SENATOR FASANO: LETTER TO EDITOR

Bill will hurt homeowners, communities

 OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR MIKE FASANO

APRIL 7, 2005

Dear Senator Mike Fasano,

With all due respect, I think we seriously differ in our opinions. Your letter to the editor shows clearly where you are coming from. We had our share of discussions before. Your district is well known for having lots of problems regarding associations.

Before the election last year you definitely sang a very different song. Your answer to the question: "2.) Do you believe the Florida Homestead Exemption should protect homeowners and condo-owners from foreclosure by homeowners’ and condo-owners’ associations?" was a clear "YES". Just look at your election questionnaire at CCFJ  website. What a huge difference in your opinion before and after the election!

May I remind you of the disaster in Nature Watch HOA, where 198 families nearly lost their homes due to lack of protection by the state? I know you heard lots of complaints and met with the owners in that community. The actual reason why families lost there life savings, college funds for their kids and retirement money -- and their community still looks like a war zone -- was the fact that they had bought a home in a homeowners' association. After promising them help, you voted against a bill that would have minimum given them some protection. The bill was enacted anyway.

You made sure that attorney Nina Vaznelis was appointed  to the HOA TasK Force in 2003. At the Tampa meeting she made it very clear why she was on that Task Force: To convince the members of the Task Force to revive your bill SB 1632, which had already been vetoed by Governor Jeb Bush, who saw the writing on the wall. The governor had vetoed it for constitutional issues. She brought along speakers, who admitted that they had only one thing in mind -- to create funds to sue the neighbors. Is that in your opinion The American Way? Common sense prevailed and the motion was voted down with only one vote in favor: Nina Vaznelis'. We never saw her again at task force meetings. She sure made a big contribution to the success of the task force. Even the many attorneys on the task force caught the evil of this bill.

Now you are publicly speaking out against protecting owners against foreclosures in your letter to the editor. You even use the words of the service providers -- like attorneys and managers -- and board members. Please check your statements for facts. Quoting presidents of associations may not be the best way to make statements. Sometimes their claims are as well influenced by certain attorneys. And don't forget, often the homeowners don't agree with the presidents of their association. Homeowners in Valrico just recalled their board for foreclosing on neighbors' homes.

You have in your district some attorneys well known for their willingness to create lawsuits and for trying to circumvent the law. They even brag about being friends of yours!  I know that you and your office staff have been visited and called by many concerned citizens. I know one lady presented you with a whole folder of problems. But it seems you like to ignore the problems of your constituents who are coming to you for help. The pleas of quite a few of your constituents obviously fell on deaf ears. 

I had grown up in a time when legislator voted in favor of family values, protecting homes and families, looking after the welfare of retirees and saw to it that especially people in need were protected.

It seems times have changed. You openly side with power, money, lawyers and even foreclosures. Maybe we should go back to the old times, when our Constitution still meant something?  Back then, fines and foreclosures were left to our government, not some neighbors and some money-hungry attorneys! And since our Florida legislature gave these powers to private associations without accountability, our legislature should minimum create the necessary enforcement of existing laws -- not leave it to private citizens to enforce the laws created by the legislators!

Maybe one day we will return to the times when legislators were elected for where they stood on family values, and not the on campaign funds they were able to collect from special interests!

The Senators in California woke up and figured out that foreclosing for small amounts of unpaid association dues is evil. Maybe here in Florida it takes a while longer -- and a few more foreclosures in the headlines?

Hopefully, you can still sleep when the next family in your district gets kicked out of their home for ridiculously small amounts of unpaid assessments!

I think my opinion makes it very clear that we are definitely on two different sides of the fence. Maybe the next time you should do some more research on certain issues before publicly taking a stand or promising the opposite before the election.

Jan Bergemann, President
Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.

Senator Mike Fasano, District 11

Letters to the Editor
Published April 6, 2005

Re: Homeowners board fears two proposed bills, April 3.

Our office has been receiving many calls on a bill that has been filed in the Florida Legislature and reported in your newspaper. Senate Bill 2632 by Sen. Gary Siplin of Orlando, if passed, will have a devastating effect on hundreds of communities in Pasco and throughout Florida.

We were contacted by Mel Phillips, president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, who expressed his grave concerns with the legislation. I agree with Mr. Phillips. This is a bad bill that, if passed, would severely tie the hands of deed restricted communities to collect late dues for maintenance of common areas, thus forcing all other homeowners to pick up the extra costs. As Mr. Phillips has stated, waiting for up to five years to force the collection of dues would have a devastating impact on communities and their homeowners.

While I appreciate the contacts being made to our office against this bill, it is important that people in the grass roots opposition continue by reaching out to other legislators and voicing their opposition. I will work to defeat this proposal and continue to protect the integrity of our local communities.