TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART IV

Horror stories abound at the condo towers on Galt Ocean Mile

Article Courtesy of THE FORT LAUDERDALE CITY NEWS

By Grayson Walker, Ph.D.

Published June 2007

   

Gulag is an acronym for the former Soviet Union’s penal system. Since then, it has come into common use to describe any repressive system. I named my column the “Tales From The Galt Gulag,” because I write about the repression of unit Owners on the Galt Ocean Mile. 

Hurricane Season 

Hurricane season is upon us. It is time to prepare for the worst, but pray for the best. We have been told to be self-sufficient for three days. We must be prepared for no electricity, water, telephone, or cable for as much as three days. Perhaps more importantly, it means there will be no police or fire protection services for as much as three days. This is what happened in South Dade County after Andrew and in New Orleans after Katrina. 

There are steps you can take to prepare. Write a Hurricane Plan and share it with your family and friends. If you have pets, you must include them in your plan. You must have hurricane supplies. These supplies will differ if you stay in your home or evacuate. You must be prepared to protect your family and yourself, since there may be no police or fire protection, as was the case with Hurricane’s Andrewand Katrina. A hurricane supply list and other emergency and hurricane planning information will be posted at www.Southpoint-Condominum.org

Windows 

Windows continue to be an issue. I receive more calls and emails concerning windows than on any other subject. Many condominium associations appear to be breaking the law. 

The Florida Legislature changed Florida Statutes, FS 718.111(11). The responsibility for window and exterior doors was changed, effective January 1, 2004. The change shifted responsibility for windows from the unit Owner to the Condominium Association. 

Thus, Attorney Gary Poliakoff wrote in his Hi-Riser column, “there is absolutely no debate over the question as to whether casualty insurance policies issued after January 1, 2004 ... must cover all improvements to the condominium which include … unit windows and sliding glass doors.” He went on to say, “The condominium association is responsible for the replacement of windows and sliding glass doors.” 

Thank you, Gary! There you have it, some plain words that explain the situation. 
What could be clearer? 

Unit Owners Cheated 

Some Boards are sending threatening letters to unit Owners, trying to force them to buy windows. Owners are being cheated into wasting many thousands of dollars buying windows that do not belong to them. Of course, this means the unit Owner is paying much more than it would cost if the Condominium Association replaced the windows for the entire building. 

The Palm-Aire Country Club Condominium Association No. 4, Inc., followed Florida law. CAM Manager Thomas Wilson wrote to unit Owners, “As you know, the Association has sustained a lot of damage from Hurricane Wilma and the Board has been working hard to get the Association back to where it was prior to October 24, 2005 hurricane. 

A tremendous amount of work has been completed, but there is still work to be done. One of the most confusing issues in this entire endeavor has been, Who is responsible for the repair or the replacement of the damaged windows and sliding glass doors in the Associations?” He wrote 
the DBPR “made a decision for all the condominiums in the State” and the decision basically says, “If a Condominium Association insured an item, they must be responsible to repair or replace that item.” 

Thank you, CAM Thomas Wilson and Palm-Aire #4! They wrote to their Unit Owners that if they repaired or replaced windows or sliding glass doors, they would be reimbursed by the Association. They wrote that if a unit Owner had not made repairs, the Association would get bids on the windows and sliding glass doors to be repaired or replaced. 

If your unit’s windows need repair/replacement, it is the responsibility of your Condominium Association to repair or replace the windows to meet the 2005 building code. If you have spent your money to repair or replace your windows, you can send your Condominium Association a letter 
demanding reimbursement. 

You should notify your Condominium Association, by certified mail, of the need for the repair, replacement, or reimbursement. If the Condominium Association refuses to take action, you can file a complaint with Fort Lauderdale Code Enforcement, and the DBPR for violation of Florida statutes FS 718.111(11). 

Hurricane Damage Claims 

Hurricane Wilma damaged thousands of condominium windows and doors. Many unit Owners filed claims with their insurance company to repair broken windowpanes and frames. Much to their chagrin, these unit Owners learned that their windows were not covered since Florida law makes them the responsibility of the condominium association. 

At the same time, the Condominium Association’s filed claims with their insurance company to repair broken windowpanes and frames. These claims were paid by the insurance companies to the Condominium Association. 

Some Condominium Associations used the money they received for the damaged apartment unit windows to reward their supporters, and to deny their opposition. Unit Owners that were “friendly” to their Board may have received one-hundred percent compensation for their damaged windows. On the other hand, Unit Owners that were not “friendly” to their Board received nothing. 

You may obtain a copy of your condominium’s master insurance policy, as your right as a Unit Owner. Contact the insurance company and determine how much was paid to your Condominium Association for damaged windows. You may then obtain records from your condominium detailing how much was paid to each unit Owner for window damage. Then talk to your neighbors about their damaged windows, and find out what they received from the Board. 

Permits and Code Enforcement 

The City of Fort Lauderdale requires a permit and inspection for many types of work. This includes electrical, plumbing, sheetrock, shutters, and windows. Many condominiums made illegal changes to apartments without purchasing the necessary permit(s), or having the required inspection(s) of the work. If changes were made, even if there was a permit issued, but the work was not inspected, the permit is invalid. 

Illegal changes put your entire building and your unit at risk. The master insurance company could exclude all claims to the structure and invalidate the policy due to illegal changes made to the building. A unit Owner’s insurance policy could be invalidated. You may wish to protect your building and yourself by confirming that all work on your building conforms to the law. 

Visit http://www.fortlauderdale.gov/building_services/onestop/kioskopt.asp and conduct a property search. You can look up your unit, association, and Board members. The system allows you to check the existence and status of permit(s), as well as inspection(s) of the work. 

Help for Owners

Attorney Inger Garcia can be reached at www.IngerGarcia.com or by telephone at 954-752-1213. 

Jan Bergemann’s Cyber Citizens For Justice is an organization of Owners, for Owners, to protect Owners’ rights. For more information, please visit them at www.CCFJ.net or telephone 386-740-1503 or by email at [email protected] 

 

The Galt Mile Yahoo! Discussion group is a free forum. You can reach it at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GaltMile/ and if you wish to subscribe, simply send an email to [email protected] 

  

The Southpoint Condominium Yahoo Discussion group is a free forum. You can reach it at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SouthpointCondominium/ and if you wish to subscribe, simply send an email to [email protected] 


The Southpoint Condominium website can be reached at
http://Southpoint-Condominium.org

     

The AARP’s Bill of Rights for Homeowners is available online at http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/consume/2006_15_homeowner.pdf

Government Officials

Governor Charlie Crist can be reached at 850-488-7146 or by email at [email protected] .

Your State Representative is Ellyn Bogdanoff. She can be reached at 954-762-3757 or by email at [email protected].

State Representative Julio Robaina can be reached at 305-442-6868 or by email at [email protected] 


Harold Hyman of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Bureau of Enforcement canbe reached at 954-202-3982 or by email at [email protected] .

Danille Carroll is our Condominium Ombudsman. She can be reached at 954-202-3234 or by email at Danille.
[email protected]


Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Bruce Roberts can be reached at 954-828-5700.
State Attorney Michael J. Satz can be reached at 954-831-6955.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle can be reached at 954-828-5003, or by email at [email protected] .
The Galt Gulag’s Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner is Christine Teel. She can be reached 954-828-5003, or by email at [email protected] 

  
Fort Lauderdale City Manager George Gretsas can be reached at 954-828-5013, by fax at 954-828-5021, or by email at [email protected] 

Code Enforcement Head Cate Mc-Caffrey can be reached at 954-828-4989, or by email at [email protected] .
Code Enforcement Supervisor John Gossman can be reached at 954-828-5806, or by email at [email protected] 
Galt Gulag Code Enforcement Officer Al Lovinshimer can be reached at 954-828-5118, or by email at [email protected] .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I own an apartment in the Galt Gulag,at the Southpoint condominium, on the Galt Mile in Fort Lauderdale. Many people do not realize how many rights they give up when they buy an apartment in a condominium association.

have taught American Government, Constitutional Law, and Ethics for over twenty-years, but I was not prepared for life in the Galt Gulag. At the June 2005 Board meeting, Board President Marty Glazer called the critics of the Board “insurgents.” I am an insurgent in the Galt Gulag. You can reach me at [email protected] or 954-567-0520.

 

Editor’s note:

Dr. Grayson Walker and myself have received over 500 calls and emails since beginning our Galt Condo articles in October, 2006. Almost all are about extreme condo corruption and intimidation of residents all in an effort to steal unit owners’ money in broad daylight and with total impunity. What follows is sadly typical of what’s happening on the Galt Ocean Mile and their 20 buildings.

Dear Editor,

I live at Chateau Mar Condo and we have a very well built six story building that is a part of old Florida style right next to the Riverside Hotel on the New River. We seem to be the latest victims of this “mind set” that one of the professors and experts on concrete restoration of the University of Miami called it. That balconies fall off in 40 year old buildings. In fact many of the experts I have talked to said this is not true they can last many years if built to code and looked after.

Ours is especially well built. One balcony out of 48 needs the full treatment of rebar repair, due to bad workmanship around 7 year ago, and others in small repair. Most balconies are in great condition with not even hairline cracks, but in spite of this we have been told, by engineers, that all the balconies, even without any signs of deterioration will have to be dug into and should be done straight away. Not mentioning one important part of concrete restoration which is monitoring. That is taking pictures of the cracks or spalling and checking its progress through a few years. As long as they are waterproofed this should not be a problem. In fact small cracks show the rebar is doing the job.

Because of so many conflicting stories about balcony deterioration and after hearing the terrible stories around Fort Lauderdale of how ‘good’ balconies were dug into and found to have nothing wrong I decided to go to the most reputable source of information in the construction industry, the American Society of civil engineers (ASCE), to get some definitive answers. I conducted a telephone interview with Marvin Oey the director of the Construction Institute (CI), one of the seven institutes of the ASCE. The Construction Institute is the first national organization designed to meet the needs of all individuals working within the construction industry. 

Membership includes people involved in building construction, designing construction projects and teaching construction.

The construction industry was established to provide a collaborative forum for every participant in the construction process. Dr Marvin Oey received his PhD, from the university of Texas at Austin.

As Director of the Construction Institute (CI) at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Dr. Oey manages various technical activities related to construction that include temporary structures, engineering specifications, claims avoidance, and materials. He has lead responsibility for the development and maintenance of CI’s strategic direction and works closely with industry executives to identify industry needs and improve performance through research, education, special studies and services. Interview for Concrete Restoration conducted by Valerie Austin, noted as “V.”

V Are all balconies on buildings over 45 years old a problem?

M It all depends on the design and on what code they were using at the time. I would say not.

V So balconies can last longer than 45 years?

M Yes, I would say they can. The way they design concrete buildings, they build in a safety factor so a balcony won’t just one day collapse. It will forge a huge crack and start to deflect. Typically they have a deflection of about 2-3 inches. The balcony is actually hanging or out of spoke. That is when it is actually dangerous. But if there is no sign of huge cracks, they are still pretty safe structurally.

V One person took all the tiles off the balcony. Does that cause a problem?

M Removing tiles is not a good thing to do. Slowly, the concrete will start to erode away. Normally, you would have a film over the concrete which is water protection, but now it will more than likely seep through the concrete.

V. What about small spots spalling for instance the size of a palm of a hand is that serious or minor?

M. Small spots are minor, that’s expected in concrete, that can be caused by the mix of the concrete being a little bit different.

V One contractor wanted to use Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) to inspect the balconies. Do you think that would work?

M I have never heard of using GPR on structures. I don’t even know if that would work.

V There was one engineer with a sort of broom pole who tapped on the balconies. He said most balconies were in need of attention, because you could hear hollow sounds. This was in spite of the fact that many of these balconies did not show any indication of deterioration at all. Is this sort of tapping a normal testing procedure?

M Tapping is one way. Although, to tap just to hear if it is hollow, sounds pretty suspect. I don’t think any engineer would do anything like that. There will be hollow spots in concrete just because the aggregate in it. It may sound hollow just because of a different density of rock. It wasn’t mixed well or something.

V What about tapping on tiled balconies? Especially ones that have no cracks?

M That is very suspect. Typically, what they (engineers) will do, is they have a ruler and they stick the  ruler into the crack. If there is not a crack then it (the balcony) is structurally sound.

V Could you explain more about putting a ruler into a crack as a test?

M That’s really (a method of) measuring the width of the crack and the depth. So, the deeper the crack is, the closer (it is) to the rebar. Which means the tensile strength is gone. That would be a dangerous situation, because basically the rebar is holding up the balcony.

V What about hairline cracks?

M Hairline cracks are to be expected in all concrete. That is not an identification (of a problem). I thought this may help give condo boards and unit owners some very useful information so they are not 

seduced by these unethical engineers and contractors that are leaving a trial of nervous breakdowns and people that have no choice but to sell their homes. We have seen our condo be devalued by $200,000 due to excessive and nonsense assessments that are not necessary. The newly repaired balconies are only guaranteed by some of the contractors for 5 years and an independent engineer said that ours could last another 5-10 years. Could it be because the contractors need work in this slow down? The board are going with contractors that want to take all our lovely tiles up and dig in even though we have no deterioration. These seems to be $2 mill contracts which is exceptionally expensive in a building with only 34 units. Some people may lose their home. It has made it impossible to sell and we are in such a great location. Could that be it?

Valerie Austin, Fort Lauderdale

[email protected] 


 

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART I

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART II

TALES FROM THE GALT GULAG -- PART III


THE CONDO LAWYER -- INGER GARCIA

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