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Article Courtesy of Local 10
News Tampa Bay
By
Aaron Parseghian
Published June 23, 2024
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WATCH VIDEO |
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FEATHER SOUND — A letter in the mail brought some sticker shock for homeowners
in a Pinellas County HOA, saying they’d have to choose how to a handle special
assessment that could cost them upward of $60,000 by October.
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“I was in shock, I immediately started
texting other neighbors,” said Tammy Rodeffer, a homeowner
in The Villas of Carillon in Feather Sound.
“I thought, wow, this is real?” questioned Chris Hu, another
homeowner. “A total surprise. It's a shocking surprise,” he
added.
In the letter, HOA leaders wrote their reserves have not
been fully funded in its 20-year history and the community
is presented with a “significant financial challenge moving
forward.”
“The Association is now at a critical point with respect to
capital improvement projects requiring community-wide
balcony repairs, waterproofing, garage flat roof replacement
and painting,” reads the letter.
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“There’s 165 [members] that live here, and that each person, family’s piece
would be $60,000 payable in one of four options,” said homeowner Nancy Radde.
The letter then asks residents to vote on the special assessment plan to fund
the community reserves, with a meeting scheduled for June 20th.
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Pay $60,000 in four quarterly installments beginning
October 1.
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Pay $60,000 in 32 quarterly installments of $1875 over 8
years.
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Pay $11,650 in four quarterly installments, to fund
immediate improvement projects
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Increase the HOA monthly dues from $575 to $1200 for 8
years.
“There will be a lot of people that lose their home either they have to sell or
they can't make these payments. They'll have a lien put on their house,
foreclosures. I'm concerned about the overall community,” Rodeffer added, who
like others are wondering why this is all coming at once.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to the property management company, the board’s
attorney declined to comment.
The letter explains a recent reserve study does not have “adequate funds” to
properly address maintenance issues “the Association has been struggling for
years to properly address.”
They also pointed to concerns of remaining insurable in the future.
This is all happening at a time when condo associations across Florida are
grappling with rising insurance costs and a state law, adopted after the
Surfside collapse, requiring COAs have a certain percentage of reserves on hand.
Though HOAs don’t have the same legal requirements when it comes to reserves.
“Obviously, we don't fall in that category. So how come we started this in the
first place,” Hu said.
These homeowners are hoping for transparency and more dialogue before any
decision is made.
“As we get older, as buildings get older, you need more maintenance, you need
more reserves, and I think the can may have been kicked down the road a little
bit on this,” Radde added. “But we still are in a position where we could phase
in the approach of payment rather than just a lump sum.
In the meantime, new HOA laws go into effect next month, they aim to cut down on
frivolous fines and target financial transparency. Associations will have to
prepare audited financial statements and publish records online by 2025.
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