MIAMI-DADE COUNTY –
There is a joint effort that includes prosecutors, elected
officials, and state lawmakers to protect the millions of
Floridians who are living in communities with condominium
and homeowners associations.
Miami-Dade State
Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said more needs to be
done. New proposed legislation aims to criminalize much of
the corruption that Florida residents are reporting in their
communities.
“Shockingly, fraudulent activity in association elections,
even blatant fraud, are not crimes in Florida,” Fernandez
Rundle said. “They’re not crimes.”
The effort strengthened after residents in Miami-Dade
County’s The Hammocks, a planned community of over 60,000,
stood up to their association and submitted evidence of
corruption.
“It feels like nobody was listening. It was terrible. You
feel lonely. They have friends; they have power. The board
in power, they lien your property, they fine your house,”
said Ana Danton, a Hammocks resident, and activist.
Prosecutors charged several of the former board members with
racketeering, money laundering, and theft. Investigators
believe they stole millions of association funds sometimes
by writing checks to vendors for phony work and getting
kickbacks. |
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Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle
speaks at the press-conference.
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“It is an incredible
injustice,” Miami-Dade Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez said on
Friday. “I can tell you from experience to have put
everything forward to purchase your own home and then be
taken advantage of.”