TEQUESTA -- A woman
trying to take in long time family friends
who were displaced from the Bahamas by
Hurricane Dorian, is being told by her condo
association that it’s against rules, and if
she keeps it up, she’ll start getting daily
fines.
Donell Pubien’s home
in Abaco is still standing, but barely. There are gaping
holes in the roof and the walls are wrapped by water. It’s
unlivable.
“Rocks would fly through and sound like shotgun bullets,” he
said in an interview. “This hurricane was really
devastating.”
He and his family have been close friends with Teena Lavalvo
for about 10 years. They would come to visit her often over
the years.
Lavalvo helped arrange for a private plane to take them off
the island. The rest of his family went to stay at his
sister’s but there wasn’t enough room for him, so he came to
Teena’s townhome in the Tequesta Cay community.
Other displaced Bahamians stayed at her house too. She says the highest
total was seven, which was for one night. Now she says, it’s now just him.
Teena was welcoming, she says her association was not.
“(The manager) indicated that she had been informed that I had brought in
displaced families into my home and that it was against the guidelines of my
association,” Lavalvo said in an interview.
Just days after that conversation she got a letter from her association’s
management company. It says the home is for a single family and that she’s
not allowed to rent any rooms out. She says she’s providing temporary
housing for free.
“I do not understand how this association, or any other community wouldn’t
have empathy for the fact that we have been going through a very short
period of transition,” she said.
And starting next week, she could be fined $100 to $1,000 everyday a
displaced Bahamian is there.
Pubien said, “Out of everything, you’re always going to find spiteful people
and people that just don’t care about other people. But you’ll always find
good people where ever you go.”
We were able to reach the management company late Thursday afternoon by
phone. We requested to speak to the woman who signed the letter threatening
fines, but we were told she stepped out of the office but would call back.
We haven’t been called.
We also left messages for the association president but have not heard back.