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PROTECT YOUR HOME: WITH KNOWLEDGE!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
October 16, 2015
Since the Florida Legislature added
“EDUCATION” requirements into the community Association
Statutes, the number of condo and homeowners attending the free
seminars by DBPR approved education providers is growing by the
day.
Make no mistake: How can someone serve
as an effective board member if he/she doesn’t know how to deal
with the problems of daily association life?
Remember: These community associations are built upon contract
law, meaning statutes, rules and procedures have to be followed
without fail.
Even as a regular owner you should
visit these seminars in order to be able to realize whether your
board is following the laws and rules – and isn’t wasting your
money.
We read a lot about cases where board
members and managers are accused of embezzling – or outright
stealing – association funds. I can assure you: A lot more money
is lost in associations through the stupidity of incompetent
board members than through embezzlement.
I’m dealing in the moment with a board
president who has said more than once: “I’m not interested in
the Florida statutes.” I doubt he has ever read them, because he
violates them on a daily basis. I guess he rather learns the
hard way – through litigation – instead of attending a seminar
to get a basic knowledge of what’s right or wrong.
No matter what, board member or
property owner, you should attend such seminar in order to
protect your investment – YOUR HOME!
Make sure you know what’s going on in
your community, before getting a letter in the mail announcing
that your board levied a special assessment to be paid within
thirty (30) days. Many of these special assessments are caused
by mistakes caused by boards, starting with the lack of reserve
funds. Once you get the letter is normally too late to do
anything about the special assessment, short of writing the
check. If you don’t pay, you and your family will be soon kicked
out of your home.
I think it’s of utmost importance to
learn what these community associations are all about! Otherwise
you may lose the biggest investment you may have made in your
life: YOUR HOME!
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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
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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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