Issue: # 50
DECEMBER 19, 2020
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Dear Florida Homeowner and Condo Owners;

 

It's the time of the year again -- time for fighting over Christmas decorations! Nothing new, only all to common with repeats every year. The difference this time: The Pandemic -- also known as the Chinese Virus. It looks like associations don't mind violating the laws in regards to having to hold board meetings in order to levy fines. But boards don't hold the required meetings, but fine away anyway. Does that mean you can violate the laws, but accuse others of violating laws and rules? I think it's just amazing how the Pandemic is being used by all kinds of people to ignore and/or violate laws. One thing should be very clear: A "State of Emergency" doesn't give anybody the right to violate the laws!

 

In case you missed it: Eric had last Sunday the new CONDOOMBUDSMAN SPENCER HENNINGS on his "CondoCraze & HOAs" radio show. Very promising statements made by the new Ombudsman. In case you missed the show, please CLICK HERE.

An HOA in Delray Beach surely got a not-so-nice Hanukkah present from a Federal judge. Their motion to dismiss a serious discrimination lawsuit -- the plaintiff demands $7million in compensation -- was denied and the wording used by the judge in his ruling surely doesn't bode well for the HOA and its members. The judge wrote in his ruling that:" “It is reasonable to infer that the Association acted with discriminatory intent.” I guess it's time for the defendants to reconsider their approach to this lawsuit.

GOLF CURSE should be the real name! No week without a media report about a fight over a golf course. Millions of dollars are being spent on legal fights over golf courses, be it about making membership mandatory, buying an already "bankrupt" golf course from a former developer -- or cleaning up the mess left by a closed golf course. And then the owners, some of them having paid extra money for the "privilege" of living next to "Hole 18" asking the city/county to buy the weeds and make a nice park out of it -- at the expense of everybody else. This will not stop in the near future -- there are still too many golf courses in the State of Florida and less and less people wanting to play golf.

This week we are blogging about the problems caused by the Pandemic in regards to the statutes and rules regulating community associations. But does the "State of Emergency" give boards the rights to ignore and/or even violate the statutes? Please read my blog posted yesterday: "PANDEMIC: RIGHT TO VIOLATE LAWS?"

CLICK ON BANNER TO GO TO THE BLOG WEBSITE:

         
Seven Bridges Delray HOA Board Slapped By Federal Judge
The three-way battle between two homeowners and the Seven Bridges Homeowners Association was just elevated from drama you’d expect to see on “Real Housewives” to a high stakes court case more worthy of COURT-TV. Federal Judge Donald Middlebrooks denied a motion from the Seven Bridges Homeowners Association to dismiss the case brought by homeowner Deorbah LaGrasso, claiming she was discriminated against by the Delray Beach community’s HOA. Among her claims, LaGrasso says she endured discrimination for not being Jewish.
  
Broken pipe soaks 16-story downtown Fort Myers condominium
A pipe burst on the 16th floor of the Pointe Royale Condominiums sending water rushing down each unit on Tuesday afternoon. Gary LaCroix, the president of the Pointe Royale COA board said fire crews were able to remove all the water from the building. He said most of the water damage is from the 6th floor up.
    
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This Week's Topics:

  1. A WILD YEAR IN REVIEW.

  2. POSSIBLE CHANGES FOR NEXT YEAR.

  3. EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL LAWS.

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 New Tampa residents seek mulligan on golf course clean up

 http://www.ccfj.net/HOAFLTRGolfcCleanUp.html  

A golf course owner wants to turn green fairways into brownfields. Ace Golf, owner of the Pebble Creek Golf Course just east of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, is seeking a brownfields designation from Hillsborough County as a precursor to cleaning contaminants from the land and selling it for residential development. If granted, the designation means the property cleanup will be done under the jurisdiction of the county’s Environmental Protection Commission, rather than the state Department of Environmental Protection.

    

A Golf Course Community’s Big Variable for Retirees

http://www.ccfj.net/HOAgenGlfcInv.html   

The dream of many retirees is a home in a golf course community, where connecting a shiny driver with a perfectly dimpled ball on a lush, green fairway is just another day in paradise. But a golf club membership isn’t a given at these communities and sometimes comes with hefty fees. It pays to understand just what exactly you’re getting. Some golf courses may be owned by the community, while others may operate as an entirely independent business.

    
Clearwater condo owners and association at odds over sand and vegetation removal
Cindy Dervech and her neighbors woke up to the sound of workmen and a man in a Bobcat removing sand and vegetation from the Dune field behind the Regatta Beach Club in North Clearwater Beach. "We saw them clearing everything out Monday morning," Dervech said. "This time they went too far." She and more than a dozen of her neighbors reached out to city and state officials looking for answers.
 

North Carolina HOA demands family remove cross from yard, explain connection with Christmas

 http://www.ccfj.net/HOANCCrossFine.html   

A Raleigh homeowners association told one couple that the cross in their front yard was a violation because the symbol shared no connection with Christmas. James Faison and his wife, who have lived in the North Carolina community for five years, put up a 6-foot cross as a Christmas decoration. In response, the local HOA requested that the family take it down as it was not considered a Christmas decoration. Instead, the cross is considered a symbol of Easter or Passover, the HOA said.

 

Wesley Chapel homeowners express concern after HOA sends violation letters

  http://www.ccfj.net/HOAFLFlagDispRes.html  

One local homeowner’s association recently said not so fast to Christmas flags being hung on people’s homes. A couple of homeowners in a Wesley Chapel neighborhood received a letter that said they were in violation of their community’s standards. The homeowners put up Christmas flags on their home in the Larkenheath subdivision, but the HOA said they would have to pay a fine if they didn’t remove the flag because it was not authorized by the HOA.

    

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FAIRNESS IN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS IS OUR GOAL!
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 HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND --
AND STAY HEALTHY!
Jan Bergemann, President

Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.

 1156 Tall Oaks Rd., Deland, FL 32720

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