It
all sounds so…so, well let's just say Utopian, doesn't it? You
see, there is a neighborhood, with neighborhood amenities, where all the
neighbors contribute for those amenities. And some of the
neighbors oversee those amenities, collect the dues, make any business
decisions that need to be made and everyone lives happily ever after.
And let's call those neighborhoods associations, whether condo,
homeowner or cooperative. And let's say that this set-up provides
for "carefree living" where the residents have a say in how
their neighborhood is run. It's enough to give us the warm and
fuzzies, isn't it? So then why are there so many problems in
Privatopia? And just what do those problems really mean?
In
this talk show host Shu Bartholomew and guest Jan Bergemann will discuss
the fact that the owners were lured under false pretenses into these
so-called community associations. It's abundantly clear that community
associations don't protect property values -- rather the opposite is
true -- and that "carefree living" is just an advertising
gimmick. Living in a
community association is anything but "carefree”!
The
big questions: How well are
these associations doing in Florida, what is happening to the amenities and what happens when there are not
enough people left to make the needed contributions to the association
coffers? I guess we all
wonder if “association living” is a viable and sustainable housing
model or if it does fail the owners? It becomes more and more obvious
that the only winners of this housing system are the service providers,
such as attorneys and community association managers!
If
you want some answers to these questions, please listen to this edition
of "On The Commons."
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