Homeowners boards fear 2 proposed bills

The legislation could make it harder to maintain volunteer boards

and enforce deed restrictions.

Article Courtesy of The St. Petersburg Times

By TIM GRANT and JAMES THORNER
Published April 3, 2005

Two bills that could eventually weaken homeowners associations' ability to keep up their neighborhoods have gotten a hostile reaction from Tampa Bay area associations, including those in Pasco County.

Members of Pasco's Council of Neighborhood Associations, along with a similar organization in Carrollwood, oppose proposed legislation that could make it harder to enforce deed restrictions and maintain volunteer boards.

A Senate bill under consideration would ban condominium association boards from foreclosing on owners who owe less than $2,500 in fees.

A House bill also being debated would require mandatory training for homeowner and condominium association board members, mandatory audits of their books and state regulation of their boards.

Although the Senate bill does not apply to homeowner associations, it's still worrisome for deed restricted communities.

"We fear if this is approved for condos that it will only be a matter of time before it will also be applicable to homeowners associations," said Tom Jones, president of the Carrollwood group, an umbrella for about 40 homeowners associations.

Mel Phillips, head of the Pasco group representing dozens of neighborhoods, agrees. He fears $2,500 is too high a ceiling considering many neighborhoods charge $300 to $500 a year in homeowners dues.

That could force homeowners associations to tolerate more than five years of delinquent payments before taking action against nonpayers, Phillips said. Money used to keep up landscaping and repair clubhouses could disappear.

"It's like a cancer that spreads," Phillips said. "Once one person quits paying and gets away with it, two more don't pay and get away with it. Pretty soon no one pays."

The Senate bill also would prohibit condominium associations from reclaiming attorney fees and court costs, placing the total cost of collection on the association.

Legal fees and court costs often surpass what delinquent homeowners owe during foreclosures. Consequently, the law firm Becker and Poliakoff, which represents about 4,000 homeowners associations, is opposing the legislation.

The Legislature's annual session runs until May 6.

Supporters of the Senate bill (SB 2632) proposed by Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, argue that condo and homeowner associations sometimes abuse lien and foreclosure procedures.

About 26 members of Cyber Citizens for Justice, a St. Augustine-based advocate for home and condo owners, held a rally in Tallahassee last week to support both bills.

"We're going through hell on different issues from flowers to swing sets, dealing with these associations," said Phil Castronova of Lake Worth. "What we have is runaway homeowner associations completely out of whack with the real world."

Jan Bergemann, president of Cyber Citizens, said the group has seen senior citizens lose their homes in foreclosure for failing to pay small sums.

"We are trying to stop the abuses," Bergemann said.

John Miley, a board member in Carrollwood Village Phase II, thinks the horror stories are isolated and best handled through the courts.

"The overwhelming majority of those who live in deed restricted communities support their associations and want to see firm governance by their boards of directors," Miley said.

Phillips cites an example from his own neighborhood, Heritage Springs, a golf course community for retirees in Trinity.

Without the ability to collect $130 a month from homeowners, Heritage Springs couldn't keep up its grand, high-ceilinged clubhouse and well-groomed golf course.

"If the legislation passed it would just ruin us," said Phillips, who has made his fears known to his state senator, Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.

State Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, has proposed the House measure (HB 1229) that would require homeowner associations to fall under the same state supervision that governs condominium associations, and would require board members to be trained.

The House bill would strain state finances, a staff analysis says. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation says there are about 18,500 condominium associations and 14,000 homeowner associations in Florida, each with about five board members.

The state trains 3,000 to 4,000 condominium unit owners and board members at $100 each. Current spending is $500,000. The net additional cost for the first year would be $15.7-million.

In addition, Jones says it could hurt morale in many communities if the state makes training mandatory instead of voluntary.

"To make it mandatory is troublesome to associations that are already having difficulty obtaining volunteers," Jones said.