More On The Trouble Facing Florida Condo Associations

In South Florida, The Miami Herald reports:

• At the Fountains of Tamarac, the condo association has no insurance, a couple of unit owners are cutting the community's grass themselves, and 90 percent of the unit owners aren't paying their maintenance fees. Even two banks, both of whom acquired their condos out of foreclosure, haven't paid their dues. [...] The Fountains of Tamarac is an extreme example of a growing problem in South Florida: As the economy slumps and home prices fall, a growing number of home- and condo owners are not paying their community fees. That's creating enormous problems for their neighbors, who must either pick up the slack by paying higher fees or else live with reduced services.

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• How widespread are such problems? According to a recent Internet survey of 487 Florida condo and homeowner associations by the Hollywood-based law firm of Becker & Poliakoff: (1) 51 percent said that mortgage foreclosures were creating a revenue shortfall and a burden on the association's finances, (2) 37 percent said they have raised maintenance fees to cover the shortfall, (3) 43 percent said they have units that have been unoccupied for at least six months because of mortgage foreclosures.

• And that's a small sampling. There are 7,149 condo associations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties alone, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

For more, see Unpaid fees trouble condos (From the West Broward suburbs to Miami's trendy Brickell high-rises, condo associations are raising fees or cutting services because some of their members aren't paying their share) (when link expires, try here).

In related articles, see:

• Sarasota Herald Tribune: Homeowners groups are in a fix (As properties go into foreclosure, associations try to recoup back dues),
• The Daily Herald: Associations need to face troubled times square on.