JACKSONVILLE – Owners
at a Jacksonville condo complex are stressed because they
were recently told they need to pay up to $13,000 for
improvements by this summer.
Mike Distefano and Sandy Sherman have been living at their
Rose Creek Condo in Lakewood for 13 years now. A recent
special assessment has them worried they might have to find
a new place to live.
The Board of Directors recently approved a special
assessment for almost half a million dollars which means
some units will have to pay almost $13,000 by June 30.
Residents have
questions they say they can’t get answered like what exactly
the money is going toward.
“We get it’s going for structural repairs, what structural
repairs, I don’t know,” Sandy Sherman said. “They’re saying
because of the new law, that’s what has to be done. But you
know, the problem is that we wouldn’t be in this position
now with all these structural repairs needing to be done if
they were doing their due diligence, for the last 20 years,
30 years.”
News4JAX took a walk around the complex with Distefano and
Sherman to see what was not being maintained on the
property. There was a tarp that’s been on the roof of a
condo building for months now, they said.
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There were also issues
with a roof buckling from water redirected by a gutter and
other general issues with wood rotting and things falling
apart.
Another issue residents have concerns about is the
clubhouse. They said the doors had been locked for 20 years.
So, that’s 20 years they haven’t been able to access basic
amenities on the property.
The Florida Condo Safety Act Bill that stemmed from the
deadly June 2021 collapse of the Surfside Condos in South
Florida is now requiring more regular inspections for older
condo buildings. It’s also requiring condo associations to
better maintain their financial reserves.
Barry Ansbacher, an attorney who specializes in condominium
and real estate law, said condo owners are not at risk of
being priced out of a place they’ve lived for decades.
Ansbacher said the financial ramifications of the Florida
Condo Safety Act for condo owners is a double-edged sword.
“For people who are buying into a condominium, they will
have the assurance that the association and their managers
are taking care of the property. So, on the positive side,
things won’t get deferred and put off,” he said. “On the
other side, the cost will be reflective of what it takes to
do that, so they will go up.”
If residents at Rose Creek can’t afford to pay the special
assessment, Ansbacher said they run the risk of being
foreclosed on.
“People can and do lose their homes over that,” he said.
News4JAX reached out to the association president for the
condo community to find out more about the costs but they
did not immediately respond.