Happy
Holidays … Merry Christmas … Happy Kwanaanza,
Happy New
Year (I hope)
and to All
a Good Night
I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone
a very happy holiday season, with my hope that you enjoy
the holidays….
But, one thing Santa (or
our government) should not be gifting to us is a chunk
of coal to ensure compliance with building safety
(which, of course, is needed) at a cost designed to
frustrate seniors or the disabled living in their
communities for years with fees that are double (or
triple) their current assessments to comply with full
funding on reserves.
At the onset, full funding
on reserves should always have been in place.
It is rude and
disappointing that comments on concerns on maintenance
dues going up stating “it’s time to pay the piper,” or
telling seniors or the disabled if they can’t afford it,
to move out are not condemned by our representatives and
shows a lack of concern by our government officials to
understand what these practices are going to do not only
to the senior citizens or the disabled, but also to the
real estate market in general, as the scared members of
an HOA or COA scramble to unload their properties
because they cannot afford the new maintenance dues –
and, which will undoubtedly deflate prices.
Why is it that our federal
government has no problem assisting those who break our
laws and enter this country illegally, but has no plan
to assist senior citizens or the disabled who may not
be able to pay homes they have lived in for decades due
to increasing maintenance fees?
And, for our state
representatives – with all due respect, I have yet to
see a plan to address this issue.
While new companies will
be cropping up to “assist in meeting safety issues for
HOAs and COAs” will these companies be able to get
grants or other financing from our government? Will
these companies have an incentive to push up prices on
repairs or make new concessions to satisfy board members
protected by association attorneys under the “business
judgment rule.” In other words, what will keep the
foxes away from the chickens?
No one wants a tragedy
like Surfside, but at the same time, we ought not have a
tragedy of the exodus of owners in HOAs and COAs who
simply did not know, or were encouraged to pass “partial
funding reserves.”
The legislative regular
session convenes on January 9, 2024.
Perhaps we can think of
some ways to tell those who are supposed the rights of
owners in HOAs and COAs in Florida, to devise some
suggestions on making the laws not only to protect
building safety, but also to protect the emotional and
financial burden of senior citizens and disabled
impacted by companies who may have a financial interest
in inflating safety measures. Please let me know your
thoughts on this issue.
I wish all of you a
blessed and happy holiday season, with the hope that in
the coming year, there will no coal in our stockings,
but measures instituted so that we can finally say, “to
all, a good night.” |