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COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION STATUTES ARE PRETTY USELESS!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
February 3, 2017
Let’s
face it: No matter what kind of litigation you are getting
involved with – buy a judge or not -- you most likely end up
with a totally unsatisfying result – and the only ones happy in
the end are the attorneys.
The
community association statutes are weak – and leave about
everything open for adventurous interpretation. There are no
teeth contained in these statutes – and it allows the bad guys
to get away with clearly violating the laws – knowingly and
willfully – without even a slap on the wrist.
It is no
wonder that we read so much about scams and embezzlement of
association funds, because it is outright difficult for owners
to see the financial records, even if they follow FS
720.303(5) + (6) and FS 720.311 to the
dot.
All the
board – a board that has obviously something to hide – has to do
is to state that the requested records are either lost – or were
destroyed – and the insurance attorney is only too happy to
offer a financial settlement.
The
insurance company will not mind – they’ll raise the premium of
the policy up the yahoo at the next opportunity.
So,
everybody is happy, besides the owners whose financial welfare
is being abused.
Eric sure
is correct on one issue: Many of the lower court judges are
totally incompetent when it comes to knowledge of community
association law – and instead of getting a decent ruling you
might be busy explaining the statutes and its interpretation to
the judge. Are you having fun yet?
Let’s
face it: Many of the big “specialized” law firms are only too
happy to drag out lawsuits in front of “blue-eyed” judges, since
their interest is creating billing hours – no matter what!
I often
get the feeling that certain attorney feed their clients –
association board members – dubious advice, hoping to create
lawsuits with lots of billing hours!
Judicial system? It sure sucks – especially when it comes to
association law!
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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
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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
!
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