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A BILL WITH LOTS OF HORRIBLE
PROVISIONS
By
Jan Bergemann
Published April 6, 2018
HB 841 (Moraitis)
is definitely making many attorneys jump with joy – already
cheering about increased future income. The wording of the
provisions of the bill, originally sold as a clarification
bill, is often vague and allows all kinds of different
interpretations. I consider the bill Moraitis’ departure present
to Floridians since he is out by term-limits. He sure left a
horrible legacy.
Eric’s summary of the bill,
published on Monday, states all the provisions of the bill. The
wording, on first view, often sounds harmless, but the devil is
in the detail. I have described the low-lights of the bill in my
Op-Ed:
HB 841 (MORAITIS): THE END OF PUBLIC BOARD MEETINGS AND CONDO
RECALLS AS WE KNOW IT!
Let’s face it:
Many of the provisions of HB 841 are aimed at fleecing the
owners and are establishing even stronger dictatorships caused
by fining provisions that allow boards to blackmail owners. To
me it seems that many of our Florida legislators never read the
US Constitution. Otherwise they would know that the US
Constitution only allows government entities to “FINE”
citizens – and community associations are definitely not
government entities, as the Supreme Courts of Rhode Island and
Virginia already stated in their rulings. Here in Florida
legislators equipped dictatorial boards and their attorneys with
a tool to blackmail the members of the community associations.
Always remember:
When entering a Florida community association “You are leaving
the American Zone.” And HB 841 is just another step in the wrong
direction.
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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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