Article
Courtesy of The Miami Herald
By
YUDY PINEIRO
Published
10-22-2006
West Kendall condo owner Urania Vergara and
neighbors have to pay Kenland Bend North Condominium Association a lump
sum of $5,635 by the end of the month to avoid interest charges.
The money would go toward paying a $1.3
million special assessment the board of directors approved at a Sept. 13
meeting to replenish reserves and scale back on a deficit they have told
homeowners was the result of mismanagement by past board members.
''This board took over a massive financial
mess and a lot of the homeowners don't understand that,'' said Samuel
Persaud, of Persaud Law Group, who represents the new board of directors.
"This board is working to rectify the
problem.''
Some of the money would also pay for
capital improvement projects such as replacing roofs at Kenland, 8800 SW
123rd Ct., according to a letter sent to unit owners dated Sept. 27.
Vergara said she has no problem paying the
amount to fix any issues at the complex, but worries that this board might
be off to a bad start managing the money.
On Aug. 31, Vergara sent the property
management company a letter requesting a copy of the budget detailing the
condominium's finances. She was dumbfounded at the response.
Ricardo Russi, Bonafide Management Group's
community association manager, wrote in a letter dated Sept. 18 that the
association had "not yet approved a budget for 2006.''
Vergara said that does not make sense.
''How can they approve a special assessment
if there isn't a budget? If we don't know what money we're working with,
how can we approve an assessment?'' she asked.
Bill Raphan, assistant state ombudsman,
said that, oddly enough, the Florida Statutes do not set rules for the
timing of special assessments, or finalizing budgets.
''But is it proper? I don't think so,''
Raphan said referring to there being a special assessment without a
budget. He is still looking into the Kenland matter.
Persaud said the answer to Vergara's
questions is simple: The previous board, recalled for mismanagement, made
a mess and the new board is now stuck catching up.
''We couldn't adopt a budget because we
didn't know exactly where we were,'' he said.
He said the special assessment comes in
response to a financial audit completed two months ago, which the past
board neglected to do for three years.
The audit showed the association needed a
special assessment just to reconcile the books, he said.
Persaud
said the budget will not change for 2006 because the year is almost over,
but accountants are working on a 2007 budget, which should be complete by
the time the board meets in December.
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