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DISASTER FOR Governor Charlie Crist signed S 1196
into law. |
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An
Opinion By Jan Bergemann Published June 2, 2010
What
a disaster for I
just hope that the board members who so eagerly supported S1196 will
realize pretty soon that they have been had when their accounts are
depleted and owners can’t pay any more special assessments and/or due
increases. Hopefully
you will realize one day that by supporting the bill you agreed to pay for
maintaining the units under foreclosure -- which are actually the bank's collateral. But until the foreclosure is final – which can last
2 or 3 years -- all the owners have to pay for the upkeep of these units.
By the way the bill grants you 1% of the initial mortgage after
foreclosure to be paid by the bank. You
may not have to install sprinkler systems and fire alarms, but you also
have to pray that there will be no serious fire in your condo and some of
your old frail neighbors burn to death caused by the lack of a sprinkler
system and fire alarms. The
installation of sprinkler systems was anyway only due in December of 2014.
Quite
a few of the community associations will not live to see that date because
they are broke before, unable to pay the utility bills, causing the health
department to red-tag the building. Lots
of associations have already used the reserve funds to pay the daily bills
-- and reserve funds are running low in many communities. Signing
S1196 into law will mean that you will not see in the near future any
legislation that will help you with paying the bills, holding the lending
industry responsible for the damage they did to our community association.
Paying legislators like Ellyn Bogdanoff paid off for them. Many
homeowners and condo owners have to switch to survival mode in order to
keep their homes. Especially
homeowners living in HOAs have ways to fight for survival. The owners who
are still paying can get together and make the association toothless. They
can change the governing documents, making sure they are only liable for
payment of a few utility and landscaping bills.
There
are ways to circumvent the statutes. Nobody can force you to pay for the
upkeep of your neighbor’s property. It may not always look nice, but
it’s better than sleeping under the bridge. None
of it will help you getting more money in the coffers. Actually, it only
forces you to spend money you don’t recover in most cases. During
the month of June we will publish suggestions for surviving S 1196 and its
provisions – or the lack thereof. Don’t
lose your home because of bad legislation! Learn how to defeat the system
that will force you to pay for homes and units you don’t own – and you
are not legally responsible for! The
time has come to fight for your home – and financial survival of your
family. And
don’t believe the “property values fairy tale.” If your association
is broke and can’t pay its utility bills you will lose your home, no
matter if you paid all you maintenance dues, your mortgage and your
private utility bills! You will be added to the growing number of families
who lost their homes courtesy of the community association system! You
all need to help yourself, because the legislature failed to help you! You
need to fight the system before the system destroys you and your family! In case you find out that the bill really doesn't help you and does more harm than good as predicted by us, here are the folks you need to send your THANK-YOU letter to -- list according to Donna Berger:
Donna Berger, Esq. (CAN) Law firm of Katzman Garfinkel & Berger The proud board members working with CAN
Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff Representative Matt Hudson Senator Mike Fasano Senator Jeremy Ring
These are the proud legislators who sold lives, health, safety and financial welfare of the owners to special interest -- and will cause many families to lose their homes!
And if that bill is positive I really wouldn't like to see what Donna Berger considers negative! |