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HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
An Opinion
By Jan Bergemann
Published
March 22, 2025
People often laugh about the phrase "History
Repeats Itself"! But if you know history you may be able to avoid
making the same mistakes that have been made in the past.
A lot of folks will remember the sea of blue tarps covering South
Florida's homes and condos after their roofs were blown off by
hurricane Wilma. And condo owners realized for the first time that
it can be devastating for the personal finances if reserve funds are
non-existent.
At a
town hall meeting in North Miami Beach in 2006, organized by
then State Representatives Julio Robaina and Yolly Roberson, condo
owners, facing huge special assessments in order to cover the
insurance deductibles, were crying for help.
But there was no help and in 2007-2008 many families lost their
homes to foreclosure, because they were unable to come up with the
money to pay for the special assessments.
But the idea of creating mandatory fully funded reserves were
POOH-POOHED -- and many, especially elderly condo owners laughed
about the idea. "We're long dead before we need a new roof"
was one of the main reasons given by owners for killing the idea of
fully funded reserves. CAI, attorneys, CAMs and many owners lobbied
against fully funded reserves in order to keep the monthly
maintenance fees artificially low. And they succeeded in
Tallahassee.
The fact that nobody learned from history is now coming back to
haunt many owners living in older hi-rise condo buildings. Nobody
learned from the financial disaster many condo associations suffered
because reserve funds were empty when money was needed.
Then came the collapse of the Champlain Towers South that cost the
lives of 98 people and the Florida Legislature finally realized that
inspections and fully funded reserves are needed -- causing
financial havoc among families living in hi-rise buildings.
Financial havoc because reserve funds in these associations are more
or less empty and structural repairs will cost millions of dollars,
money most associations don't have!
A lot of the serious problems could have been avoided if owners --
and the Florida Legislature -- would have learned from history.
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