SEMINOLE COUNTY – An “HOA-hating” man has been sentenced to prison time after he set a Longwood condominium complex on fire back in 2023, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

In a release, SAO officials said that the man — Marc Hermann, 56 — had doused his condo unit with gasoline before igniting it.

“Residents of neighboring units described hearing an explosion that shook their building and then dodging flaming debris as they fled their homes,” the release reads. “One man jumped from a second-floor balcony to escape the fire.” A News 6 investigation at the time revealed that Hermann had owned the condo for 25 years, though he became embroiled in a legal battle with his HOA after they accused him of not paying his fees, thus placing a lien on his property. After years of back-and-forth between Hermann and the HOA — during which time he claimed that the HOA’s accounting was mistaken — his condo unit was ultimately foreclosed upon and sold at auction by the HOA in 2022. A paramedic who treated Hermann after the initial explosion reportedly said that Hermann admitted to setting the fire “in an act of revenge against the homeowners’ association in charge of his property.”

(LEFT) Marc Hermann, 56; (RIGHT) The interior of a burnt-out condo unit (State Attorney's Office)

 

“An accelerant-detecting K9 dog alerted to two different spots in the home and to the shirt Hermann was wearing,” the release reads. “Hermann had owed about $28,800 in unpaid dues and related fees to the association.”

Aside from Hermann’s own condo unit, the fire destroyed three other families’ homes, prosecutors reported.

“The financial costs have been phenomenal. We have had to rent an apartment for over two years as our condo has been rebuilt, and the costs have depleted our savings...” one such victim statement reads. “Marc Hermann showed so little regard for the lives of us who were home when he decided to burn down the condo.”

Earlier this month, Hermann was found guilty of arson, and prosecutors announced on Monday that he’d been sentenced to 12 years in prison, followed by 15 years’ probation.

While SAO officials said that Hermann received credit for over two years served while awaiting trial, the judge also ordered him to do the following:

• Pay restitution to neighbors whose homes were destroyed or damaged in the fire

• Get a job within 60 days of release from prison for the purposes of paying restitution

• Undergo a mental health evaluation and any recommended treatment

• Perform 100 community service hours, preferably at a nonprofit fire-safety facility