More condo owners in South Florida fail to pay share of fees

It's the neighbors who must make up the money when condo owners don't pay their share of maintenance fees and special assessments.

And while failing to pay isn't a new problem, it seems to be happening more frequently now, callers tell the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's condo line.

Many of the delinquents are investors walking away from property, or owners who can't afford adjustable-rate mortgage payments that have ballooned.

At the Deerfield Lake condo in Deerfield Beach, 18 of the 75 owners have stopped paying since earlier this year. They are angry over a $1,400 special assessment imposed by the board to renovate roofs on the covered parking areas. They have refused to pay that as well.

"Since 1976 the roofs hadn't been repaired and they were dangerous," said Ed Stahl, an owner who has paid. "The board decided to repair them because all of us could have been liable if something happened."

When the association began filing liens against the 18, they filed their own suit, claiming the board illegally imposed the special assessment. They said the board gave improper notice to owners, did not let them speak at the meeting where the assessment was decided and questioned the choice of contractor.

The attorney for the 18 did not respond to three messages left on her voice mail. Attempts to reach several of the owners were unsuccessful.

The condo board denied their allegations and accused the 18 of failing to submit to mandatory arbitration as required by law. It also filed a countersuit against the owners to foreclose liens filed for not paying their assessments.

"It put us in a terrible situation," said Stahl, who is not a board member. "We didn't want to bring a lawyer in to sue these people but that's what we had to do. But it's taking a long time."

That's where the problem is. While the suits are mired in legal intricacies, the board has no money coming in from 18 units. Since the board had already contracted for the roof work, it had to pay or face suit.

So the board took out a $20,000 private line of credit, according to the community association manager, J.D. Keating.

The cases are pending in Broward Circuit Court.

What happens to the condo in the meantime is what concerns Stahl.

"We cannot maintain our common property unless the regular maintenance fees are paid by all," he said. "We're stuck. It isn't fair to people who live here and pay."

Gregory Ward, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who isn't connected to the case, is seeing similar problems throughout South Florida as a result of associations having to file liens and foreclosures against so many owners.

"Anecdotally, we've been hearing of a lack of timely repairs and problems with the day-to-day operations, such as garbage removal, because boards are now so preoccupied with collecting that they can't administer the property," he said.

It is one reason, he suspects, for the increased number of complaints filed with the state against condo boards, which increased from 1,413 in the year ending June 30, 2002, to 2,682 in the year that ended June 30.

"They're busy doing what they can to keep the association going and the cash flow coming in and they can't do it all," he said. "Boards are strained."

Source : http://www.ccfj.net/