Many
of these legislators are little more than puppets - many but
certainly not all. In the case of housing associations,
be they HOAs, Condos or Coops, we have precious few
legislators who are willing to do what is right, not what will
benefit them financially. But how does one good egg
manage to hold his or her own in a basket full of rotten ones?
Can good laws be passed in this situation or should we all
crawl in a hole, waiting for the rapidly approaching
end?
Florida's
own Rep. Julio Robaina has long made it a mission of his to do
everything he can to protect his constituents. And
at no time ever have those constituents needed more protection
than they do right now. The many run of the mill
problems in associations have been compounded by the
economic downturn, the huge number of foreclosures especially
in Florida and the large number of associations trying to make
ends meet with half the revenue from fees. His proposed
bill to make the banks pay some of the delinquent assessments
was soundly defeated by his fellow legislators. Not
surprisingly the banking industry lobbied strongly against it.
But
where was CAI in all this? This bill would have
helped ASSOCIATIONS and by default the homeowners. As
soon as the session started it became obvious that the
lobbyist groups of the law firms (CALL and CAN) were not using
their influence to push the bill -- a bill they had peddled
among the association boards since last year. But there is
always a huge difference between propaganda and actually doing
something! People are so gullible!
You
hear about what happened in Florida this year and you'll learn
how, with just a little effort of the part of the owners, this
MIGHT have had a happier ending.
