House bill aims at condo boards

Article Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post

By Meghan Meyer

Published April 14, 2005

A state House committee Wednesday passed a scaled-back version of a bill that would have imposed stricter regulations on homeowners associations.

Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, filed HB 1229 to fix what he said is a flawed system that gives too much power to overzealous boards, such as the one in Jupiter that fined a resident for flying a large American flag on his front lawn.

On Wednesday, the Civil Justice Committee passed a substitute bill that didn't mention homeowners associations.

What's left deals only with condominium associations, already regulated by the state.

They would be required to keep a minimum amount of money in reserve accounts, limit board members to one term, and provide enough parking for guests.

Two more committees will review the bill before it sees the House floor.

Robaina watered down the bill because of criticism of the department that regulates condominiums.

A draft report from the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability released a few weeks ago said the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's condo program does not resolve complaints quickly enough, and when it does respond, it sends only informational and warning letters instead of taking stronger enforcement action such as levying fines.

The office will release its final report in a couple of weeks.

"The committee members said there are major problems with the department that regulates condos," Robaina said. "They did not want to give the department additional responsibility of regulating homeowners associations."

Robaina plans to create a task force that would work over the summer to reform the condo division so it can eventually regulate homeowners associations, he said. He plans to file another bill in November.

Homeowners who supported the bill agreed that it wouldn't do any good to give more authority to an agency that's already bogged down.

"It's a very good decision and will help us all in the long run," said St. Augustine resident Jan Bergemann, who founded the group Cyber Citizens for Justice after a dispute with his homeowners association. "It's sad because homeowners still have nowhere to go."

The bill faced staunch opposition from community association board members and the law firms that represent them. One Hollywood firm, Becker and Poliakoff, which represents 4,000 associations across the state, chartered a jet a few weeks ago to bring about 200 board members to Tallahassee to lobby against the bill.

The bill still needs work, said Becker and Poliakoff attorney Donna Berger, who directs the firm's community association leadership lobby. Aside from one provision that allows associations to use reserve money after catastrophes such as hurricanes, the bill meddles unnecessarily in private affairs, she said.

"Our concern is this alarming trend of government overregulation of private communities," Berger said. "It's something condo owners around the state will continue to fight."