Board erred; condo owners must pay

A West Kendall condo owner wonders where her money is going. The condo association's president says it's going to make up for a past board's money mismanagement.

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.


Kenland Bend recall underway

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