Article
Courtesy of Sun-herald.com
By
GREG MARTIN
Published
December 28, 2005
Residents of the 200-unit Lakes Edge condominium complex
in east Port Charlotte each received a white envelope in the mail last month
that has virtually imprisoned them in their units.
The envelopes contained a lien for $522,700, levied
against each unit owner.
The liens were from a contractor, Roberto Loiacona of Port
Charlotte, president of Emergency Restoration Service.
Loiacona was contracted for $2.5 million to clean up
debris and repair damage from Hurricane Charley, which struck in August 2004.
The Lakes Edge Condominium Association is about six months delinquent in paying
him for some of the work, according to Loiacona.
"They ran out of money," he said. "I can't
continue to front the job."
Bill Withington, president of the association's board,
said the association will pay the bill once its insurance company, Allstate,
pays off the association's claim.
In the meantime, owners can't sell their condos until the
liens are lifted. And some residents question whether the board mismanaged the
repair job.
Anger over the liens became so intense at the
association's last board meeting in December that Withington abruptly adjourned
it.
"It turned into a shouting match," he said.
With the association's next meeting tonight, some of the
residents are launching a drive to recall two of the condo association's board
members, according to Gertrude Osborne, one of the association board members not
targeted for recall.
The recall effort targets Withington and association
treasurer Frank Odesso, Osborne said.
The unit owners would get to vote to remove them from
office if 10 percent sign a petition, she said.
"This was a heck of a Christmas card," said
Osborne of the lien notice. "We're trapped here right now. That's the
biggest rub that the people have."
Osborne cited several legal concerns about the board's
actions in a complaint last May to the Florida Department of Business and
Professional Regulation.
The concerns included the fact that several members of the
board met in September 2004 without notifying other board members or residents.
During the meeting, the board levied a $2,000 special assessment against each
unit owner.
The assessment raised some $400,000 that was supposed to
be spent on cleaning up hurricane debris but was instead used to pay the
deductible on the association's insurance policy, Osborne said.
Also, the board hired ERS for a second phase of work
without going out for competitive bids.
The state's Condominium Act, Chapter 718, requires
condominium associations to go out for bids for any contract that exceeds 5
percent of the association's annual budget.
The law also requires association boards to use speaker
phones when members are not available for special meetings.
"There is evidence that the violations appear to have
occurred," wrote DBPR Investigator Cheryl Carson, in a letter to Withington
dated June 28, 2005.
In response, Withington said the decision to hire ERS was
made by two board members in the confusion caused in Charley's wake. The other
three board members were in Connecticut, Michigan and Minnesota, he said.
"We had to make decisions to protect our property and
to eliminate any further damage," he wrote to the DBPR.
"After Hurricane Charley, there was such devastation
in our community, time was of the essence," Withington explained.
"Contractors willing to take on a project of our size were not to be found.
We were fortunate in finding a licensed general contractor who was known to us
for approximately 10 years."
Withington also said that the special assessment was
necessary because two years prior to the hurricanes of 2004, Lakes Edge replaced
the roofs on its 25 buildings. That depleted the association's roofing reserves,
Withington said.
Former board member Boyd Willison said he still questions
whether some of the work performed by ERS was ever authorized by the
association. He also said residents voiced numerous complaints about either
shoddy work or damage caused by clumsy workers.
"It's a mess," said Lee Jamison, a resident.
"I had no damage to my condo at all from the storm. When I left here last
spring, there was no damage, but when I came back, I had some $4,000 damage to
my lanai. The tiles were broken, some of the windows destroyed. The walls needed
to be painted.
"Now, I don't understand why I have a lien on my
property," he added.
The association hired the Tampa firm Delta Engineering to
oversee the repairs.
Delta's principle engineer Steve Mainardi said in a recent
interview he had approved all of ERS's invoices except one for about $100,000 in
drywall work. The amount was in dispute because ERS had not supplied sufficient
documents to verify the cost of the work, Mainardi said.
However,
Mainardi said ERS's work "is satisfactory."
Accidental
damage caused by subcontractors "happens every day," he added.
Mainardi
said he has advised the association to pay ERS or the matter will turn into
"a legal matter."
|