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Article Courtesy of The Palm
Beach Post
By Frank Cerabino
Published April 9, 2009
To Norman Bartell, it's not the hundred
bucks, it's the notion that he might be some sort of disreputable
character.
Bartell, a retired dentist who has lived at
Century Village in West Palm Beach for more than 20 years, is refusing to
pay a $100 fee for a background check on himself.
"They're concerned about sex
perverts," he said Tuesday. "I'm going on 87, so I don't think I
should be considered a sex problem."
Cynthia Greenblat, the 80-year-old woman he
lives with, laughed.
"It would be wonderful if he
was," she said.
Greenblat and Bartell were living in
separate condos at Century Village two years ago when they both lost their
spouses within days of each other. The widow and widower became friends,
and their friendship blossomed to the point where Bartell now just uses
his Chatham M unit as a place to get mail.
He moved into Greenblat's Wellington H unit
in October.
"He's my lover, my companion and all
that stuff," Greenblat said.
But he's also subject to a Century Village
bylaw that requires new residents to pay for a criminal and financial
background investigation, which each building's board members get to
evaluate.
'Treat everybody the same'
Bartell knows all about this. He used to be
the president of his building and one of those people who got those
reports.
It's useful, he said, for new people coming
into Century Village for the first time, but it makes no sense for
existing unit owners who move from one Century Village building to
another.
"They could just call up and ask, 'How
was this guy as a unit owner?' " he said.
Bartell's background check was prompted by
another unit owner in Greenblat's building who had to pay the $100
background check in a similar cohabitation arrangement.
"I wouldn't have pursued it except
that one of the other owners who had somebody move in with him asked, 'How
come we're not investigating them?' " said Bruce Isaacs, the vice
president of Greenblat's building. "You've got to treat everybody the
same.
"We've had about 10 in our building
who have moved from one building to another."
'Nobody has challenged it'
The investigations aren't shared between
buildings and have to be done each time somebody moves within Century
Village, Isaacs said.
"We had one gentleman who had to pay
six times," he said. "Are we going to give everybody their money
back?"
Bartell and Greenblat think it's time that
somebody puts an end to this rule.
"Nobody has challenged it because they
feel paying $100 is better than fussing with anybody," Bartell said.
"But I'm willing to go all the way."
And so, it seems, is the condo
organization, which sent them an attorney letter, foreshadowing a lawsuit.
Isaacs said the matter has created
animosity in the building and will be expensive for Bartell and Greenblat
whether they win or lose.
"It's going to cost them money. It's
going to cost everybody in the building money," Isaacs said.
"It's a shame.
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