Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel

By Maria Herrera

Published January 20, 2007

West Delray · Elena Ecker points to what used to be her kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and living room.

The one-bedroom condo is now just a shell divided by metal beams and a plywood roof.

Ecker's home is one of an estimated 375 units at Kings Point empty since Hurricane Wilma hit the retirement community west of Delray Beach. An additional 125 units remain damaged.

Fifteen months after the storm, residents of several sections in the 55-and-older community are back to day one: looking for a contractor who can finish repairs and figuring out how to pay for them.

"I don't understand too much of what's going on," Ecker said, "but I do know there's something wrong."

Getting work done in the 7,200-unit community is harder than it seems.

Kings Point is a sprawling group of one- and two-story condominium buildings along canals and golf courses. When the developer finished the project in the late 1970s, it divided the complex into sections and set up small homeowner associations governed by a master association: the Kings Point Condominium Association, or KPCA.

Since then, smaller associations have broken off and formed their own governing bodies. Only four associations remain under the KPCA: Tuscany, Brittany, Monaco and Flanders.

During Wilma, those four associations bore the brunt of the damage.

Many of the damaged condos in Kings Point are back to normal, including one of three clubhouses. But owners in Tuscany, Brittany, Monaco and Flanders are not as lucky.

Construction work in the four KPCA sections has stopped. The master association is back to hiring a project manager, putting the contract out for bids and figuring out how it will pay for repairs while its attorneys negotiate an insurance settlement.

Owners of those empty units are hoping the quagmire is solved soon.

The Eckers have been paying $875 for rent at a nearby unit since the storm. They also pay $300 a month to store their furniture, plus $278 month in maintenance fees for the apartment they can't live in.

"Homeowner's insurance is helping us," she said, "but time is running out."

Residents thought help was on the way last year when the association hired Southern Construction of West Palm Beach. As payment, the company accepted the settlement by the insurance company despite the fact the final claim had not been determined, according to the KPCA and others at Kings Point. It also agreed to start work if the association paid $75,000 per building deductible.

Domingo Castro, president of the construction company, could not be reached for comment despite several calls to his office this week.

The association paid Southern a total of $3.3 million.

KPCA attorney Ed Hammel wouldn't disclose details of the insurance negotiations. "We ran into problems with the insurance company, but we're working toward getting those resolved," he said.

Hammel said the master association should have taken out a loan after Wilma to pay for repairs, instead of waiting for the insurance money.

"Because of this decision by the board not to explore other avenues, the amount of work that can be accomplished is limited," he said.

Several construction crews arrived in the community in April and removed damaged roofs and wet drywall. But work stopped in September.

"They put in 41 roofs and then stopped," said Richard Price, president of the Tuscany section, which has 288 units in six buildings. "They said they didn't have any more money."

The KPCA is responsible for replacing the roofs, sheetrock, electrical wiring and original cabinets in the units damaged.

Some residents said the master association used bad judgment when it decided to hire Southern.

"Prime [Management] brought Southern Construction without bidding and without board approval and they pressed presidents to sign the contract," said Peter Cavanaugh, a resident.