logybogy
July 28th, 2005, 06:27 PM
Be careful if you are buying a condo that's close to 40 years old. You may face a recertification nightmare.
Oughta Be a Law
Beach Commissioner Wants Condo Management Law; SIB Residents Face Evacuation
Pull Quote: “There’s a large segment of the population being left behind. They bought condos when they were affordable and they’ve trusted people who were not qualified to manage a building to a point where it’s deteriorating.”—Beach Commissioner Luis Garcia
By Mario Martinez
Staff Writer
To combat what he sees as a threat to the most vulnerable segment of his constituency, Miami Beach Commissioner Luis Garcia is vowing to introduce an ordinance to the City Commission that would regulate property managers and require property management companies to be licensed, a proposal already opposed at the state level.
Garcia, who has been joined by CleanCondos, a project of the local Service Employees International Union, vowed during a Tuesday press conference to introduce three measures aimed at protecting condominium unit owners from the effects of poor property management.
Garcia said his ordinance would require residential property management services that operate in Miami Beach to obtain a license, and would base the granting and renewal of this license on maintaining high fiscal and ethical standards for operation. It would also require that property managers and buildings have a uniform hurricane emergency plan, and that workers receive necessary and appropriate training. And finally, Garcia said his bill would require management companies to provide full disclosure of their relationships with contractors and vendors for building goods and services.
The move comes at a time when condo unit owners are facing mandatory evacuations after inspectors deem their buildings unsafe. Increasingly the finger has been pointed at negligent condo association boards that allow buildings to deteriorate to a point where repairs cannot be completed without thousands of dollars in assessments.
“A lot of the condo owners on Miami Beach are on a fixed income,” Garcia said. “When they get hit with an assessment from their condo association it might lead them to lose their homes. There’s a large segment of the population being left behind. They bought condos when they were affordable and they’ve trusted people who were not qualified to manage a building to a point where it’s deteriorating. This is their home. It should not have been allowed to deteriorate.”
Hiram Ruiz, deputy director of the SEIU Local 11, said Garcia was part of a growing number of citizens who feel something needs to be done to protect the owners of aging condominiums from having their homes condemned.
“CleanCondos has collected over 2,000 signatures in Miami Beach from people supporting this [ordinance],” said Ruiz, adding that the proposed measures are really a matter of common sense. “Anyone working out of their condo needs to get a license from the city of Miami Beach. Yet here is this management company managing the very same units, handling millions of their dollars and they don’t need a license.”
The lack of a licensing requirement for property management companies has been blamed for the recent evacuations of two Miami Beach condominiums. Residents of both the Versailles and Castle Beach resorts on Collins Avenue learned that repairs needed to obtain their buildings’ county-mandated 40-year recertification would cost them more than $20,000, an unaffordable figure for some unit owners. Many condo owners were forced to sell, Ruiz said.
State Rep. Julio Robaina faced heavy opposition when he proposed a similar bill to the state Legislature earlier this year. He said the problem is concentrated in Miami Beach but is popping up throughout South Florida. Although the measure was defeated at the state level, Robaina hopes Miami Beach can pass the legislation and that other communities follow its lead.
“With the condo boom we are currently experiencing here in Miami-Dade County, Miami Beach having the largest concentration of new construction, I believe this city will serve as an excellent role model when it comes to protecting those who live and work in these environments,” said Robaina in a statement released Tuesday. “I commend Commissioner Luis Garcia for proposing a local ordinance in the city of Miami Beach to help safeguard condominium unit owners who are vulnerable to the effects of poor management. These measures offer them much needed protection.”
Meanwhile in Sunny Isles
But in Sunny Isles Beach, residents have decided they can’t afford to wait for legislation and have mounted their own battle against a condo association board in an effort to save their seaside sanctuary from being torn down to make room for a luxury high-rise.
Residents of the Playa Varadero III, 17749 Collins Ave., crammed into the building’s card room last Friday morning for the annual association board elections. The room was plastered with signs that read “Thou shall not steal” and “Our children deserve a beach, too.” Emotions ran so high that a Sunny Isles Beach police officer stood just outside the door as a precaution.
At the heart of the debate were the legality of both the board in place before the election and the one elected on Friday. Many Playa residents believed their previous board members were elected improperly through the influence of AQ Development, a limited company developing a high-rise next door and at one time the majority owner of La Playa’s units. AQ Development’s opponents believe its supporters on the condo board relinquished their positions when the company sold its 51 units to LPLA, LP in June.
“For more than a month they have been making decisions for us when they have absolutely no authority to do so,” said Maria Macias, a unit owner with no intention of leaving. “They have been collecting money and spending it, they have been negotiating the recertification with the city, all without authorization.”
The building is undergoing its 40-year recertification and residents have been threatened with assessments exceeding $40,000. They say the number has been inflated by a condo association board whose interests lie with tearing down La Playa instead of keeping it up.
Now Sunny Isles Beach officials are demanding the four La Playa buildings be brought up to code or face demolition. If unit owners cannot afford the assessments to complete the renovation, they will have no choice but to leave and have their building torn down.
Sunny Isles Beach Building Administrator Clay Parker told the SunPost the city is only doing its job in securing the safety of the building and its inhabitants.
“We just want to make sure the building is structurally sound,” Parker said. “We haven’t singled them out at all.” Parker explained that the city does remind owners about their building’s pending recertification but it is ultimately the responsibility of each building to obtain it.
La Playa’s situation is not unique in Sunny Isles, Parker said. “There’s about another half dozen buildings in Sunny Isles that are undergoing similar problems [with their recertification].”
Full Circle
Ruiz said the Sunny Isles case serves to underscore the need to regulate property management companies. “This is not a measure against property management companies,” said Ruiz. “This is for condo residents and we feel it’s common sense.”
Commissioner Garcia said he expects to bring the proposed ordinance before his colleagues during the second meeting in September.
Comments? E-mail Mario@miamisunpost.com.
Oughta Be a Law
Beach Commissioner Wants Condo Management Law; SIB Residents Face Evacuation
Pull Quote: “There’s a large segment of the population being left behind. They bought condos when they were affordable and they’ve trusted people who were not qualified to manage a building to a point where it’s deteriorating.”—Beach Commissioner Luis Garcia
By Mario Martinez
Staff Writer
To combat what he sees as a threat to the most vulnerable segment of his constituency, Miami Beach Commissioner Luis Garcia is vowing to introduce an ordinance to the City Commission that would regulate property managers and require property management companies to be licensed, a proposal already opposed at the state level.
Garcia, who has been joined by CleanCondos, a project of the local Service Employees International Union, vowed during a Tuesday press conference to introduce three measures aimed at protecting condominium unit owners from the effects of poor property management.
Garcia said his ordinance would require residential property management services that operate in Miami Beach to obtain a license, and would base the granting and renewal of this license on maintaining high fiscal and ethical standards for operation. It would also require that property managers and buildings have a uniform hurricane emergency plan, and that workers receive necessary and appropriate training. And finally, Garcia said his bill would require management companies to provide full disclosure of their relationships with contractors and vendors for building goods and services.
The move comes at a time when condo unit owners are facing mandatory evacuations after inspectors deem their buildings unsafe. Increasingly the finger has been pointed at negligent condo association boards that allow buildings to deteriorate to a point where repairs cannot be completed without thousands of dollars in assessments.
“A lot of the condo owners on Miami Beach are on a fixed income,” Garcia said. “When they get hit with an assessment from their condo association it might lead them to lose their homes. There’s a large segment of the population being left behind. They bought condos when they were affordable and they’ve trusted people who were not qualified to manage a building to a point where it’s deteriorating. This is their home. It should not have been allowed to deteriorate.”
Hiram Ruiz, deputy director of the SEIU Local 11, said Garcia was part of a growing number of citizens who feel something needs to be done to protect the owners of aging condominiums from having their homes condemned.
“CleanCondos has collected over 2,000 signatures in Miami Beach from people supporting this [ordinance],” said Ruiz, adding that the proposed measures are really a matter of common sense. “Anyone working out of their condo needs to get a license from the city of Miami Beach. Yet here is this management company managing the very same units, handling millions of their dollars and they don’t need a license.”
The lack of a licensing requirement for property management companies has been blamed for the recent evacuations of two Miami Beach condominiums. Residents of both the Versailles and Castle Beach resorts on Collins Avenue learned that repairs needed to obtain their buildings’ county-mandated 40-year recertification would cost them more than $20,000, an unaffordable figure for some unit owners. Many condo owners were forced to sell, Ruiz said.
State Rep. Julio Robaina faced heavy opposition when he proposed a similar bill to the state Legislature earlier this year. He said the problem is concentrated in Miami Beach but is popping up throughout South Florida. Although the measure was defeated at the state level, Robaina hopes Miami Beach can pass the legislation and that other communities follow its lead.
“With the condo boom we are currently experiencing here in Miami-Dade County, Miami Beach having the largest concentration of new construction, I believe this city will serve as an excellent role model when it comes to protecting those who live and work in these environments,” said Robaina in a statement released Tuesday. “I commend Commissioner Luis Garcia for proposing a local ordinance in the city of Miami Beach to help safeguard condominium unit owners who are vulnerable to the effects of poor management. These measures offer them much needed protection.”
Meanwhile in Sunny Isles
But in Sunny Isles Beach, residents have decided they can’t afford to wait for legislation and have mounted their own battle against a condo association board in an effort to save their seaside sanctuary from being torn down to make room for a luxury high-rise.
Residents of the Playa Varadero III, 17749 Collins Ave., crammed into the building’s card room last Friday morning for the annual association board elections. The room was plastered with signs that read “Thou shall not steal” and “Our children deserve a beach, too.” Emotions ran so high that a Sunny Isles Beach police officer stood just outside the door as a precaution.
At the heart of the debate were the legality of both the board in place before the election and the one elected on Friday. Many Playa residents believed their previous board members were elected improperly through the influence of AQ Development, a limited company developing a high-rise next door and at one time the majority owner of La Playa’s units. AQ Development’s opponents believe its supporters on the condo board relinquished their positions when the company sold its 51 units to LPLA, LP in June.
“For more than a month they have been making decisions for us when they have absolutely no authority to do so,” said Maria Macias, a unit owner with no intention of leaving. “They have been collecting money and spending it, they have been negotiating the recertification with the city, all without authorization.”
The building is undergoing its 40-year recertification and residents have been threatened with assessments exceeding $40,000. They say the number has been inflated by a condo association board whose interests lie with tearing down La Playa instead of keeping it up.
Now Sunny Isles Beach officials are demanding the four La Playa buildings be brought up to code or face demolition. If unit owners cannot afford the assessments to complete the renovation, they will have no choice but to leave and have their building torn down.
Sunny Isles Beach Building Administrator Clay Parker told the SunPost the city is only doing its job in securing the safety of the building and its inhabitants.
“We just want to make sure the building is structurally sound,” Parker said. “We haven’t singled them out at all.” Parker explained that the city does remind owners about their building’s pending recertification but it is ultimately the responsibility of each building to obtain it.
La Playa’s situation is not unique in Sunny Isles, Parker said. “There’s about another half dozen buildings in Sunny Isles that are undergoing similar problems [with their recertification].”
Full Circle
Ruiz said the Sunny Isles case serves to underscore the need to regulate property management companies. “This is not a measure against property management companies,” said Ruiz. “This is for condo residents and we feel it’s common sense.”
Commissioner Garcia said he expects to bring the proposed ordinance before his colleagues during the second meeting in September.
Comments? E-mail Mario@miamisunpost.com.