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Article Courtesy of The Orlando
Sentinel
By Dan
Tracy
Published
March 30, 2011
Orlando building inspectors are expected to swoop into
a collection of crumbling condos near Interstate 4 today to determine
whether the damage is so extensive that residents need to leave.
Catalina Isles in west Orlando has been plagued by leaky pipes, roofs and
windows since it was converted from apartments to condominiums four years
ago during the height of the real-estate boom.
Many of the residents are elderly and poor and were brought into the
89-unit complex by the previous owner through a complicated
reverse-mortgage deal backed by the federal government. The community's
problems were featured in an Orlando Sentinel report in December.
"They don't fix anything around here," said Christine Morris, a
72-year-old retired hospital housekeeper. "They have a lot to do, and
they need to do it."
Morris has rainwater seeping through a hole in the roof of her
second-floor condo, an open cooler collecting the drops and keeping them
from ruining the floor.
She is happy to have the city look at her home, saying, "They need to
come in here and check it because it's pretty bad."
Mike Rhodes, who runs Orlando's code-enforcement department, said six or
more inspectors will fan out to check the nine two-story buildings inside
and out.
The review could take a week to complete, Rhodes said. He is working with
Orlando City Commissioner Sam Ings, whose district includes Catalina
Isles.
"We need to see some assessments of the units there and what
condition they are really in," Ings said.
Neither Ings nor Rhodes could predict what they might find or decide to
do, but they stressed that if individual condos or buildings are
condemned, residents would have to move. Rhodes said the city would offer
assistance but did not offer specifics.
The former owner of Catalina Isles, Angel Lage of South Florida, has said
he has no responsibility for the place because he does not have a
financial stake in it any more. He said he lost money on Catalina Isles
and owners such as Morris are responsible for repairs.
But Morris, like many of her fellow residents, said she does not have any
extra money. They bought into the place by borrowing money from Lage's
mortgage company. He then helped the buyers get what's known as reverse
mortgages from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Proceeds from those HUD-supported home loans paid off the mortgages Lage
initially made.
Reverse mortgages allow owners to live in their homes mortgage-free for
life. But reverse mortgages only work if the unit is worth more than the
mortgage. That is not the case in Catalina Isles.
Units once valued at nearly $200,000 now are listed as worth $8,900 to
$15,250 on the tax rolls.
HUD is on the hook for $3.5 million in loans for 28 condos worth $317,650
on the tax rolls. The agency is investigating the situation, but HUD
officials have declined further comment.
Condo
nightmare: As units fall apart, taxpayers may get hit with huge bill
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