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Article Courtesy of The Sun
Sentinel
By Robin Benedick
Published September11, 2007
Pembroke Pines - Look up
in Ida Bernal's bedroom and glimpse the sky through a hole created when a
worker repairing the roof of her two-story condo stepped through her
ceiling almost a year ago.
When it rains, water flows into a large blue storage bin at the foot of
Bernal's bed. Down the hall in her teenage son's room, a bin on his bed
catches rain from a similar hole in the ceiling. A third bin sits atop a
foosball table in a spare bedroom.
"The water poured in my room in buckets until they minimized the leak
so that now it mostly drips when it rains," said Bernal, who has
lived at the Westview Phase 3 for 10 years and serves as board president.
Her dining room downstairs has no ceiling because water also damaged it.
She hasn't had drywall put up in her ceiling and no work has been done on
roofs at the complex since January, when the roofer got kicked off the job
for not having workers' compensation insurance, officials said.
As South Florida enters the busiest part of the hurricane season, Bernal
worries about the roofs on all 11 buildings in her complex. Late last
year, the association paid $1 million to George Howard, president of
Romano Brothers Construction Inc., of Pembroke Pines, to handle
replacement of the flat roofs, skylights, solar panels and drywall.
Howard, who is not a licensed contractor, replaced drywall and hired a
roofer, L. Stewart Roofing of Lauderhill. But Stewart had only started on
three roofs when it was booted by state officials. Building permits have
since expired and the board recently paid $17,000 to a company to pump
standing water off some roofs.
Howard declined to talk about his work with Westview, which has been
through three boards and two management companies since he was hired in
July 2006. His Sunrise attorney, Ian Kravitz, said Howard has lined up
another roofer and is eager to finish the job.
"We told the board 1½ months ago we'd have it done within four
weeks," Kravitz said. "We're still sitting here waiting for the
board to make a decision."
But Bernal and other owners don't want Howard back, even though the board
has already paid him two-thirds of his $1.6 million contract. They'd
rather hire a new roofer, which likely means a special assessment for
condo owners.
The board, which is struggling to pay its bills, is hoping to ease the
burden by hiring a public adjuster to get more insurance money. Westview
received insurance money for roofs damaged during Wilma, which walloped
South Florida in October 2005.
Howard is threatening to sue the association for the remaining $600,000.
If the board dumps Howard, the 66 condo owners may each be assessed
hundreds of dollars more each month to pay a new roofer. Many already pay
$500 a month in maintenance fees at the 30-year-old complex, where most
units are valued for tax purposes at $200,000.
"We have people living here who can't afford this," said Rosie
Rosario, a 12-year Westview owner and past board president. "It's
been a year of working on this and we are back to square one. This is a
nightmare."
Rosario filed a complaint against Howard with the Broward Sheriff's Office
Contractor Fraud Unit earlier this year, which forwarded the case to
Pembroke Pines police. Police put the case on hold while the board
negotiates with Howard, said police Maj. Dave Golt.
Condo owners are divided over how to proceed.
Sheila Garcia, who has lived at Westview for seven years and served on the
board that hired Howard, said it makes sense to stick with Howard.
"I won't pay another penny for another roofing company," she
said. "The bottom line here is we all want our roofs done and we
don't want pay any more money."
But Rosario said the complex doesn't need new roofs. A consultant she
hired in March 2007 said in a report the roofs need to be repaired, not
replaced.
"So much money is being wasted," she said.
Don and Lee Schwartz, original owners at Westview, want to put the whole
roofing mess behind them. They spent 10 months in a hotel while their
condo got rebuilt after Wilma ripped it up.
"This whole thing has taken way too long to get resolved," Lee
Schwartz said.
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