded reserves year
for year. These owners kept the monthly maintenance fees
artificially low and will now be paying the price.
We hear talks about giving these condo owners low-interest or
no-interest loans to pay for these special assessments, but how
good will that be if these same owners will be
unable to afford the much increased
monthly maintenance fees in the future?
Condo owners have to make decisions after seeing the latest
Milestone Inspection reports, the estimates for required repairs
and the SIRS (Structural Integrity Reserve Study) for their
building. Then they should ask themselves the question: Can we
afford to continue to live in our homes? Can we afford to pay
for all the much increased cost of living in our home?
If the answer is NO – you might want to talk to all your
neighbors and check if there is a consensus that living in this
building is no longer affordable for a wide majority of owners.
Get together and see if there is a developer willing to pay a
good price for the property. It might be a much better solution
than trying to sell your unit on a market that has turned sour.
If the answer is YES – you might want to take precautions
to protect your home against hostile takeover.
Remember: Developers are looking for old buildings with serious
repair issues in order to tear down the building and build
high-priced, hi-rise condo buildings on the valuable land. And
their methods to achieve these goals are not always above board.
We have seen in the past developers using sinister ways to get a
majority of votes in the association and take over the board.
Make sure your governing docs don’t allow buyers buying multiple
units – or that the docs restrict to ownership of maximum two
units. Be careful about family members, nephews, nieces and
friends buying units en masse.
It takes paying attention on sales movements, but it’s
definitely worth the effort if you like your home and want to
stay in it.
Because if you and your neighbors allow a developer to own more
of 51% of the voting rights of the association, you can more or
less count on losing your home. The developer now rules the
board and will levy special assessments – necessary or not –
with the single goal to break you financially and force you to
sell – or foreclose on your home for non-payment of the latest
special assessment.
So, if you feel that you can afford to live in your home and
want to stay there, make sure that you don’t fall prey to
hostile takeover.
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community associations. |
He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website:
http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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