ORLANDO - Some
condominium owners in an Orlando complex are one step closer
to potentially stopping a hefty fee increase.
People at Dockside
Condominiums gathered Wednesday to celebrate after a state
arbitrator deemed their recall effort successful. They
organized a recall of the HOA board of directors in
September after receiving notice of a 12-year special
assessment.
Elizabeth Leuven, a condo owner at Dockside, helped lead the
recall effort.
"Everybody said, including people who live there, we were
crazy," Leuven said. "You never will do that."
Owners have had two payments due so far,
but incoming board members say they've asked the management
company, Access Residential Management, to suspend
collections of the special assessment. |
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"The personal
financial relief is tremendous," Leuven said.
The management company said the fee increase was necessary
to plug an insurance gap after Hurricane Ian damaged all 133
first-floor units.
Juan Marmol, a board member-elect, said the new board’s
first priority is sorting through financial with work
starting Thursday.
"Now we need to deal with the insurance company, with a
construction company, and also with the management company,"
Marmol said.
Access Residential Management emailed FOX 35 the following
statement in response:
"The order is being reviewed by legal counsel and [our]
understanding is this will be disputed in the circuit courts
due to its inaccuracy," the statement read. "We remain
focused on the management of the association and the
reconstruction efforts. The association counsel will be
disseminating additional information to homeowners shortly."
Marmol said the recall effort has brought more people
together since so many feared financial trouble or even
possible foreclosure.
"We are more united than ever and everybody is ready to put
our hands together to help rebuild our community," Marmol
said.
Funding for renovations, according to Marmol, runs through
February. He said the new board has until then to figure out
what to do with the special assessment.