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“BUSYBODIES”
RUNNING THE SHOW!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
July 11, 2014
Caused
by the apathy of owners, I know a lot of community associations
that are being ruled by “BUSYBODIES,” meaning
board members who need to get a life – instead of trying to
tell their neighbors how to run their lives.
You
find a lot of folks who bath in the light of “power” –
being totally overwhelmed by the power they suddenly experience
as board members.
Most
of them have absolutely no business experience – much needed
for running a community association. As we always say: Knowledge
is power – but power without knowledge is outright dangerous
for the financial welfare of the other members of the community.
Because
of their lack of knowledge they rely on service providers to
tell them what to do, often a very costly learning experience.
Make no mistake: Service providers are in business to make lots
of money – at the expense of the owners of the community.
Neighbors
quickly find out that these “busybody” board members are
outright “dangerous” when they are telling their neighbors
to stand at attention – just because they say so!
If
apathy wouldn’t rule many community associations, these
“busybodies” would be quickly recalled – or voted out at
the next election. But since many owners just don’t want to
get “involved” – these “busybody” board members are
often in power for many years, costing the association members
lots of money.
The
life time of these board members are often prolonged through the
help of the service providers who quickly figured out that a lot
of extra profits can be made as long as these board members are
in power.
“Busybody”
board members also find out quickly that “KICKBACKS” are the
name of the game in Florida’s community associations –
another incentive for these board members to stay in power.
And
with certain attorneys telling these board members that they
don’t have to be afraid of violating the laws – there is no
real enforcement or punishment for violators – you quickly
have a community that is being run by scumbags ignoring the
laws!
They now have been promoted from “BUSYBODIES”
to "DICTATORS!"
Welcome
to a system where apathy of owners allows dictators to come to
power!
Have
you experienced something similar? Let us know how you feel
about it!
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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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