“From Justice As A Foundation All Rights Flow”

OPEN LETTER TO FLORIDA LEGISLATORS -- GOALS 2007

November 20, 2006

Dear Florida Senators and House Representatives,

You will meet this week for the Organization Session! Florida 's citizens are looking at you for a fresh start with new leadership -- leadership that hopefully learned from the mistakes made in the past. Florida 's property owners just can no longer afford to watch our legislators cater to special interests at the expense of our families!

Florida 's homeowners and condo owners are pleading for your help. We are facing a financial disaster that will cost many owners their homes. Please check the fast-growing numbers of foreclosure procedures and vacated condos. The number will be growing even faster when the snowbirds leave again. Especially many elderly on a fixed income will suffer from the outrageous increases in costs.  Some of those costs are ridiculously high insurance premiums, fast-growing property taxes, special assessments and lawsuits in associations, often caused by mismanagement, lack of enforcement and lack of accountability of the people in charge.

You may already have realized from the results of the elections that many Florida citizens were absolutely unhappy with the lack of achievements of the Florida legislature in the last two years. The spin doctors blamed the results on the Iraq war and scandals in Washington . Think twice -- the reason for the general voting pattern can be found much closer to home.  Financial disaster is written all over the walls!   Florida 's owners are afraid that they can no longer afford their homes.

Just a few examples for voting results that should definitely give you some food for thought:

• The well-financed former Senate President lost by quite a margin to a first- time candidate -- despite the heavy support of the outgoing Governor.
• The House Representative who filed the anti-homeowner CAI/CALL bill in 2005 didn't even survive the primary!
• The well-financed incumbent House Representative who filed in Spring 2006 the anti-homeowner CAI/CALL bill barely survived the election by 621 votes against an unknown opponent who had barely any campaign funds to speak of!

Clearly, this election has shown that campaign funds and fancy commercials alone don't win elections. An incumbent Miami State Senator beat a well-financed challenger who was heavily supported by Governor Bush -- because his constituents voted for him, thanking him for standing up for his constituents' rights in Tallahassee against the Powers That Be! 

During the past two years we have seen a trend in Tallahassee that could only be described as “anti-property owner” -- to be polite! Just a small example: The Advisory Council On Condominiums, created by the legislature in 2004 to propose owner-friendly legislation, was stacked with specialized attorneys by the Tallahassee triumvirate.  At the expense of the condo owners, these specialized attorneys used their positions on the Council to bash the Condo Ombudsman as they pushed proposals that were friendly to service providers! What a total waste of a great idea conceived by great legislative intent!

And we don't even want to start talking about the insurance bill, which wreaked financial havoc for Florida 's property owners.

According to the many conversations and e-mails I’ve received regarding high property taxes, the election results would have even been more devastating for incumbents if the annual property tax bills had arrived in owners' mailboxes BEFORE election day.

As a grassroots organization created to protect Florida’s homeowners and condo owners, Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc. will try to help to enact legislative reforms and will actively pursue the enactment of bills that will:

• Seriously lower the outrageous property insurance premiums that are totally out of reach for many Florida homeowners and condo owners.
• Cut down on the ever-increasing property taxes.
• Enact the Florida version of the AARP Bill of Homeowners’ Rights, bringing more protection to Florida’s homeowners and condo owners, especially enforcement and accountability. (Reforms of Florida Statutes 718, 719, 720, 721 and 723)
• Add pre-purchase disclosure to the Community Development Districts (FS 190) in order to let potential buyers know what financial responsibilities they have to expect when buying into these communities!

These goals may sound very ambitious, but the achievement is desperately needed in order to avoid further damage to the financial welfare of Florida’s families. These goals are surely worth pursuing -- and we hope to find your support and co-sponsorship of these bills to bring peace and financial security back to Florida’s citizens!

You may have already seen the Homeowners’ Bill of Rights, published by the AARP (See: http://www.ccfj.net/HOAbillintro.htm), which aims to protect the owners, especially the elderly on a fixed income, from financial abuses that cost more and more owners their “dream home” in Florida. The number of foreclosures is rapidly growing and if we don’t find solutions fast, we will see soon a steady increase of homeless families! First numbers from Broward and Palm Beach counties prove the point. There is no argument about the necessity of legislative reforms!

Please feel free to contact us at your convenience. We will gladly supply you with more detailed information and answer any questions you may have regarding these matters. We do have extensive background material.

We will gladly discuss these issues with you and hope that we will successfully work together for the welfare of Florida’s citizens.

Warm Regards,

Jan Bergemann , President
Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.
http://www.ccfj.net/

IN ALLIANCE WITH: