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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: BOARD CERTIFICATION
By
Jan Bergemann
Published January 12, 2024
For many years we have asked the
Florida Legislators to add MANDATORY BOARD CERTIFICATION
to the Florida statutes regulating community associations.
This year Senator Jennifer Bradley (SB
1178) and Representative Vicki Lopez (HB
1021) have added the necessary provision into their
comprehensive bills.
It’s about time!
Board members, who want to successfully represent the interests
of the owners of the community, should be willing to spend a few
hours to learn the basics of the statutes and rules regulating
their community.
Incompetent board members can quickly
ruin the personal finances of each owner, be it by losing costly
lawsuits, signing stupid contracts or making decisions violating
laws and statutes.
And we are not even talking about the
fact that many board members – if caught red-handed – are using
the excuse: “I didn’t know better! Sorry!”
The Business Judgment Rule only kicks
in if the board member can claim: “I acted in good faith!”
Well, after attending a board
certification seminar, this excuse will only work in very
limited ways.
And, let’s not forget: For most owners
buying a house/unit is the biggest investment of their life.
Shouldn’t they as well take the time to learn about statutes and
rules regulating their home – the biggest investment of their
life?
Knowledge is Power! Attend a seminar
and learn all about community association rules in order to use
the acquired knowledge to protect your home!
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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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