COLLECTING RENT FROM RENTERS TO PAY FOR UNPAID DUES?

By Jan Bergemann  

Published January 23, 2015

 

Since our Florida legislators are obviously getting too much money in campaign funds from the banking lobby, the legislature created all kind of band-aids to help the community associations in financial distress caused by the many foreclosures -- instead of making the mortgage lender for their stupidity and greed. Make no mistake: The whole foreclosure crisis was caused by the lending policies of the mortgage companies, allowing people to borrow money to buy homes they were never able to repay.

 

Every honest banker in the world will tell you that financing 100% plus of the purchase price of a new home is a recipe for disaster. But the US Bankers had no problems doing it – and we all saw the results.

   

One of the “remedies” the Florida Legislature came up with was a provision allowing associations to collect the rent from a renter of a unit/home that was rented by the owner [FS 718.116(11) + FS 720.3085(8)].

 

Does it really work? Eric claimed in Monday’s blog that it is a provision that it is a remedy that actually works.

  

I disagree. Not only has this provision been used for serious fraud – Blanket Receivership Scam – it has as well cost many associations legal fees they were never able to recover.

 

One of the requirements of this provision is for an attorney to write a demand letter to the renter and – if the renter isn’t paying the rent to the association – to sue for eviction. I have over the years heard from many associations that the renters refused to pay and rather moved out a month or two later, leaving the association with the attorney bill.

 

In my opinion the party causing the damage in the first place should be held liable for paying .


HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
 
Jan Bergemann Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice, Florida 's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group. CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in community  

associations. He moved to Florida in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues for his own purposes. End of retirement!

 

CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in Tallahassee - finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.

 

The organization has two websites to inform interested Florida homeowners and condo owners:

News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.

Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.

   
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all service providers surely have a different interest! We are trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking in Florida !


Join the 

CCFJ Email List
Email:  

For Email Marketing you can trust