Published December 9, 2003
HIALEAH GARDENS, FL - Hundreds
of upset unit owners at Grand Vista Condominium gathered in protest to
remove their board of directors and property manager in hopes of ending
the corruption, deception, censorship, threats and unlawful activity they
have endured for over seven years at this condominium. Over $359,161
has disappeared from their Association reserve funds. A board meeting
to approve a special assessment this evening quickly turned into an intense
public demonstration and an organized plan to remove the current board
of directors and property manager. The property manager, Jose O.
Garcia of J & M Condo Management of Miami, FL announced that
since there was no quorum of directors, there could not be a meeting.
Owners were outraged wondering why all board members were not present at
what was to be the most controversial and important meeting the members
have ever had. “We want answers,” hundreds of distressed unit owners
demanded. To keep emotions in check, nearly one third of all the
city of Hialeah Gardens police officers on duty responded to the scene
this late Friday evening. Last month a fine in excess of $50,000
was imposed by the Department of Business and Professional Regulations
(“DBPR”) on the Association for voluminous violations of Chapter 718 of
the Florida Statutes by the current board. In a consent order agreement
made with the DBPR, the Association agreed to approve a special assessment
to collect the money for the fines from the individual unit owners.
The board of directors, however, did not approve the assessment.
Instead, board president Eliecer Cuadrado announced that the Association
would appeal the fines; fines which had been imposed because of utter irresponsibility
or blatant malfeasance on the part of the board. In an attempt to diffuse
their responsibility, board members blamed unit owners for these fines
because unit owners had reported these violations to the authorities.
Despite being informed by the DBPR that the allegations made by the unit
owners were not unfounded, Cuadrado distributed at the meeting a document
which contained the name of one such unit owner who allegedly reported
some of these violations. Cuadrado stated that he wanted everyone to see
who had made the complaints that caused this astonishing fine.
In what is probably the biggest fine ever imposed by the DBPR on a non-developer
owned condominium in Florida’s history, last month an investigation determined
that amongst many other violations, the Association left 282 unit owners
without insurance; the Association spent thousands of dollars for non-common
expenses; they reimbursed two current board members for non-approved expenses
such as gas, jury duty parking, car repair parts, personal credit cards,
grocery items, purchases at Home Depot, etc.; they reimbursed a unit owner
over $10,000 for un-approved repairs to the inside of his unit and paid
him for hotel lodging while his unit was being repaired. Unit owners
have not obtained financial reports in several years and have been unable
to inspect the financial records. The Association holds elections
at whim when they deem it convenient or when they are warned by the DBPR
or their attorney. Despite the lack of financial disclosure and problems
with elections, unit owners have obtained notice to pay three special assessments
this year. Just days before the meeting, unit owners called the offices
of State Representative Ralph Arza (R-102) to report that garbage and waste
left all over the property was in deplorable condition and could soon become
a health hazard. Garbage was overflowing the parking lots and the
hallways of this large community for several days. According to Waste
Management Inc., the waste removal company that services this condominium,
the Association was behind three months on their payments and owed them
approximately $9,000.
The Association posted a notice of meeting indicating that they were not
in agreement of an assessment to pay the civil penalties. Using Gestapo-like
methods the Association's notice warned that they would be providing the
first name, last name and unit number of the unit owners who complained
to the authorities and caused the $50,000 fine. Employing methods
of intimidation more prone to mafia-era times than to modern-day America,
the Association hoped to silence the discontent among unit owners and discourage
any further complaints. Hundreds of people arrived at this meeting
expecting to see the financial information and learn about the violations.
What was intended to be a board meeting to approve yet another special
assessment, soon turned into a call for action for the association members.
State Representative Julio Robaina (R-117) who is chairman of a committee
formed to study the state laws that govern condominium and homeowner associations
had been invited by concerned unit owners to attend the meeting. Upon hearing
the charges made by the board members who accused certain unit owners of
causing the fines, Rep. Robaina addressed the crowd of upset owners and
explained that the violations had been as a result of several serious investigations
conducted by the DBPR, which had determined that the association was not
in compliance with state law.
It was clear at this meeting that the board members and property manager
were unwilling to take responsibility for these fines, which were all imposed
for violations which took place during their administration. Board
members avoided answering direct questions about the finances, at first
saying they could not answer the questions because there was no quorum,
then because they did not know the details of the violations, then because
they had not obtained the monthly financial information from Garcia.
Garcia demonstrated a revised agenda and said he could not talk about anything
which was not on the agenda, which only he had a copy of. In what
seemed like Moe, Larry and Curly pointing at each other for blame, this
meeting was no slapstick. Garcia indicated that his management company
had given the information to one of the Association members. Then in what
appeared a total disarray, one board member pointed at another, and so
forth. Cuadrado who first indicated that he had not received any
financial report then later contradicted himself by saying that he had
planned to purchase a photocopier to duplicate the financial statements,
but had been told by the property manager that it was illegal to distribute
the monthly financial statements he had provided Cuadrado. Upset
grew amongst unit owners, when they discovered that they were being deceived.
Garcia said he had never told the Association that it was illegal, just
too costly.
At this point, untrusting unit owners began to shout, “Let’s get rid of
them!” Hearing the screaming crowds, Representative Robaina explained
that unit owners had the option of recalling their board members.
A motion was made and seconded to conduct a meeting the following Friday
at 7:30 pm with the purpose of commencing a recall process and gather the
necessary signatures on appropriate recall forms. Still some unit
owners wanted to oust the board members and property manager right then.
Several unit owners expressed that they had been victimized by the Association
and property manager when they made these complaints. According to
Julia Delatorre and Eddie Hernandez, both unit owners who made complaints
of this harassment to the DBPR, the Association placed illegal liens, erroneous
charges on their accounts, and threatened them with foreclosures and other
threats for no other reason than the fact that they had requested the financial
documents of the Association. Martha Rodriguez reported that she
had been threatened with arrest for no reason by the Association Vice President,
Mr. Manuel Carrera Jr., a paralegal employed by the City of Hialeah Gardens
Police Department, but who is himself not a police officer. Robaina
informed unit owners that the State would not condone these types of threats
and urged anyone who felt that they had been victimized by this Association
after submitting a complaint to report this illegal activity to the state
authorities. Hernandez previously sent a complaint for this unfair
collection harassment to Andrea Foster, Director for the Federal Trade
Commission on January 2, 2003 because the Association billed Hernandez
over $450 in late fees for no reason on December 13, 2002, the same day
he was refused access to inspect the official records. Hernandez
alleged in his complaint that he did not owe the Association any money,
yet he was harassed with bogus bills of up to $1,100 after he reported
this illegal activity to the authorities. A letter from Hernandez’s
attorney, Donna Rice Owen, Esq. dated April 15, 2003, warns of violations
of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, (FDCPA) and points out that
according to the condominium bylaws, the Association does not have the
authority to charge a minimum late fee, when unit owners fall behind on
their assessments. Six months ago, Hernandez presented evidence of
these violations and the threats and harassment he had been experiencing
to Assistant State Attorney, Frederic Kerstein.
Unit owners will reconvene next Friday to determine the fate of their Association.
Rick Valdez, staff member for Rep. Arza, who was also present at this meeting,
indicated that the offices of Rep. Arza had been in contact with the offices
of the DBPR and had requested that someone from the Division be at this
meeting to explain these charges. In an effort to regain control
of their runaway association, unit owners of Grand Vista Condominium in
Hialeah Gardens will meet once again on Friday, December 12 at 7:30 pm.
Concerned unit owners will discuss the possibility of recalling the current
board, which has shown utter incompetence and blatant disregard for the
law. Realizing that this board has jeopardized the homestead of their families
they will seek an action plan to take back their community and investigate
where the missing funds have gone.
www.grandvistacondo.com
For a list of violations, please visit:
www.grandvistacondo.com/violations |