|
DANGEROUS CONTRACTS –
GREAT KICKBACKS!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
May 16, 2014
Most board members clearly lack the necessary
knowledge to read between the lines of contracts – and that’s
where the real important clauses are hidden. Lots of these board
members clearly lack the business savvy to understand the
provisions seen in small-print on the last few pages of the
contracts.
In recent months I have seen boards voting to
sign management contracts based on the quoted cost on page 1,
claiming that it’s the least expensive contract. They didn’t
look as far as page 5 or 6 where all the extra charges were
listed, making this contract in reality even more expensive than
the all-inclusive price listed on another contract.
Beware of the little tricks hidden in
contract proposals.
As you all know, I’m favoring saving attorney’s fees – if
possible. But these kind of contracts should be seen by an
attorney, before the contract is signed. Once the contract is
signed – that’s it! You fell into the traps set by the attorney
who worded the contract in the first place.
Another very important issue: The length of
the contract and the termination clauses. Let’s be very honest:
Anybody signing a “forever” contract must not be playing with a
full deck. All contracts, including contracts for cable service
and washing machines, should only be signed for short-term
periods. You can always prolong the contract, but you normally
have to pay huge penalties to get out of a contract early. If
your cable provider makes a fuss over you only being willing to
sign a short-term contract – go elsewhere. There are other cable
companies who will only be too happy to do business with you.
And technology improves faster than you can read a contract.
Many owners like to have their own cable service – to have a
contract with programming they like. In latest a few years most
TV and Internet services will be available without wire – just
with Wifi and WLan. Why signing long-term contracts that maybe
outdated in a year or two?
For me there are only two explanations for
board members signing long-term cable contracts:
-
The board members are inexperienced and
don’t know what they are doing – or
-
The temptation of offered kickbacks got
the better of them!
|
|
 |
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
!
|
