I have a good friend that I see on a regular basis that lives in my neighborhood. He is currently in the process of getting rid of the current HOA board and cleaning the financial mess the HOA is in because of mismanagement and worse.
Most residents living under HOAs and condo associations are unaware that there is a wealth of help from the state government in Tallahassee including how to recall a vote, remove board members and even start a complete financial investigation if you suspect fraud or worse, criminal activity and theft.
Many HOAs have attorneys on the board with a vested interest in keeping the money-flow back to the law firm in the form of large retainers and ridiculous hourly rates for frivolous letters, lawsuits, petty violations, etc. They need to be fired immediately, too. The attorney works for the HOA, not the other way around.
The first thing a group of residents interested in replacing the board needs to do is a recall vote. This entails getting each owner to sign a proxy vote and having a clear majority to remove the current board. Once this is done, it's possible to balance the books, get new bona-fide bids for contracts, rescind frivolous suits against owners and more. This is not an easy task. It takes long hours, lots of knocking-on-doors, hand-shaking and introducing the new team of board members to the community at large.
There have been many stories of arrests of HOA board members in the media lately. Owners are completely fed up with the amount of fraud and payoffs going on in their associations. As agents, we should support wholeheartedly the efforts of owners to bring these people to justice with the help of the State of Florida. Nothing raises the value of homes in a neighborhood like lowering the monthly HOA fees!
The process takes time, effort and diligence, but it's well worth it in the end. Millions of dollars are being squandered, stolen, and mismanaged. Keep in mind how much easier it is to sell a home with a low/lower monthly HOA as compared to one that is ridiculously high. Big difference!
Scott Miller, Realtor®
Estate Specialist
Commercial RE
Business Broker
Realty Associates
561-716-4060 direct
561-451-9377 fax
http://www.LoveBoca.com
http://twitter.com/ScottSellsFL
