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Article
and Video Courtesy of
NBC
Channel 6 -- South Florida
Published
January 8, 2008
KENDALL,
Fla. -- Residents of a South Florida
neighborhood are angry after a homeowners association election is
held without giving them notice -- something state lawmakers said is
happening all over Florida.
Kendall
resident Jose Garcia said the assessments in his neighborhood were
making him dizzy. So, he decided to run for the association board.
However, he completely missed the election.
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VIDEO
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Garcia
said he was never notified of the vote.
"I've
gone to over 35 houses here and nobody received anything either," he
said.
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Several
residents of Sunset Harbour in Kendall had the same story as Garcia.
"Like
my other neighbors, too, they didn't receive it," said resident
Theresa Hernandez.
Hernandez,
like other residents, said she believes the election for the development
in the area of 62nd Street and Southwest 128th Avenue was rigged.
"They
never do the election in December," Hernandez said. "They are
always in January."
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Angry
homeowners called it a conspiracy. The election was held on Dec. 26 at the
office of All Florida Management – the company that runs the property.
Garcia
and others said they couldn't get a straight answer on what happened.
"Each
of them blames each other," Garcia said.
All
Florida Management said it mailed out notifications of the elections. The
company said 15 to 20 people showed up. Including mail-in ballots, the
company said around 135 votes were tallied.
So,
the vote will stand, the company said.
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However,
officials said this is the not the first time residents have complained
about an All Florida Management-run property.
State
records showed the company has had election problems in the past.
On
the Better Business Bureau Web site, All Florida Management received an F
for not responding to complaints.
"This
is not just happening here, this is much bigger than our
development," Garcia said. "This is happening locally in a lot
of different areas."
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State
Rep. Julio Robaina said he agrees with Garcia.
He
said he has tried to push legislation so that homeowners associations get
regulated much like condominium associations.
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