Dear Senators Mike Fasano and Don Gaetz,

I can only hope that you fell for the same false promises by the same people as Senator Paula Dockery when she initially sponsored S 398 (Companion bill to H115) when you decided to sponsor this totally ill-advised bill. Please note that your bill is listed with: Compare CS/H 0115. Senator Dockery withdrew her companion bill three days after she was advised about the many downsides of this bill, which is outright anti-homeowner.

With all due respect, the complete bill S1196 contains only one owner-friendly provision, not considering some provisions that are repeats from other owner-friendly bills like H419/H561 and S864/S1222.

The provision disallowing developers to levy special assessments without owners’ approval (Lines 1824 – 1832) is really the only provision in the whole bill that can be considered owner-friendly. It is commendable, but falls way short of protecting owners, who bought in good faith into newly developed HOAs, against bankrupt developers and/or communities with bankrupt developers.

I hope you are aware that the wording of some of the provisions in the bill does exactly the opposite of what the headline promises (Example: Compensation Prohibited [FS 720.303(12)]). The HOA election language added to the existing language will confuse election procedures even more, allowing more shenanigans of the sitting board.

The real solution for this serious problem is so easy: Just use the proven election and eligibility language of FS 718 [Condo Act]. That would create fair elections.

To be very honest, the whole bill does absolutely nothing but create more problems for owners living in Florida ’s community associations, and should quickly be withdrawn -- like S398. As you can see from the attached summary with comments, there is really nothing worth discussing any further.]

If the special interest attorneys who are behind this bill feel that they and community association managers deserve to make even more money and should be allowed to fleece owners even more, the money should come from other sources than owners living in community associations, who are already in serious financial distress caused by a system that surely doesn’t serve these owners.

If you read the latest OPPAGA HOA REPORT you will read that the Florida legislature neglected more than 5 million citizens living in Florida ’s mandatory homeowners’ associations (HOAs). The report speaks for itself and should finally get the attention of our legislators who we elected to represent our interest. Florida ’s owners living in HOAs really need help. These families were left to fend for themselves, unprotected against fraud, scams and embezzlement. The false promises which lured these owners into these communities have come back to haunt them and seriously endanger the financial welfare of many of these families, especially retirees.

The bad economy and the “dead” real estate market have clearly shown the total downfall of this system called Community Association.

I beg you to do the right thing and withdraw this bill, like Senator Paula Dockery withdrew S398. It would be the right thing to do, if you really feel that you are serving your constituents who elected you into office!