By: MICHAEL PARNELL
Article Courtesy of The News-Leader
Posted November 13, 2003
Condominium associations are quasi-governmental
institutions that act very much like a city council in controlling their
residents.
An Amelia Island resident who seeks reform
of state condo laws believes tyrannical association boards are behind many
of the problems identified by condo residents statewide.
Concerned?
* To read newspaper articles about Florida condominium issues, go to
www.ccfj.net and click
on the banner titled Homeowner and Condo Articles.
* To learn how to make formal complaints about condo association practices,
visit www.state.fl.us/dbpr.
* To learn about condo associations, check out the Community Associations
Institute online at www.ciaonline.org.
* To communicate with Steve Comley about his experiences or complaints,
e-mail [email protected].
* For information about condos, call (800) 226-9101 or e-mail FLS.CustomerService@
dbpr.state.fl.us.
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| But a Florida attorney who represents
condo associations, also a part-time condo resident on Amelia Island, said
most board members are well intentioned. He maintains boards are overregulated
by the state and suggested the bigger problem is that many condo owners
have no idea what they are getting into when they buy.
Steve Comley, who lives with his wife Judy
in Piper Dunes North on Amelia Island Plantation, has filed formal complaints
about his association with the state Division of Florida Land Sales, Condomin-iums
and Mobile Homes. He has alleged his association unfairly limited public
participation in its meetings, failed to keep proper minutes of its actions,
shredded documents and improperly conducted an election to keep his wife
off the board.
The state has investigated Comley's complaints
and has ordered the Piper Dunes North condo association to maintain official
records but has taken no other action.
"(Florida) statutes presume the (condo)
board to be filled by and run by innocent, altruistic neighborhood do-goods,
trying and sometimes failing to follow the rules due to simple naivet,"
Comley wrote to state Rep. Julio Robaina, chair of a new Select Committee
on Condominium Association Governance.
"The reality is that many boards eventually
attract and keep (for long terms) people who hold distinct personal political
agendas. . . . For this personality type, the board position becomes a
private political game, permitting the board member to exercise their personal
grievances and agenda upon the remaining association, letting them make
or initiate changes that weed out 'undesirable' elements (whatever that
may mean for the board member)," he wrote Robaina. |
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Bob Tankel, an attorney for condominium
associations since 1982, said most condo residents don't understand how
powerful their board is. "Most buyers don't read their essential governing
documents when they buy (a condo)," he said.
Condo boards may place restrictions on
residents, including parking, exterior uses, rentals, sales and more, Tankel
said.
Many condo residents are retirees, seeking
to live a "carefree life" and preferring to remain oblivious to the politics
of their association, he said. Others, though, may use their time to focus
on the politics of the condo association.
Many of those who complain about their
condo boards "are disaffected people who for one reason or another can't
achieve their political goals," Tankel said.
Most condo association board members are
altruistic, serving to make their homes better, he said.
"Most directors would walk away from this
job if they thought there were people willing to work as hard as they are,"
he said.
A common complaint is that the state compliance
division that oversees condo regulation does not resolve complaints quickly
or thoroughly. Comley would like to see the division beefed up.
But state regulation of condos "has exploded
in size and complexity," Tankel said.
"In the last 10 or 15 years the legislature
has been responding to constituents and basically micromanaging the condo
industry," he said, questioning the need for additional regulation.
"The vast majority of people who live in
these communities are very happy," Tankel said.
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