Article Courtesy of News 13
By Stephanie Bechara
Published January 13, 2016
Some Poinciana residents say they’re being unfairly represented by their
homeowner’s association; now they've filed a lawsuit against the HOA.
Friends of Poinciana Villages (FOPV), is an organized group of residents who are
suing their homeowner’s association, developer AV Homes, and the association for
Village One.
“The people who are members of FOPV feel
that the homeowner's association is not representing their
interests in the community,” said Keith Laytham, press secretary
for FOPV.
The HOA is known as the Association of Poinciana Villages or APV.
Residents claim that laws have been broken, such as not
completing timely audits or improperly bidding out contracts.
Tom Slaten, the attorney representing APV, says that’s not true.
“The complaint that the audit was late and then the general
allegation that the major million dollar project or the $4
million facilities project should’ve been cast out to bid, but
it was," said Slaten. "So they’re mistaken on pretty much
everything that they’ve alleged.” |
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Friends of Poinciana Villages (FOPV), is an organized group of residents
who are suing their homeowner’s association, developer AV Homes, and the
association for Village One.
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Laytham says it doesn’t stop there. He claims the president and vice president
of the Village One unit of the APV were recently kicked out for having opposing
views.
“If you’re a member of the board of directors, you’re supposed to be a rubber
stamp figurehead for the developer and that if you do anything in opposition to
that, your time on the board will be limited,” said Laytham.
In the lawsuit, FOPV is asking the court to stop all APV meetings and elections.
Jennifer Englert, the attorney representing FOPV, said that because they have
asked them to mediate, they have offered to mediate and are waiting to hear
back.
"The main issue is the election that is coming up and we want it to be a fair
election. So we’re hoping that will be held off until we can have further
discussions, if they’re really serious about helping the community,” said
Englert.
“This community and this board and this management company have been very
transparent. We are hiding nothing, we have an open door policy,” said Dottie
McStay, part of the executive board for APV.
McStay said they’ve always welcomed questions and feedback from the residents
and added that things could’ve been talked over before getting this far. |