Article Courtesy of The St. Petersburg Times

By ANDREW SKERRITT

Published May 26, 2006

The meeting rooms at Heritage Lakes adult community in New Port Richey are usually pretty busy. But this week, there was an extra urgency when the homeowner and condo association members convened. Folks were frustrated and angry.

You've heard all the talk about Citizens Property Insurance, the state's insurer of last resort, becoming the only (and very expensive) option for many homeowners. At places like Heritage Lakes, the bill has come due. And the retirees are scrambling to write the check.

The story of Barbara Theuringer and her neighbors in Cambridge Commons is typical of what's happening.

As part of their monthly maintenance fees, Theuringer and her fellow condo owners must pay for insurance to cover the roofs and outside walls of the 47 attached units. Last year, Allstate covered them for $16,000. But two months ago, the insurer sent a Dear Barb letter.

Enter Citizens and the new premiums: $73,000.

"How can you go from $16,000 to $70,000?" asked Theuringer, 75, president of the 47-member association. "We are not a fancy place."

Thirteen years ago, Theuringer and her husband, Fred, sold their house in Dunedin and moved to the 55 and over community for what was supposed to be worry-free and maintenance-free living. Insurance has shattered that illusion.

Theuringer and her condo board will have to charge each member a $1,500 assessment to pay the premiums. That's especially burdensome for the retirees, even if each condo owner has three months to pay.

Meanwhile, the insurance company doesn't give the condo association much flexibility. The entire premium must be paid upfront, so the association is thinking about getting a short-term bank loan.

And that's only the beginning. This fall, the association will have to hike maintenance fees by more than $100 a month in anticipation of even higher Citizens premiums next year.

With all the bad news, small wonder that we've heard rumblings about condo folks organizing politically and thinking about leaving Florida.

When I visited Heritage Lakes, I heard talk of people moving to South Carolina or Georgia, where they could enjoy the seasons and the winters are bearable. Taxes are pretty low, and insurance - without sinkholes and hurricanes to drive up the premiums - is relatively affordable.

Others are thinking about moving into rental apartments to avoid the hassle. But first they'd have to sell their units. Higher insurance premiums and higher maintenance fees make those condos less attractive to new buyers.

So far, these folks are doing nothing more radical than sending earnest pleas to anyone with a title and an address: Gov. Jeb Bush, state Rep. John Legg, state Sen. Mike Fasano, who lives in Heritage Lakes with his mom.

They shouldn't expect immediate help. Legislators knew about this problem before they went to Tallahassee for the session this spring. What we got instead was a sinkhole bill ostensibly designed to discourage fraud among homeowners. There was also a bill for a partial bailout of Citizens. The real citizens got no relief from runaway premiums.

Some, including Democrats and Republican Sen. Fasano, are calling for a special legislative session to curb the spiking premiums. But in an election year, that seems unlikely.

Meanwhile, in clubhouses around Florida much like the one at Heritage Lakes, the rumbling grows louder.