Fire Damage, Code Violations, Growing Fines, Unresolved Insurance Claim, 50+ Apts. In Foreclosure May Spell Doom For 182-Unit C. Florida Condo Complex

In Titusville, Florida, Florida Today reports:

• Code violations keep racking up at Bay Towers Apartments, the fire-scarred riverfront complex facing a crippling cash crunch. The south tower remains condemned after a May 2008 fire. Since Feb. 6, Titusville officials have fined the property’s South Florida owners up to $1,400 per day for damaged elevators, stairwells, plumbing and other problems. As of today— 159 days later — these ongoing fines total $222,600.

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• Bay Towers Development LLC unsuccessfully targeted the aging 182-unit complex for an apartment-to-condominium conversion during the real estate boom. [Registered agent Bernie] Feldman estimated that the fire wreaked $5 million in damages, but the complex’s insurance company only paid about a quarter of that. He said his company cannot bring the building into code compliance without this additional money. An insurance-claim appeal remains unresolved, he said.

• Making matters worse, Feldman said 104 units were sold before the fire — and more than 50 have slipped into foreclosure. He said the condominium association faces tremendous financial problems.(1)

For more, see Titusville condo owners face fines for violations.

(1) According to the story, one of the remaining condominium owners is a Boca Raton resident who paid $180,000 for a two-bedroom unit in the south tower in September 2006. Testifying before the code board, he called the Bay Towers situation “ludicrous,” “a quagmire,” “just ridiculous” and “fraudulent from top to bottom.” He used the condominium as a weekend destination until the fire struck. Three days after the blaze, Titusville building officials declared the structure unsuitable for human habitation. “They need to fix this. I want to get inside my condo. Fourteen months have gone by,” he said. “I see my mortgage payment leave my bank account, for what? For nothing. I can’t use what I rightfully own. It’s maddening now,” he said.