Article
Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By Joe
Kollin
Published December 28, 2007
Owners in at
least two South Florida condos learned the hard way last week that while
they may be the kings of their castles, their reign doesn't extend to the
outside walls.
The residents hung Christmas and Hanukkah decorations, but their boards
ordered them taken down.
On Dec. 9 Allan Nellis, of Oriole Gardens 2 in Margate, put a wreath and a
104-foot-long string of blue-and-white lights on his catwalk.
"The
lights represent both Hanukkah and Christmas and the wreath represents
Christmas," Nellis said. "This time of year is celebrated
universally throughout the country, and I did it in concert with everyone
else here in the building."
Considering the association decorated the clubhouse, he didn't think there
would be any objection to decorations on his catwalk. He paid the $50 cost
and is paying for the electricity.
"Besides, you drive here at night and it's dark and dingy. It looks
like everyone's inside waiting to die," he said. "The lights add
a little festivity."
On Dec. 15 his board ordered him to remove the decorations. On Dec. 20,
when he hadn't complied, the association took them down.
Bruce Neill lives in the Isle of Sandalfoot 6 near Boca Raton. Two weeks
ago, maintenance personnel put up a tree, lights and Hanukkah decorations
in the lobby. The board removed them.
"We were livid," he said of his neighbors.
On the evening of Dec. 14, in what he called a spontaneous reaction to the
removal, residents put the decorations back.
No further action has been taken, although a notice has appeared on the
association's locked bulletin board saying the community's documents might
be amended to provide "no unit owner may openly celebrate Christmas
without obtaining prior approval."
The dispute came in the midst of a two-month effort by some Sandalfoot 6
residents to recall their board.
Representatives of the Oriole and Sandalfood boards couldn't be reached
for comment despite multiple attempts.
"When you move into an association community, you agree to give up
many of your individual rights," said F. Blane Carneal, a Fort
Lauderdale attorney who represents unit owners. "Technically, boards
would be correct [to refuse decorations], but some people just go out of
their way to make life miserable for other people."
Fort Lauderdale attorney Matt Zifrony, who represents associations, said
most documents give boards the right to approve exterior changes "so
the association has the right to step up and object."
But Zifrony said the association's decision must be based on
"reasonableness." He said courts also consider whether others
have been allowed to do the same. However, court rulings have been
confusing, he said.
Jan Bergemann, president of Cyber Citizens for Justice, which fights for
the rights of unit owners, advises owners who want to put up holiday
decorations to ignore their boards.
State law requires boards to give owners time to comply with an order, 14
days in a homeowner association and "reasonable" time in a
condo, he said. By the time the 14 days or "reasonable" time is
up, he noted, the holiday is over.
Q&A
Q. Joseph Pack in Delray Beach and Steven Forbes
in Coral Springs ask what happens to buyers of condo conversions when
developers can't sell the remaining units and rent them out instead. Who
runs the building, they ask, the developer or the condo owners? At what
point, if any, must a developer turn control of the association over to
buyers?
A. Attorney Matt Zifrony, a director with the Tripp Scott law
firm in Fort Lauderdale, said Florida laws regulate when a developer must
turn over control. For the most part, it must be after the developer has
sold a particular number of units, although the law also provides for a
seven-year outside date by which control must be turned over. Until then,
the developer runs the association, he said.
If the developer is offering unsold units for sale and has guaranteed to
all unit owners that assessments will not exceed a stated amount, the
developer would only be required to pay for upkeep costs that exceed the
guaranteed amount. If the developer no longer is offering unsold units for
sale, the developer would be required to contribute to upkeep costs just
like the other unit owner, Zifrony said
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