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Article
Courtesy of Sun Sentinel
By Joe
Kollin
Published March
21, 2007
Sometimes
a little common sense is just as important as laws, bylaws, rules and
regulations in running communities controlled by condo and homeowner
associations.
Consider these recent actions by boards in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Readers say they don't like what their boards did and would like to object but
are afraid of the repercussions if they do.
Vindictiveness is a common fear, especially in condos. Last year, state Rep.
Julio Robaina, R-Miami, and then-state condo Ombudsman Virgil Rizzo attempted
to get laws passed making it illegal to abuse owners, especially the elderly.
They also sought a law to discourage boards from suing owners who exercise
their right to complain to a government agency about their associations'
actions.
Neither law passed, and no similar bill has been proposed so far this year. So
many owners remain hesitant to speak out.
How would you respond if you were a director?
Ever since a Margate complex was built decades ago, there have been barbecue
pits behind the clubhouse. Few residents ever used them; many didn't know they
existed.
Now, some owners want the association to build more accessible pits closer to
their buildings. But not everyone agrees.
Two residents say they object. They don't want the smoke and litter. They fear
being ostracized if they speak out.
A Boynton Beach homeowner association recently assessed each household $1,500
to refurbish the social hall. Now, the board won't let owners use it for
routine events, saying it should be used only for parties the board officially
sanctions.
"Are 30 or 40 residents being unreasonable in requesting usage of the
social hall on an available evening to watch a DVD, bring in pizza or other
food, use our kitchen appliances for warming food and use the fridge?"
asks one resident. "We are willing to accept responsibility for the usage
and would even provide a security deposit."
He adds, "Some of our residents are also fully trained in the use of all
social hall equipment and appliances."
A Wellington-area homeowner association recently had a private company take
over operation of the clubhouse snack bar. The board assessed each of the
hundreds of homeowners $27 a month to give the snack bar operator.
In return, owners can use the $27 as credit, either at the snack bar or at the
operator's restaurant in a nearby shopping center.
An owner objects, calling it the "forced purchase of a debit card"
that makes it "mandatory to purchase food." He wants the board to
end the assessment.
At a Fort Lauderdale condo, the president placed four cameras in the pool
area. Each camera could turn 360 degrees and zoom in for close-ups. A couple
of residents called them "spy-type cameras" and demanded their
removal.
The president agreed to remove three, leaving one for security. He monitors it
from his personal computer.
"We feel it's an invasion of privacy," says an owner. "It isn't
right for him to be able to sit at home or at work and zoom in on [women] at
the pool."
The owners who initially protested continue to object and say many others also
do. But all are afraid to be identified for fear of getting on the president's
bad side, one owner says.
This is a building with younger, upscale working people.
Q&A
Q. A condo owner in the Lighthouse Point-Hillsboro Beach area notes many
buyers financed their homes at 100 percent when the market was hot. Now, they
can't pay their mortgages and assessments and are walking away from their
units. Associations then foreclose for back assessments and take possession.
The reader says several directors want to foreclose because they believe their
associations will get the units free and clear. "That's not right, is
it?" the reader asks. "Foreclosing for assessments doesn't blow the
mortgage, does it?"
A. Responds Chase Adams, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who specializes in
planning financial strategies for clients: "You are right. It will be
difficult, if not impossible, to find a first mortgage written that would
permit any other lien holder to get priority in a foreclosure."
Whether the bank or the association forecloses, the mortgage is the first
thing to be paid from the proceeds.
"A bank can foreclose without paying the association, but an association
cannot foreclose without paying the bank," he says.
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