Article Courtesy of THE REAL DEAL
By Francisco Alvarado
Published August 10, 2019
For Harry Catton and two
unit owners at the Turnberry Village North
condominium in Aventura, their two-year
effort to force new elections for the
building’s board of directors has been a
futile exercise – even with the assistance
of state regulators, according to a recently
filed petition in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
The trio are seeking a
court-appointed receiver to take over the board’s duties for
holding an election and monitoring the results, alleging the
condo association’s current directors have violated Florida
law by repeatedly canceling annual meetings when unit owners
can vie for vacant seats.
Franklin Zemel, the attorney representing Catton, David
Harari and Mark Massry, said an independent election monitor
is the only way to ensure legitimate elections for the
Turnberry Village North condo board. State legislators have
sought to criminalize condo fraud, which is rampant in South
Florida.
“The self-proclaimed board of directors has not had an
election from 2013 to 2016, and then cancelled the 2017
election in order to make an eligible candidate illegible,”
Zemel said. “We often read about fraud in condominium
association elections and my clients are more than concerned
with the actions of the current board.” |
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Turnberry Village North Tower
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The petition alleges that the Turnberry Village North directors misled
Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation into closing an
administrative investigation by falsely claiming it would finally hold an
election in 2018, but never followed through. Joshua Krut, Turnberry Village
North’s lawyer, said the petition is without legal and factual merit. “The
association plans to vigorously defend this action,” Krut said. He declined
further comment.
According to the petition, the board called off its December 2017 annual
meeting because the directors did not want Catton to fill one of five vacant
seats. Catton owns a unit in the Turnberry Village South Tower, but resides
in the north building, the petition states. Zemel said the directors
canceled the annual meeting in order to rewrite the association’s bylaws so
that only North Tower owners can sit on their board. He noted South Tower
owners pay lower annual assessments than their counterparts in the sister
building.
During a June 26, 2018 special meeting, the proposed amendment passed with
72 percent approval of the building’s owner. “An incredible number for a
vote conducted during the summer months when, typically, the majority of the
owners are absent,” the petition states, also citing a number of alleged
irregularities, such as the validity of certain signatures.
According to an exhibit attached to the petition, Florida’s Department of
Professional Regulation determined in December that the north tower
association violated state law by scuttling the 2017 election despite having
sufficient eligible candidates. The petitioners accuse the condo board of
failing to provide unit owners with proper notice for the next election and
that some of the notices were never received. |