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Article
Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By
Joe Kollin
Published May 24, 2005
Homeowners
still face foreclosure even if they owe their association $25.
Directors of condominium and homeowners associations are still not required to
learn the law before spending owners' money.
The state still can't regulate homeowners associations or provide an ombudsman
to mediate their disputes, as it does for condo owners.
This year's battle in the state Legislature featured those who want state law
changed to make boards more responsible to owners and those who oppose change.
When the session ended in Tallahassee on May 8, almost everything remained the
same as it was before it began in March.
"The lobby for condo owners seeking change wasn't as strong as the lobby
opposing change," said Dr. Virgil Rizzo of Fort Lauderdale, the condo
ombudsman. "The Legislature also didn't have clear direction from the
public as to how to handle the proposals."
Last year, a grassroots effort led by the influential St. Augustine-based
Cyber Citizens for Justice and supported by Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, led
to major changes in condo and homeowner law. They included creation of the
ombudsman to help condo owners and a ban on homeowners associations
foreclosing when owners disobey rules, such as painting their mailbox the
wrong color.
But this year, Cyber Citizens and Robaina ran head-on into the well-funded
opposition by the Community Association Leadership Lobby, or CALL. Part of the
Fort Lauderdale-based Becker & Poliakoff law firm that represents 4,000
associations in Florida, CALL even chartered a plane that took association
directors to Tallahassee on March 30 to oppose the proposed changes to condo
and homeowner law.
Both sides, already planning for next year, indicated on Monday that they may
try to avoid the animosity and vindictiveness that marked this year's
legislative battle.
Donna Berger, the Becker & Poliakoff lawyer who serves as CALL's executive
director, said she is willing to sit down with Robaina and find a middle
ground that could "result in a win-win for everyone."
Jan Bergemann, president of Cyber Citizens, is also willing to talk.
"People should sit together and find reasonable solutions,"
Bergemann said. "We would, if they are willing."
Robaina, meanwhile, plans to ask the House leadership to create a task force
to help make the state agency that is supposed to regulate condos more
effective so next year it can be given the added task of regulating homeowners
associations.
For
more information, visit the Cyber Citizens for Justice and the Community
Association Leadership Lobby Web sites at www.ccfj.net
and www.callbp.com
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