County Commissioner Barnett Wants Special Session Over Condo Crisis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Laura Hanley
Commissioner Michael A. Barnett’s Office
Palm Beach County Commission District 3
561-601-7712
lhanley@pbc.gov
GREENACRES, FL – Commissioner Mike Barnett recently addressed the condominium special assessment crisis at the Board of County Commissioners meeting. Palm Beach County residents, many of whom are seniors living on fixed incomes and struggling with skyrocketing property insurance premiums, may now wind up losing their homes.
“I have spoken at length with our distressed district residents, local legislators, and attorneys in the field, who say condominium owners’ only recourse may be to reverse mortgage their properties to pay the 5-6 figure assessments, which they cannot afford, or to sell their properties.
.
This is unacceptable, these are people who have worked their entire lives and saved to live in paradise. Some may have to move in with their adult children; others may end up in shelters or on the streets. Our seniors deserve better than this”, said Barnett.
“Our residents need help. They need more time, and the clock is ticking towards the January 1st deadline when the SB 4-D condominium assessment legislation takes effect. I am calling on Tallahassee to reform this law. The Florida Legislature must immediately convene a special session to find a resolution and avert what could become a major disaster for the residents of District 3 and Palm Beach County.”
I live in District 2 and Commissioner Gregg K. Weiss is our commissioner. Hopefully, all county commissioners are fighting for us.
19 comments:
Condos are the worst!
29:25...name the corrupt condo associations. The condo where I live is a not-for-profit corporation. Every bill we pay is supported by an invoice. Nothing we can do about high insurance premiums...a scam on all of us.
@9:42...since you have a grudge against ALL condos, did you ever live in one? If so, where? Condos are great for all those on fixed incomes as the common expenses are divided by all the owners.
Yes, but you lose control of costs and fees and can live among many bad and selfish people, they were not for me and never again condos or HOAs. The worst experience ever!
@9:55...ok, whatever--you had some bad experience. But let me remind you, condos have a budget meeting where ALL owners can come and comment on everything presented. So, there is no way anyone can "lose control of costs." and if you feel someone is "bad vote them out.
Unfortunately, Reverse Mortgages are a HUD Product and are not available on Condos in Florida. There may be Banks that do a version of them, but I would be very careful before choosing this option. That would be something productive for Congress to work on, but they would rather feather their own nests than do anything for the people.
@1:45...we had an owner do a reverse mortgage here years ago...then he died and we were left holding the bag for years to get that settled.
Many who have owned a house for a long time, who try the condo thing never really like them, would never advocate for condo ownership ever again! Not for me!
I was a home owner since the 90's. I had a condo in Palm Beach, then in Lake Worth (Lynn's complex), now back to Palm Beach. Absolutely LOVE condo living.
To each his own, despise condos and HOAs never want to do it ever again!
I like being able to change my light bulb or fix something, not wait months to get something fixed like at a condo or live so close to alcoholics or loud and selfish people!
@7:21...don't know where you lived but that does not happen in my condo. As an aside, this blog was about the heavy price of insurance.
As for the Budget Meeting: The Budget is already decided based on the Reserve Report. It's the Reserve Requirements that drive up the Condo Fees. Many, if not most Condos, have been voting to collect Partial Reserves, rather than Full Reserves. This is where the law kicks in. Full Reserves are going to be required, going forward, but will not be payable until the Condo Fee starting in 2026. This is the law that needs to be changed. A more gradual approach to Full Reserves could certainly be agreed upon by the State.
@2:00--The Budget is not already decided. It is developed over our 10 month experience in over-all costs and we vote on it at the Budget meeting. With the inflation we have experienced, everything is more expensive, i.e., materials, labor, etc. We have full reserves. I used to pay a handyman $15 an hours. Now it's $65. We have no control over the scam insurance industry.
It all sounds horrible, I am keeping my house!
I don't know how you run your condo, but the Treasurer works with the Accounting Department, taking into consideration the current expenses, the estimated amounts the expenses will increase, and the funds to be set aside based on the age of the items on the Reserve Report. I don't know what you are talking about.
@7:21...don't know where you live but I live in a small condo association with 20 units. We follow our documents to the T. No accounting department...so what is your argument? Where do you live anyway?
In a big Condo. Make sure you take your required classes.
@9pm...Whether large or small, educational courses are a definite requirement as of July 1 to be on a Board of Directors.
Post a Comment