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Article
Courtesy of The Osprey Observer
By John
Ney
Published
August 18, 2007
A catchy country song plays on the Website of Lewis Laricchia, a Brentwood Hills resident and newly announced Democratic candidate for State Representative of District 56, which includes the Valrico area. The song tells residents that purchasing your dream home in a homeowners association (HOA) is like buying "a one way ticket to hell."
This is the central theme of Laricchia's political campaign: Protection of residents living in HOAs. He hopes to upset incumbent Rep. Trey Traviesa (R-D 56), who was first elected to office in 2004 and was reelected in 2006. Elections for all state representatives (which are elected every two years) will be held in the fall of 2008. "Florida has become one gigantic HOA with no protection for residents," says Laricchia. "We need to end the nightmare."
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The estimated number of HOAs in District 56 is between 100 and 120. In Hillsborough County there are 500 HOAs and statewide there are
14,000. At the heart of the issue are late fees assessed by homeowners associations that ultimately could cost residents their home if not paid.
"My goal is that no man, woman or child will ever lose their home over a $25 late fee or collection cost," says Laricchia.
According to Laricchia, many members of his Valrico community, including his neighbor, have had liens placed on their homefor not paying a late fee. The ability to place a lien on a resident's home now only applies to residents who do not pay late fees. Governor Bush signed into law
in October 2004 a bill that enables residents of deed restricted communities to fly flags in their yards and
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VALRICO
RESIDENT LEWIS LARICCHIA ANNOUNCED RECENTLY THAT
HE WILL RUN AS DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
OF DISTRICT 56.
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to stop HOAs from putting a lien on a resident's home for not paying their monthly dues.
Laricchia is circulating a petition for the purpose of recalling the board directors currently serving the Brentwood Hills HOA. In order to remove board members, it requires 50 percent of residents plus one.
"Most residents of HOAs don't realize that we don't have to take all these rules and regulations without any recourse," says Laricchia. "You can remove them with enough signatures from the community." Board directors currently serving on the Brentwood Hills HOA are Gary Clifton, Ron Goeddeaus, Ron Gutschmidt, Gerri Clifton, Dee LoPresti, Jim Gray and Albin Santiago. If his petition is successful in gathering the required number of signatures, the individuals listed below have indicated their willingness to replace the recalled board directors: Chris Andrews, Stephen Arendt, Irene Jezsik, Lewis Laricchia, Sandy Niday, Bill Roldan and Richard Stacy.
"The current Board is distancing themselves from the community and not listening to us," says Arendt. "When residents voice their concerns at meetings, they are given their three minutes but nothing happens. They should be voting like in a democracy where elected officials actively seek input and vote on behalf of their constituency."
Some of the biggest complaints Laricchia cites regarding HOAs are no accountability of board members to the community for their decisions.
"HOAs do whatever they want," says Laricchia. "Then they use my money from monthly dues to fight me in court."
In the Brentwood Hills, the board recently raised dues by $64 a year.Laricchia claims that they are paying more for the property manager and their attorneys who are aligned with the board and not the residents of the community.
His solution to the problem is to recall the current board members and to fire the property manager and attorneys. Rick Pitrowski of Management of Communities of America, who advises the Brentwood Hills HOA, declined the opportunity to comment on Laricchia as there is litigation involved between the parties.
Ron Gutschmidt, a current board member of Brentwood Hills HOA, was contacted for comment on Laricchia's efforts to replace the current board members. He also declined to comment and suggested the lawyer or the management company of the HOA be contacted. He referenced litigation levied against the HOA was now, "Not an issue." Laricchia has not received any contributions to his campaign since he announced on April 26. He plans to put a little money into his campaign of his own,
but is counting on the majority of funding to come from donations made to his Website.
For more information, contact Laricchia at 684-7654 or visit his Website at www.VOTELEWISLARICCHIA.com.
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