Happy Holidays … Merry Christmas … Happy Kwanaanza,

Happy New Year (I hope)

and to All a Good Night

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very happy holiday season, with my hope that you enjoy the holidays….

But, one thing Santa (or our government) should not be gifting to us is a chunk of coal to ensure compliance with building safety (which, of course, is needed) at a cost designed to frustrate seniors or the disabled living in their communities for years with fees that are double (or triple) their current assessments to comply with full funding on reserves.

At the onset, full funding on reserves should always have been in place.  

It is rude and disappointing that comments on concerns on maintenance dues going up stating “it’s time to pay the piper,”  or telling seniors or the disabled if they can’t afford it, to move out are not condemned by our representatives and shows a lack of concern by our government officials to understand what these practices are going to do not only to the senior citizens or the disabled, but also to the real estate market in general, as the scared members of an HOA or COA scramble to unload their properties because they cannot afford the new maintenance dues – and, which will undoubtedly deflate prices.

Why is it that our federal government has no problem assisting those who break our laws and enter this country illegally, but has no plan to assist  senior citizens or the disabled who may not be able to pay homes they have lived in for decades due to increasing maintenance fees?

And, for our state representatives – with all due respect, I have yet to see a plan to address this issue.

While new companies will be cropping up to “assist in meeting safety issues for HOAs and COAs” will these companies be able to get grants or other financing from our government? Will these companies have an incentive to push up prices on repairs or make new concessions to satisfy board members protected by association attorneys under the “business judgment rule.”  In other words, what will keep the foxes away from the chickens?  

No one wants a tragedy like Surfside, but at the same time, we ought not have a tragedy of the exodus of owners in HOAs and COAs who simply did not know, or were encouraged to pass “partial funding reserves.”

The legislative regular session convenes on January 9, 2024.  

Perhaps we can think of some ways to tell those who are supposed the rights of owners in HOAs and COAs in Florida, to devise some suggestions on making the laws not only to protect building safety, but also to protect the emotional and financial burden of senior citizens and disabled impacted by companies who may have a financial interest in inflating safety measures.  Please let me know your thoughts on this issue.

I wish all of you a blessed and happy holiday season, with the hope that in the coming year, there will no coal in our stockings, but measures instituted so that we can finally say, “to all, a good night.”