When it comes to condo maintenance, pay now or pay later

Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald

By Donna Gehrke-White

Published July 8, 2007

Dale Humphrey estimates that he and the 89 other owners at their Fontainebleau condominium lost $150,000 in bad repairs -- or work not done -- before they recalled the old board and fired the contractors.

It was a hard but important lesson for the owners of Fernwood Lakeview #1: Maintenance of a condo building should be every owner's top concern.

Taking proper care of a building will keep it in good shape and save big bucks in the years ahead.

No matter how many laws are on the books to protect condo owners, ''the state can't protect you against your own stupidity,'' says Humphrey, Fernwood's new president.

Bill Raphan, the state's assistant condo ombudsman, recommends that all condo associations have cash reserves and a schedule for repairs, from replacing roofs to protecting the walls from concrete corrosion.

Dale Humphrey, who led the effort to recall the Fernwood Lakeview condo board, says the board wasted about $150,000 by hiring an unlicensed roofer.

"There are actual companies that do reserve studies,'' he said. The experts, usually engineers, determine the life of roofs, structures and parking lots. Insurance companies are also doing studies, he adds, because they want to make sure they are insuring well-maintained properties that will hold up well in a hurricane.

''You want to plan out your infrastructure's deferred maintenance,'' Raphan says.

Once you have a schedule you will know how much you need to save to pay for future work, he says.

State law requires condo associations to maintain reserve funds for three items: painting, parking and roofs.

But many condo associations vote to opt out and don't save any money for future maintenance. And, Raphan added, many don't consider that they will need money for additional expensive repairs, such as the inevitable concrete corrosion work.

Elderly homeowners on a fixed income are often reluctant to pay higher maintenance fees to provide funds for future repairs.

In Lauderdale Lakes, Howard Carter, property manager for the Lauderdale Oaks condos for 55-plus residents, says many in his community were reluctant to pay for clubhouse repairs. They had already been hit with a series of special assessments to repair their own condo buildings. But Carter convinced them they had to: The clubhouse is part of their property and they have a responsibility to keep it up.

The alternative is to let a building fall into disrepair -- and even collapse.

In 2005, Sunny Isles Beach inspectors forced the evacuation of some residents in the 172-unit oceanfront 

Owners at the Castle Beach Club, above, were closed out for 15 months after Miami Beach inspectors found bad wiring and other consequences of deferred maintenance. The building has now been repaired.

Sea Shore Club after concrete corrosion led to the collapse of a second-floor walkway.

Over time, buildings, especially near the beach, can suffer from exposure to salt and moisture. That can eat away concrete, exposing steel, wood and electrical wiring.

INSPECTION REQUIRED

Both Miami-Dade and Broward counties require licensed architects or engineers to inspect older structures for corrosion as well as faulty wiring and other deficiencies. The first inspection occurs when the building turns 40, with checks occurring every 10 years after that.

But, ''You shouldn't wait for the 40-year inspection. You should be on top of it,'' says Key Biscayne's chief building official, Eugenio Santiago, an engineer.

The Castle Beach Club in Miami Beach was only 39 years old when city inspectors shut it down, forcing 

'The state can't protect you against your own stupidity,' says Dale Humphrey, Fernwood president.

owners of its 534 condominium units out for 15 months. Inspectors had repeatedly cited the building for various deficiencies, including defective wiring. In appointing a receiver to oversee repairs until a new board could be elected, Miami-Dade Judge Marc Schumacher said the condo's board members had shown ''inexcusable neglect'' in not making repairs.

Older buildings require more care, says Michael Goolsby, chief of Miami-Dade code compliance.

A condo board should be planning to retrofit any building constructed before tougher building codes took effect in 1994, Goolsby adds.

''The old codes were not as strict as now,'' Goolsby says. "Codes then were much weaker.''

Making regular repairs is just as important. A properly maintained building can help keep you safe from hurricanes. Throughout South Florida, dozens of old, dilapidated condo roofs flew off during Wilma in 2005.

''A lot of people lost everything,'' Raphan says.

Inspectors found that older buildings suffered more damage from Wilma than those built under the tougher codes, Goolsby says. ''The newer the buildings, the better they did,'' he says.

KEEPING UP

Still, older buildings can fare well if their owners keep up with repairs.

The owners of the Biltmore II in Coral Gables are committed to making sure their 13-floor condo is in top shape.

Although the Biltmore II is only 30 years old, owners agreed to a $6 million special assessment -- an average of nearly $26,000 for each of the 232 units -- for concrete restoration.

They've had engineers checking their walls and balconies. When there was evidence of corrosion, the condo board and then the owners voted to fix it now.

''It's not inexpensive, but it's the right thing to do,'' says condo association manager Charles Larsen. Doing the work now "is easier and will nip the problem in the bud.''

He added, "I'm a firm believer in preventive maintenance.''

SEIZING OPPORTUNITY

In Sunny Isles Beach, the owners of the 158-unit LeCartier Condominiums are just as committed.

After insurance helped pay for one damaged roof, the owners decided to replace two other aging roofs in the seven-building complex. The complex has plans to replace the others.

The LeCartier owners opted to pay more for a company, WeatherTight Roofing, to install a relatively new type of roof using spray polyurethane foam rather than do the traditional gravel or asphalt roofs. The foam hardens into a surface that better resists hurricane-force winds.

''The service was perfect,'' says property manager Micheline Desroches. "It's true we haven't had a hurricane but we've had big rains. We've had no leaks.''

It paid off, she adds, to do a lot of research before hiring a roofer.

''There's a difference in the quality of work,'' she says.

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