Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Florida Senate Bill 1196


On Tuesday, the Florida House gave approval to SB 1196. It has already passed in the Florida Senate. This is a bill that pertains to Condo Associations and Homeowner Associations that essentially says that when financial institutions foreclose on a unit, they must pay one year of past assessments due the associations.

These associations have suffered during this economy and those responsible owners are left paying for maintenance, landscaping, water and all the other services necessary to operation the association. In my condo building, we have 10% in foreclosure and the rest of us are picking up the tab. Foreclosures are taking anywhere from 18 to 24 months and even then, there is still a lot of time before the unit is sold.

People walk away from their responsibilities for a myriad of reasons: lost their job, can’t pay; pulled a reverse mortgage scheme/scam and walked away or dropped dead; walked away because they are no longer allowed to live in the unit because of laws on the books forbidding sexual predators live a certain distance from a school or bus stop; decide to become deadbeats just because they can; rent out their unit, collect the rents and not pay the association, walk away because their unit is now worth less than what they owe. Those are some examples.

Gone is the era when people knew they were responsible for their debts and would do everything possible to pay them off, even taking a second or third job. Not today. It is easier to file bankruptcy and let the other guy deal with it. The government has contributed to this problem by enacting laws protecting the deadbeat, costs of which are very high.

In the past, lenders only had to pay 6 months of back fees. This new law would require them to pay 12 months once they took title as they, at that point, would be the new owners. This should help sooth the sting for all of us who are paying someone’s legal and moral obligation.

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