Saturday, March 10, 2012

``````````````saturday thoughts``````````````````

Saturday--

I am in NY until the 15th.   So there won't be much on the blog.  When I get a chance I'll make a few remarks (provided that my grandaughter lets me use her computer.)-- in the meantime:

Monday the officers will be elected.   I hope that this Board will be a nine member board with each member participating with honesty and sincerity.

And, as i said in my last post:

The Board would like to bring peace and tranquility back to Southpoint.  It is our home and a peaceful atmosphere is desired and hoped for. 


We hope we will live up to the expectations of those who voted for us, and will prove ourselves worthy to those who did not. We'll all try our best.




Michael E Katz
Director
Southpoint

954-563-0959 home

katz8356@comcast.net 

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com  

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

~~~~~~~Southpoint Election of Directors~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Thanks to all who voted and participated. Thanks to Emma Popolow, and her committee.  





The result of last night’s election of Directors is:


*Tony Peccia              175
*Michel Beberman     154
*Michael E Katz          133
*Elaine Jaffe               118
_______________

Marty Howland        105
Lenny Champagne   98

*The top four are members of the Board.

The carry-over members, fulfilling the second year of their term are:

*Vincent Varbero
*Robert Gast
*Donna Reynolds
*Lynn Weinraub
*Lisa LaMarca    

·         *Members of the 2012 Board.

As the old Board had decided not to hold an organizational meeting immediately upon the election,
the Organizational Meeting will be held on this coming Saturday.
It will be posted this morning (Wednesday.)

Although there was no election of officers, the newly elected Board Members expect that no actions will be taken by the officers of the old Board until an election is held.

This would include signing agreements or contracts, issuing checks, hiring or firing employees, and any other actions not mentioned.

It would be unseemly for a lame duck Board to take any actions during the last days of their holding office.

Any advice or counsel that you see fit to offer will be welcomed.


The Board would like to bring peace and tranquility back to Southpoint.  It is our home and a peaceful atmosphere is desired and hoped for. 


We hope we will live up to the expectations of those who voted for us, and will prove ourselves worthy to those who did not. We'll all try our best.


Michael E Katz
Director
Southpoint

954-563-0959 home

katz8356@comcast.net 

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com  



Tuesday, March 6, 2012

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Election Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Hello Southpointers!  


Let's get moving on the projects that we listed a few days ago.. I hope that the new board, whether or not I am elected, will act like we've been acting the last two Board meetings. Those meetings were a prime example of what we'd like to see for the next year.


Good luck to all the candidates, and I mean that. I think that we've all come to see that open meetings are a possibility, and that Southpoint can do business under the eyes and ears of owners who are willing to attend meetings.


The new Board should schedule regular meetings, perhaps on a weekly basis.  I know we can work out a system where ideas and projects are formulated in the office in conjunction with the Property Manager  --  and then, discussed and voted on in public by the Board. 


We should introduce a better communication system between Owners and the Board--and the office too. If elected, that will be one of my priorities.


Your "Brevity is the Soul of Wisdom" blogger,


Michael E Katz
Director
Southpoint


Katz8356@comcast.net


      
  • www.southpoint-condo.blogspot.com


Monday, March 5, 2012

----------------Financing Assessments ----------------

Hello Southpointers!

Many people asked for my election selections. If I didn't send them you my "picks" just let me know and I'll send them to you. So many people asked yesterday that I may have skipped a few. Ask again.

Today I am going to write about a possible way for Southpoint to finance the large number of projects that may have to be assessed during the next two or three years.

  The numbers below are only examples--we have no bank commitment yet.

If we have a million assessment and Owners paid it in full the amount for each unit would be the same as it was for the HVAC. 

But, if we financed $1,000,000, for ten years, the Association would pay about $11,000 per month, for ten years; and the average unit owner would have an addition $27.00 per month added to their quarterly maintenance. That's about $91 per quarter. 

$91 would be the average, some units (the one bedrooms) would pay less, others would pay more.

This is only an example, and at this time we have commitment at all for financing. Owners who want to avoid the interest would be able to pay up front.  

.mike



Sunday, March 4, 2012

___________Someone Loves Southpoint~~~~~~~~~~~


People are making my job easier.   Here's what someone wrote to me last night.




Southpoint

Dear Michael
After reading your blogs, I find that I’d like to add a few thoughts to the mix.  I’ll try to be brief.

When I bought in Southpoint, I was so happy to be living as I had wanted for many years:  ocean, pleasant building, great location.  I love waking up for a quick glance to the sea, or watching city lights, or seeing teenagers play at with bicycles or skateboards on the street, even during the night.  Safety, beauty, comfort, amenities.   Such simple sounding but rewarding things.  Luckily, from my apartment, all of this and more can be seen.  Along came Wilma, and the building actually got better, even though there were severe problems.  The people of the building brought food from their refrigerators, and many cooked on the barbecue sharing what we had and delivering to those who could not get down the stairs.  This did not require deep friendship nor strong connections except for being human and a basic desire to use what we had and to help others.  This building could still be like that in every way, and Wilma seems a good metaphor.   

Now, we are in  a campaign storm with great disruptions and major feelings of loss for many, a fear of something, although perhaps unarticulated.  Many of us have striven all of our lives for this.  The result of Wilma could have been more negative behavior, or better behavior.  The people chose to do better things.  When the people have a basic goodness, they open up to others without rancor to find common ground based upon concern for others.  They help with understanding, not from ego nor greed.   

 I hope that the people of the building choose to remember others as well as remember the joy they had when moving here.  This is a small thing to ask, respect.   It is a good building, but will remain good only if pleasantly run.  Perhaps if we knew the stories of others, we’d all be more understanding.

 The next Board, whether or not I am elected, should think about the person who wrote the above "love" letter.

 ****************************************************************************

Below is another take on the Balconies from a discussion with an owner. I have tried to report his remarks and idea accurately:

We could have our engineer, Bruce Bromley, re-inspect each balcony and grade them "A," "B," or "C." Those balconies graded "C," would be repaired immediately. The other repairs could be delayed. Of course, surfaces of all balconies that have had their tiles removed would be re-surfaced. The owner believes that the cost for these repairs would be one-half of what we are presently facing. 

********************************************************************************

 I  placed this email on yesterday's Blog, but I put it up after many readers may have read the Blog, so I am repeating it here:


Dear Director Michael E Katz, and
Hi to the very respected board members of Southpoint condominium and all neighbors.

We all spend money to repair common areas for instance, the lobby, elevators, gyms, our pool, but balconies are not common, not public areas, balconies completely private owner's areas.

We are not trying to replace kitchens or repair a California closet. 
To take care of the balcony is the responsibility of the unit owner, if the balcony is in bad condition it is the unit owner's negligence. 
If in any bathroom water leaks on floor and stays there will also  tile damage and if for  a long period water will damage  concrete  and metal rebar could show up. Does it mean condominium must repair this bathroom? No.

Southpoint office could help to set up repair but will bill unit owner for the repair cost. 
Must tiles on the balconies  be the same? No, it could be different or even no tiles. 
Shape of the balconies and color must be same, but tiles could be different. We have different balcony doors, we have different furniture. 

So, I don’t see any reason to replace our balconies.  And glass on the balcony will not add value to property,  beautiful lobby, yes,  nice gym with sauna, yes,  spa and jacuzzi at the pool, yes,  full service beach area, yes.   

But glass on balconies adds very little, not in relation to very high price. And it is very hard to expect glass could stop wind. 

This is my opinion, all of us unit owners have to make a decision. Thank you very much,

Andrey Koroshikh unit owner 2103N.    

********************************************************************************************************

Please remind your friends to check the Blog.  thanks!   



.mike


Michael E. Katz
Southpoint
Director

 954-563-0959
Katz8356@comcast.net 

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com

        

 





   







Saturday, March 3, 2012

+++Let'sTalk some more about the Balconies+++


Question:  Hi Mike. Your blog of Friday  March 2/2012:   I have one question for you:  where do you stand on the issue about the balcony?

Thanks for the question:  it will give me something to talk about in today’s blog. 

Basically, here’s where I stand:

 We will choose a contractor within a week. Maybe Monday, (which I think is unseemly, because the Board may change in only a few days; and a new board should not be bound by a decision made at the last minute by  the old board.) 

 But, the old Board does have the right to vote—so, we’ll have to wait and see what plays out on Monday night at six.


We expect our engineer to come to the meeting with some new information on the cost differential between taking the balconies down completely, and repairing them

 Be there, if you can! 
  
That said:  I want to get the work rolling immediately. Preparation by the contractor starting now. Actual work ASAP. 

The question of the railings:  I saw at the meeting that one-half of the room wanted glass and the other half wanted to save the money and keep the existing railings. The Condo Association  seems to be equally divided. I’d like to poll the entire membership – and let them know what the additional cost will be for glass.

One thing that I want to avoid is making any aesthetic decisions.  If we go to  glass we would need a designer to make renderings. The glass decision does not have to be made immediately. We would have a few weeks while the balconies are taken down,   to make that decision. 

But, I do not want to be any part of any decision involving aesthetics. There will be four hundred different ideas for the glass. I leave that decision to smarter heads.

 As there is more work down the road, we should discuss financing. There are a few alternatives:
  • A loan taken out by the Association. Payments would be much smaller, but payable over a period of several years;  
  • A large, one time assessment;
  • A series of assessments over the next few years;
  • A combination of the above. 
 Owners may come up with additional ideas. 


Here's a list (in no particular order) of future projects.  

  • Pavers and waterproofing around the pool.
  • East wall and stairway,  pool to promenade. (related to above)
  • Pavers and waterproofing around the building.
  • Concrete restoration in G-1, and G-2.
  • Final repair of North and South Roofs, (possible payment by insurance)
  • Southpoint Owner to Management Communication system.
  •  Improvement of South and North lounges
  • Improvement of Card Rooms
  • Beach and pool furniture changes
  • Replacement of carpeting in hallways
  • Painting of hallways 
  •  

I left two bullets open -- I am sure that I've left something out. 


We will get estimates for each of these items, then we will prioritize the list, deciding what should be done first, second and so forth. 


I hope that I've answered your question. Thanks again!  

After I posted the above blog, an owner commented. I'm adding it today, and I'll repeat it tomorrow.  As you can see, he doesn't agree with me--but he has good arguments that are worth thinking about.


Dear Director Michael E Katz, and
Hi to the very respected board members of Southpoint condominium and all neighbors.

We all spend money to repair common areas for instance, the lobby, elevators, gyms, our pool, but balconies are not common, not public areas, balconies completely private owner's areas.

We are not trying to replace kitchens or repair a California closet. 

To take care of the balcony is the responsibility of the unit owner, if the balcony is in bad condition it is the unit owner's negligence. 

If in any bathroom water leaks on floor and stays there will also  tile damage and if for  a long period water will damage  concrete  and metal rebar could show up. Does it mean condominium must repair this bathroom? No,  

Southpoint office could help to set up repair but will bill unit owner for the repair cost. 

Must tiles on the balconies  be the same? No, it could be different or even no tiles. 

Shape of the balconies and color must be same, but tiles could be different. We have different balcony doors, we have different furniture. 

So, I don’t see any reason to replace our balconies.  And glass on the balcony will not add value to property,  beautiful lobby, yes,  nice gym with sauna, yes,  spa and jacuzzi at the pool, yes,  full service beach area, yes.   

But glass on balconies very little, not in relation to very high price. And it is very hard to expect glass could stop wind. 

This is my opinion, all of us unit owners have to make a decision. Thank you very much,


Andrey Koroshikh unit owner 2103N.    




 A few people have written and asked for my election picks. I don't think that this blog is the place for electioneering. I'll be happy to tell you in person, or by email or phone. Just ask.  

Whether I win or lose, I'll be continuing the blog, and I hope you'll continue to check it. Please tell your friends.


.mike




Michael E Katz
Director
954-563-0959
Katz8356@comcast.net

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com



Friday, March 2, 2012

--------------------------Sticker Shock !



Wow!   Peace and Harmony at Southpoint.  It is possible, after all.    


The Special Meeting held last night was a prime example of how a good meeting can be held, even at Southpoint, with many diverse views.  Congratulations to the audience for their good behavior.


Although not everything was to my personal liking, for instance I did not think that we should have approved of the minutes without having a chance to point out errors.  However, there was discussion.  A vote was taken. I lost.  -- As long as there was discussion and as long as the Board voted, I am satisfied.

The rest of the meeting was as close to perfect as anyone could desire. We met the contractors. Bids were opened. All Members of the Association (Owners) who were present had a chance to speak their mind. Questions were asked and answered.   Ideas were shared.

As the discussion continued did you notice that a consensus started to form.?  Although the Members were about equally divided on the issue of glass railings, all of us began to understand the problem of the balconies.  There was "sticker shock" on the part of many -- (me included.)

Sticker Shock: The three bids were in the same area:  $1,558,000  to   $1,785,000.

 That would mean an assessment about 60% larger than the assessment you paid for the HVAC. 

Bruce Bromley, our engineer explained that his specifications were quite conservative, in the sense that he tried to cover every eventuality, He thought that most likely, the contractors would not actually expend as much as their bids;   and that the likelihood of extras was reduced because of the all - encompassing nature of his bid sheet.

But:  there is also the possibility that taking down all balconies and building new ones from scratch would be cheaper in the long run. I asked Bruce how long it would take him to come up with numbers for that possibility. He said he could have them by Monday.

One Member in the audience, Michael Abelson, suggested that we completely re-do the balconies and add glass enclosing railings. There was some discussion, and without knowing cost, about half the Members liked the idea.  The balconies facing the pool on both sides are in what sometimes becomes a wind tunnel. They would get less wind and balcony sitting would become more pleasant.  The glass would upgrade the look of the buildings and would add value to the building.   I would suggest polling all the Members about the glass railings.

Here is what Emma Popolow had to say about the meeting:


"The information received at last night's meeting was very helpful. I think at this time the smartest, most prudent thing to do is to completely remove all of the terraces and do it right. This way we will also get our money's worth of work. Who can tell if the charges for patch-work, a foot here, a foot there, are correct. Nobody from the building will be able to figure what is what.

To me, Carousel is the only way to go. The other 2 companies talked a lot about painting and paint and not about replacing terraces.

I am for the glass railings. I know some of the people are concerned about all of the money for the assessment. I too, do not want to spend a dime unless there is some good reason behind it. I think this the right way to go about this project and we will reap the rewards in the future. We will have balconies that last us for another 30+ years.

In order to give the people the true cost of the job, let us not forget to deduct the cost for reconditioning and repainting the old railings and also give the people a ball park figure on what we will get back for selling the old railings. In today's commodities market these railings are worth something. Good negotiating can help here.

Also, Carousel talked about financing plans they can help us with. Let us check them out if we use them.
One never knows, they might be terrific.  

Constructive input is appreciated."

Emma Popolow
1709 S 

Last:  the purpose of this blog is to discuss Southpoint matters in a rational, fair-minded way.  Attacks on people are regrettable (and I apologize for any of my own); but discussions of issues are fair and are desired. 

For instance, I shouldn't say that John Doe is a dope, and doesn't know what he is talking about, and that he is a crook on top of everything else. But I might say, that John Doe's idea for a permanent raft to be anchored in the ocean  in front of Southpoint, is unpractical and too expensive. 

Michael E Katz
Director
Southpoint

954-563-0959  

katz8356@comcast.net

www.Southpoint-condo.blogspot.com   










Thursday, March 1, 2012

~~~~~~~~~~~Experience is the Best Teacher ~~~~~~~

Hello Southpointers!


Let me first deal with a few of the questions that have been raised while Donna Berger's descriptions of dysfunctional and successful Boards of Directors was published in the Blog.

The roofs:  Vinnie and Richard are in the process of attempting to find out:

  •   whether our insurance will cover us for the loss of our Johns Manville twenty year warranty. Johns Manville suspended the warranty on the grounds that we began construction (the water towers) on the roofs without properly notifying them.
  •  whether we have grounds to sue the contractors who worked on the roof while the water towers were replaced. There were several contractors, including the un-insured and unlicensed Best Bet.  After the fact, a consultant was hired by Vinnie and Richard who attempted, without success, to get the contractors to assume liability.   
  • The consultant turned out to be the same consultant who had advised our insurance company not to pay for our roofs after Wilma. Marty Glazer, my predecessor,  managed to convince our insurance company to ignore their own consultant's advice and pay us in full for the roofs.  (North, South, and the connecting building.)

We were lucky because there has been no hurricane since the warranty was suspended.  We got through one full hurricane season without a warranty for the roofs. Had there been a hurricane we would have had to pay for repairs or replacement out of our own pockets.  ($1,000,000, more or less.) 

At this point we have turned to our Insurance Broker who is attempting to find a solution. 

  • Experience is the best teacher. It would have been a good idea for Vinnie and Richard Gabriell to have discussed the roof and potential problems with the Board and with other knowledgeable parties before they began construction.  Instead, after they ran into trouble Marty Glazer was given a list of questions to answer.  
  •  The President and the Vice-President, Lenny Champagne, have isolated part of the Board from all consultation and consideration. They have sought neither compromise nor consensus.  
  • They have committed Southpoint to expenditures without Board approval or even discussion.  
  • Not only should Directors participate in decision making, but also every owner should know what is going on.  That has not been the case this past year.

Can we learn from past mistakes?   Let us hope that the next Board consults with its predecessors and keeps the Owners well-informed. 


The Kitchen:

You may not know this but a kitchen is being constructed in the North Building. I am in favor of a kitchen, but I believe that we should change our DOCs before building it. A kitchen is not provided for in the documents.

In my last budget I had provided money for the kitchen, but no effort to change the DOCs was made. When Vinnie came into office, the money was still in the budget.

Now the kitchen is being built. The Documents have not been changed.

There are other DOCUMENT and rule changes needed.   Perhaps the new Board will assign a committee to work on changes and then to work on getting the requisite number of Owners to agree to the changes.

After all, the Documents were written when we lived in a very different world. Our DOCs, like our building should keep up with the times in which we live. 

Arrears:

Could we have a monthly statement of accounts receivable and accounts payable.?  It could be in a draft form, subject to correction, but Owners should have an idea what the financial situation of Southpoint is, and how it has changed during the month. 

My pet project:

A communication system that would link all owners with computers to Southpoint.  This communication system would be used to allow Owners to know everything from whether or not there are packages in the package room to a list of every contract to which  Southpoint is a party. 

Owners could request repairs and a permanent record of the date of request and the date of repair would be maintained. 

If desired by the Owners Southpoint's monthly or quarterly reports could be posted. 

There would be a much more secure method of controlling the keys to each unit. 

This company is only one of several that provide the software for building wide communication systems.  


Please take a look at the link.  Cut and paste into the address bar of your computer.

     www.buildinglink.com  

---------------------------------------------------------

.mike

Michael E Katz
Director
Southpoint

954-563-0959 

katz8356@comcast.net

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com  

















Wednesday, February 29, 2012

~~~~~~The Traits of a Highly Functioning Board~~~~~~

          

Today’s Blog is part III of an analysis of Boards of Directors that was written by one of South Florida’s most important Condo Attorneys—Donna DiMaggio Berger— a Managing Partner of Katzman, Garfinkel and Berger, a fine firm that was, at one time, our attorneys. She is also Executive Director of the Community Advocacy Network (CAN) and has graciously allowed me to reprint her work.


  What are the Traits of a Highly Functioning Board?

                                                 The Award Winning Board!

In Part III of our series on the traits of a highly functioning board we at last come to our ideal board; the vision of what a community association board can and should be doing.


-This board operates at the highest level of transparency possible without compromising privileged information. The membership and board meetings for this kind of community are held on a timely basis, are properly noticed and tend to run smoothly. Unfortunately, the meetings run by the highly functioning board are usually not well attended since most owners feel the board "knows what they're doing";

-This board has a working knowledge of its governing documents as well as the pertinent statutes but on issues that could subject the association to potential liability they reinforce that knowledge with a legal opinion;

-This board takes a proactive approach before a potential issue becomes a real problem. For example, the highly functioning board will have rules in place outlining owner inspection of books and records and owner participation at meetings well BEFORE such requests are made. This board will also have a hurricane shutter rule in place and, if it is a condominium association, will have an updated Question and Answer Sheet on hand;

-This board routinely reviews its governing documents to ensure that they have kept pace with the changes in the Statute and are amended/updated to both comply with statutory changes as well as to address the changing needs of the community;

-This board has clearly defined expectations of its manager/management company and has a system of checks and balances in place to ensure that neither the manager nor any one board member becomes comfortable with making unilateral decisions on behalf of the association;

-This board utilizes technology and various forms of communication to reach out to the community members and conveys not only what has been done and is being done on their behalf but also to take the community's pulse in terms of long-range planning and goals. This can be done via an association website, newsletters, a community-wide cable channel and regular "townhall" style meetings;


-This board realizes that it must follow all statutory and documentary guidelines when dealing with the association's finances including seeking proper membership approval as needed, when waiving or partially funding reserve funds, using reserve funds for non-specified purposes, and when reducing the financial reporting requirement level;

-The highly functioning board of directors realizes that part of its role is to enforce the terms and provisions of the governing documents. At times, this will require that enforcement action or collection efforts be commenced against a neighbor. This board is fair but tough;

-This board knows its limitations and does not pretend to be an expert in every area that impacts the community whether it be filing an insurance claim or overseeing a capital improvement project. The highly functioning board employs the proper experts needed to lend a guiding a hand;

-This board avails itself of all available educational resource materials to ensure that it knows about the changes in the law which impact the manner in which it operates and administers the community.

If every community was tended to by a highly functioning board, we would undoubtedly see an increase in real property values and a huge decrease in the number of complaints filed with the Division of Florida Land Sales each year. Whether you find yourself serving on a board or living in a community operated by a poorly functioning board or even a functioning board, there is always the ability to encourage your board members to take their level of participation up a notch in order to become a highly functioning board. Highly functioning board members endorse a "best practices" policy and always seek to fulfill their responsibilities to the membership who put elected them for the job.

 Donna DiMaggio Berger
Katzman, Garfinkel & Berger 
http://www.kgblawfirm.com 
954-486-7774 
````````````````
I hope that the new board, will aspire to improve. Donna's classes and guidelines will help all Board member's to improve their performance to the betterment of Southpoint. 
 
Your comments are appreciated.

Please be sure to attend the Special Meeting 
Thursday, March 1 -- 7:00 PM
 ````````````````````````````````````
Michael E Katz
Director
Southpoint
954-563-0959
Katz8356@comcast.net

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Functioning Boards

Today’s Blog is part II of an analysis of Boards of Directors was written by one of South Florida’s most important Condo Attorneys—Donna DiMaggio Berger— a Managing Partner of Katzman, Garfinkel and Berger, a fine firm that was, at one time, our attorneys. She is also Executive Director of the Community Advocacy Network (CAN) and has graciously allowed me to reprint her work. There will be one more part tomorrow.

"Now let's turn our attention to the Functioning Board. This board takes the steps necessary to comply with the requirements of both the Statute by which it is governed as well as the terms and provisions of its governing documents. This board functions but may not have the foresight necessary to allow the community to achieve its most lofty goals.
. . .
 
This board may be take on projects and commit association resources to such projects without first gauging the community's sentiments. An example would be when the Board hires an engineer to draw up plans for an improvement project which requires membership approval before being assured that such approval will be forthcoming. A straw vote of the community either through the association's website, newsletter or other mailing can often help boards to determine whether or not to head down a certain path before association funds are spent.
 
The common areas are maintained and repaired but this board may be reluctant to embark on any sort of upgrades for fear of community reprisals. This kind of board may also be reluctant to encourage the members to fully fund reserves and may, in fact, be reluctant to make some tough decisions required by their position as board members. These decisions can include pursuing delinquencies, enforcing architectural standards and other use restrictions, etc.

The functioning board does not play favorites, it just fails to strictly and uniformly enforce the covenants and resists making unpopular but necessary decisions.

Tomorrow in Part III of this blog series, we will at last discuss the attributes of that sometimes rare entity: the highly functioning board."

Donna DiMaggio Berger
Katzman, Garfinkel & Berger 


http://www.kgblawfirm.com 
954-486-7774 
````````````````
I hope that the new board, will aspire to improve. Donna's classes and guidelines will help all Board member's to improve their performance to the betterment of Southpoint. 
Your comments are appreciated. After Donna's remarks on Boards are complete I'll publish some excerpts of your responses.
 ````````````````````````````````````
Michael E Katz
Director
Southpoint
954-563-0959
Katz8356@comcast.net

Monday, February 27, 2012

Board of Directors -Donna DiMaggio Berger


The Dysfunctional Board

Today’s Blog was written by another of South Florida’s most important Condo Attorneys—Donna DiMaggio Berger— a Managing Partner of Katzman, Garfinkel and Berger, a fine firm that was, at one time, our attorneys. She is also Executive Director of the Community Advocacy Network (CAN) and has graciously allowed me to reprint her work.


Whether you serve on behalf of a condominium, cooperative or homeowners' association, there are several traits (good and bad) that these volunteer boards share. It is important to remember that boards of directors for (Condominium) communities in Florida are made up of your neighbors who take time away from jobs, families and hobbies to serve their communities. The experience level of any given board is typically varied and can run the gamut from school teachers, tradesmen, former CEO's of Fortune 500 companies to stay-at-home parents.

The vast majority of these folks volunteered to serve on their board in order to safeguard their largest asset, their home. Despite scattered media reports on directors treating the association coffers as their personal piggy bank or generally acting as despots, most directors conscientiously undertake the duties and responsibilities attached to board membership. It is important to remember that board members are held to a "reasonable businessman" standard (also known as the business judgment rule); they are not held to a level of absolute perfection.


Board members should not be expected to act as quasi-accountants, engineers, attorneys, etc. They should know and understand that certain elements of the association operations will be beyond their level of expertise and, at that point, they should seek counsel from experts to guide them in the decisions they make on behalf of the association. Some boards seem to know both their responsibilities and inherent limitations from the outset and others have to learn it the hard way. Let's take a look at the traits which make up three different types of boards: the poorly functioning (aka dysfunctional) board; the functioning board and the highly functioning board.  {
Today, only the dysfunctional Board will be described.  MEK.}

The Poorly Functioning Board
: These boards are not hard to spot and woe to the persons living in a community served by this kind of board as well as to the board members who know better who find themselves sharing duties with directors who do not.

-Board meetings are held sporadically and without proper notice. Actions which would typically require a fourteen (14) day advance meeting notice (such as for special assessments or changes to rules) are passed with only forty-eight (48) hours or less notice since they are always "an emergency";


-When board meetings are held unit owners are not allowed to participate and, in some cases, even attend. As a result, these meetings often deteriorate into chaos and are quickly adjourned. There is little to no transparency in terms of association operations;


-Owner requests to inspect the books and other requests or inquiries may be ignored or made more difficult than necessary;


-Architectural control guidelines may be applied selectively depending on the whims of the board or a particular member of the board;


-The annual corporate report is not timely filled out and the corporate entity has been dissolved at some point which not only exposes the association members to potential individual liability but requires costly reinstatement fees;


-Contracts requiring payments in excess of 5% of the total annual budget (including reserves) for condominiums and in excess of 10% of the total annual budget (including reserves) for HOA's are entered into and signed without first complying with the competitive bid requirements of Section 718.3026(1) and Section 720.3055 (1) respectively;


-Contracts are given to companies with whom board members may be connected either directly or indirectly and these contracts are not reviewed by counsel prior to execution. Typically, these contracts are written for the benefit of the contractor/vendor and, among other problems, fail to provide any protection to the association in the form of payment and performance bonds or the use of liquidated damages to discourage lengthy delays. Sufficient warranty language may be missing altogether. Some contracts are signed unilaterally by only one board member without a board resolution and occasionally without the knowledge of the full board;


-Maintenance assessments are not collected in accordance with the provisions of the Declaration (either on a square footage or pro-rata basis) and delinquencies are allowed to go beyond the three month or two quarter mark with no attempts to collect;


-The Board (if it is a condominium association) does not pass a budget with full reserves each year. If reserves are in place, the board (either a condominium or HOA) uses reserve money for purposes other than that for which it was collected without a membership vote;


-Important decisions regarding new tenant or potential purchaser approvals, disability accommodations and covenant enforcement violations are made without regard to the board's statutory and documentary authority and without legal consultation as to the association's ability to obtain a successful outcome; and/or


-This Board may have no idea what amendments to the governing documents have been passed over the years and may be using an unrecorded set of documents which provide little or no guidance.


Now that we've seen where a board can go very wrong, our next blog will discuss those functioning boards who get the job done but aren't scoring A's on anyone's report card.

Donna DiMaggio Berger
Katzman, Garfinkel & Berger 

http://www.kgblawfirm.com 
954-486-7774  
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks again to Donna. Don't forget to ask your friends to look at your Blog --

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com  

Let me know what you think--Pro or Con-- we encourage open discussion.

Michael E Katz    954-563-0959  Katz8356@comcast.net

Southpoint
Director 




  

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Responses from the Owners




Well, I’ve had a couple of interesting emails today.  

An Owner wrote in regard to the Beach problem with some very good and well thought out ideas. 

 Another wrote about the railings. A few wrote about the balcony problem.  
 
We’ve been asking for participation by the Owners and we’ve had plenty of ideas since the blog went up six days ago.
 
One writer didn’t like my idea of umbrellas being set up on a daily basis. She had several thoughts about handling the problem: I edited slightly, mainly to save space. But each of her ideas are here:

•    Check out if there is something in our condo-docs in regard to cabanas.  {Yes, but not helpful.  M.E.K.}

•    Check out if some of the cabanas were illegally transferred when an apartment."  No transfer of cabana space is permitted.  Cabana space cannot be included in the sale of an apartment.”       

•    Ask the people who own chaise lounges and cabanas that are an eye sore to remove them.

•     Offer all remaining owners a fair price for their still in perfect condition cabanas.

•    Line up all usable cabanas in one straight line at the back of the beach (near the bushes), for first come, first served use. 

•    Put two stacks of maybe 30 stacking chaise lounges each on the South side and on the North side of the entrance to the beach.

•    No umbrellas. We are not a hotel. We are a condominium. It would be a very bad idea to get umbrellas. In fact it would be a headache of gigantic proportions.

•    There would still be enough cabanas lined up in the back if one wants to sit under one.
 
•     The main problem with people not wanting to give up their cabanas is because of their easy access to the chase lounges stored in them.

•     The main problem with people not wanting to give up their cabanas is because of the easy access to the chase lounges stored in them.

•    I can see the beach from my terrace. If there are 2 or 3 cabanas open at any given day, it is a lot.

These are several wonderful ideas about the beach. They come from an owner. Obviously she has given serious thought about the beach. Open discussion leads to good decisions. Notice that there was no name calling and pointed fingers.  There is only a possible solution.  I don’t agree with all of her points but to me the important thing is the discussion. Cooperation and collaboration will follow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many people have written whom I don’t know by name. Please introduce yourselves when you see me.
 

Let me know what you think.

.mike
Michael E Katz
Southpoint
Director
954-563-0959

                                         Katz8356@comcast.net


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