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Dear Governor, Dear Legislators, Friends and Members,
with signing both of the important association bills SB 1184 ER and SB 2984 ER our Governor put an end to the heated battle about Florida's association reforms -- for this year. The battle is over, but not the war! We homeowners' activists will be back next year for more reforms in order to protect the welfare of citizens living in mandated properties.
And our THANK-YOU goes to all the legislators, who helped to create these reform bills and fought against the odds to help owners under siege! Especially the sponsors and co-sponsors of HB 1223/SB 2498. Thanks Representative Robaina and Senator Garcia. Only the tireless efforts of all these legislators made it possible to push for these necessary reforms!
Various legislators have already pledged their support for more reform bills for the next session. And the elections in November are a very good time to see who is willing to support consumer protection. And if some owners are still in doubt who is for them and who is against them -- they should definitely listen to the debate on National Radio between Florida's House Representative Julio Robaina and attorney Gary Poliakoff, founding partner of the law firm of Becker&Poliakoff, the biggest CAI law firm in Florida and in my opinion the biggest opponent of any consumer-friendly reforms! It's a lengthy file to download, but worth every minute! Listen to the recorded Reform Debate: http://www.ccfj.net/TalkshowWLRN.htm
Some of the board members finally have to realize that there are two sides of the fence; the owners and the service providers who are making a living by providing services. Obviously there is a huge gap between the interests of these parties!
And if you still don't know which side you're on after listening to this debate -- the best argument will not sway you!
The battle is raging all over the nation. The legislature in AZ passed many HOA bills, NV strengthened the position of the Ombudsman's Office after seeing the huge advantages this solution provides and in CA Governor Schwarzenegger is getting ready to sign the anti-foreclosure bills. That would finally guarantee due process for homeowners as we all rightfully deserve under our Constitution. The excuse of the association attorneys that associations would go bankrupt without immediate foreclosure power is just ridiculous. Read the article written by a director of the Community Association Institute: Negative press fuels foreclosure bills If you read the article word by word it absolutely explains what this foreclosure is all about: a cash cow for attorneys! The sentence: "Even a legitimate foreclosure could be perceived as abusive" actually says it all. How many illegitimate foreclosures are there??
And in Texas attorney David Kahne won on Friday an important battle in the Supreme Court: High court puts curb on homeowners groups' powerThe courts opinion is attached to the article. This law suit is a legacy of homeowners' activist Geneva Brooks, who passed away much too early! Thanks, David! A big step in the right direction.
Everybody
involved in this issue has to realize that it is important to protect owners
against abuses to preserve the AMERICAN Dream! Especially in a state with
many retirees and minority groups we need a government willing to protect
our rights. Attorney Johnnie Cochrane said: "The Color of Justice is
Green!"
So please join our organization and our growing number of allies and support our fight for consumer protection. We owners can only win by helping each other and supporting our cause! Don't wait until you're the target of a run-away board with nobody to turn to! Please help us so we can help the many citizens living in Florida's mandated properties.
The next time you visit our Website please sign the Guest Book and click the famous JOIN button. We need your help to achieve our goals for next year! Let's finally create the harmony we need to live peacefully in our homes.
Have a great weekend!
Jan
Bergemann, President
IN
ALLIANCE WITH:
While the battle for reforms of mandated properties
is already in full swing in AZ - 17 homeowners' association bills have
been filed and passed already most assigned committees (mostly unanimous)
- California is still working on bills for the upcoming session. Foreclosure
power is one of the major issues the CA legislature will deal with during
the next session. Senate hearings are on the way. CA legislators have definitely
realized that their constituents are getting restless. Many homeowners
were active during the recent recall of former Governor Gray Davis. They
blamed him for many of the problems owners are having in mandated properties.
In Ca the Statutes regulating mandated properties are called the Davis-Sterling
Act.
As we count down to the New Year we anticipate our Property Reform Task Force bill will be prefiled by SENATE and HOUSE member(s) early enough in 2003 to enhance committee assignments and deliberations. While we're waiting for the actual prefiling dates you should be aware that other bills have been filed. You can be certain that bills will be disposed of in or out of committees prior to the session is convened in March 2003. Therefore, it isn't too soon for you to review bills filed, provide your input and enable us to form a coalition of support for legislation you believe protects the health, safety and welfare of the Citizens of our state. Likewise, we can form a similar coalition to oppose legislation which is totally against the principles of 'good public policy.' It's up to you! Here's an easy to way to access bills filed; *** SEE BELOW *** The best to you and yours,
Florida House (bills) 2003 Session
In an earlier dispatch we provided access to Florida Senate and House bills being filed in time for the upcoming session. The numbers are beginning to accumulate very quickly. Eventually, hundreds of bills will be filed but not all will be assigned to committees for hearings. The fate of many bills will have been decided prior to the session. Some will be withdrawn others will 'die,' or 'stay alive' because the committee process is ongoing before the session is convened. As we pick and choose bills of interest we're relying on your review to determine if we should oppose, support or offer amendments at the appropriate time because we believe public participation is an important part of the political process. If you have a specific bill of interest please let us know. The first bill we're tracking re public records of nursing homes & assisted living facilities is Sb 84 filed by Senator Ginny Brown-Waite. Here are four other bills we might track, also. It's up to you. What do you think? * SEE BELOW * Incidentally, the next time you visit our Web site, please sign our Guest Book, and consider clicking on that ever present JOIN button. Tell your neighbors and friends to 'check us out!' Our efforts to organize statewide will not be successful without YOU! The best to you and yours,
Sb
104 Relating to Florida Building Code
**************************************************************************
Hb
57 Relating to Health Care
Health Care; requires HMOs to provide for
resolution of grievances brought by subscribers; specifies services to
be included in grievance system; requires HMOs to establish informal appeal
process; provides for formal internal appeal process; provides for external
appeal when subscriber is dissatisfied with results of formal appeal; provides
that HMO is liable for damages for harm caused by failure to exercise ordinary
care, etc. Amends Chs. 627, 641. EFFECTIVE DATE: 10/01/02.
Sb
102 Relating to Growth Management
Growth Management; expresses legislative
intent to revise laws re growth management. EFFECTIVE DATE: 7/01/2002
Hb
65; Relating to Relatives of Public Officials
Relatives of Public Officials; deletes
exemptions from prohibition against appointment, employment, promotion,
or advancement of relatives by public officials to apply such prohibition
to pulbic officials of universities, community college districts, &
district school boards, for which there are penalties for violation; deletes
definition of "collegial body"; corrects cross reference, to conform, etc.
Amends 112..31325, 721.05.
As you know, the 2002 Legislative session covenes three months earlier than usual. To date, several bills have been prefiled by Senate and House members. We mentioned one of them in a recent dispatch. Review bills filed on an intermittent basis and learn about issues your Legislators have or will advance as the deadline for filing occurs. Let us know if we should share in your concern and interest of specific issues. * SEE BELOW * BTW, we need to mention; thanks to the cooperation of our members we were able to complete and submit our task force proposal for review. Presently, our cover letter defining the intent and the proposal is available on our Members Only pages. For the second consecutive session, we intend to advance our Joint Resolution to provide Citizens of our state an opportunity to decide if homeowners associations can continue foreclose on homestead property in violation of the Florida Constitution. Your support of this issue is extremely important. The resolution is available for distribution from the homepage of our Web site. Print a copy and send to every member of your Legislative delegation. Advise us to whom it was sent and the response you receive. Visit our Web site, sign our Guest book and consider clicking on that ever present JOIN button. No doubt, without continuing to organizing statewide we'll be unable to achieve our goals and objectives. That's why we need; YOU! The best to you and yours,
House Bills and Proposed Committee Bills (PCB's) can be reviewed by clicking on the Select Chamber arrow and placing House in the access window. |
For comments please send e-mail to : [email protected]
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