Category Archives: Foreclosures

Trouble brewing in Poinciana HOA?

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

You might remember previous blogs about Poinciana HOA in Florida, the community of over 50,000 residents that has been attempting to incorporate as a city for the past three years.

Well, now the Board’s President, President Jolly, has filed complaints with State Attorneys in Osceola and Polk Counties, alleging that $2 million is unaccounted for. Poinciana is managed by mega-management company, First Services Residential (FSR).

WFTV has been covering the story. The Board refused to allow video coverage of a recent special meeting called to discuss complaints filed by Jolly against FSR. Someone even made a motion to remove Jolly as President, but that motion failed to carry.

Believe it or not, Poinciana’s earliest phases were incorporated in the 1970s, but construction is still ongoing today. Tony Iorio, AVP of home builder Avatar (now known as AV Homes) is on the Board of the HOA. Yes, you read that right, the HOA Board still has representation for the Developer, after over 4 decades.

Iorio is seen on this video defending FSR, and claiming that Jolly has no proof of impropriety.

Well, that’s why Jolly has filed formal complaints and requested an audit. We’ll have to wait and see what the auditor’s report says.

An official statement from FSR denies any wrongdoing.

If that’s not enough potential trouble, in recent years, violent crime and gang activity has been reported in the once quiet community, including an attempted murder in January of 2015.

To give you some perspective on what could be America’s largest HOA, according to public records, about 20% of homes were constructed in the 1990s, and a whopping 62% of homes were constructed between 2000-2009. As of June 2014, 23% of homes remained vacant following the housing market crisis. The community is located in the middle of what was once a rural area in Central Florida. Although Poinciana is certainly large enough to be a city, since it is a private planned community governed by an HOA, it does not have its own police or fire protection, and must rely on services from Osceola and Polk counties.

Perhaps these recent events will garner sufficient support for the next attempt at attaining status as an official city.

(link to WFTV coverage of complaints against FSR over missing money)

(link to Orlando Sentinel report of gang violence in Poinciana)

(link to housing Statistics for Poinciana FL)

(link to previous blog)

The God of Poop!

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Poop. Feces. Droppings. Excrement. Cow pies. Dung. Guano. Meadow Muffin. Stool.

Do you realize that humans have hundreds and hundreds of different words for this little bit of matter that is so disgusting to us? It’s almost as if we worship it. Who invented such awful substance? God did. It’s the ultimate recylable material. And you would be stunned to know that every speck of this stuff, depending upon which species deposited it, has an entire ecosystem which depends on getting a steady supply.

Next time you visit the Gulf Coast or the Caribbean and you stretch out on those warm white sands just remind yourself that 70 percent of that white sand was once pooped out by parrot fish. Each parrot fish poops out about 200 pounds of white sand a year! Look it up!

On the other side of the coin, at least a thousand Homeowners Associations are now running madly through their neighborhoods collecting DNA samples from every dog in the hood, and sending each harvested dog pile to the lab to be matched to the offending pooch. The owner then gets a fine of say, $500 per pile. Someone more clever than I might come up with a good name for a new TV reality show. “CSI Poopami,” or possibly, “PoopNet-HOA.”

Now, I’m a dog owner. I carry all the appropriate plastic bags and gloves because I want to be a good neighbor. At the same time I find all this poop hysteria to be hysterically stupid.

All it would take to thwart the system is to organize a neighborhood Poop Brigade to collect hundreds of samples and dump them all on the HOA president’s lawn. Let him pay the fines.

BTW, if you do that, definitely send me pictures that I can publish!

(latest poop from the Seattle P.I.)

 

Monsters in Michigan!

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If you want to find out for yourself how monstrous HOA legislation can be, you need look no further than Michigan.

This state has just passed a law the shields non-profit boards of directors from all liability and accountability. Whew! All? Homeowners Associations, Condo Associations, Co-ops are all non-profit corporations. They handle all our money, they casually throw around our home equity and our life savings, and they’re now exempt? What hath God wrought?

Read the link below and weep.

And remember the words of Gideon J. Tucker and Samuel Clemens: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.”

(link to news on the most idiotic law in state history)

 

All About Ella!

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

Run get the tissues and prepare to watch this video!

Nobody will forget Ella Schultz and her Make A Wish playhouse dreams. As of April 1st Ella’s wish came true! JE Dunn built a beautiful playhouse complete with a Dutch door, porch swing, loft, kitchen, and a sweet pink mailbox! We wish her thousands of hours of happiness, laughter, and fun in her special playhouse that is currently restricted to “girls only.”

KCTV5 says the Stonegate HOA caved under the pressure of the public outcry to allow the playhouse. Nothing has been reported regarding the HOA not being in good standing with the State of Missouri. It’s fair to assume the Stonegate board of directors has learned more than one lesson from this experience.

And thousands of people are asking questions about HOAs and wondering why anybody would buy a home in a place like this?

This is why activists stand up and speak out against HOA abuses, because often times it makes all the difference.

(link to KCTV5 story on ella)

http://www.kctv5.com/story/28698085/ellas-elves-sneak-dream-house-into-ailing-girls-backyard

 

High stakes $120m lawsuit over condo termination blocked by rival

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan
Here is the flip side of the coin in the chaotic world of Florida’s optional condo terminations.

Owners of roughly 30-year old, 48-unit, Tropicana Condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, decided they’d like to take advantage of the hot real estate market, and offer their condo for sale to the highest bidder.Back in 2013, a majority of Voting Members of the Association approved an amendment to the declaration, allowing for termination with 80% approval, bringing their documents in line with FL Statute 718.117, which became law in 2007.

Several Florida attorneys have gone on record touting the potential benefits of the Optional Termination provisions — later dubbed by many critics as “eminent domain for condos” — as a means for owners of older condo buildings located on high-value land parcels to “cash out” by terminating the association and selling to a willing developer. (see link to a blog below that appeared in the Sun Sentinel a few years ago)

Reportedly, the Association received one offer of $100 million. With the attractive offer on the table, the Association was easily able to obtain more than 80% of the vote. However, five units had recently been sold to new owners representing 10% of the condominium association. These five owners objected to the termination and filed suit against Tropicana Condo Association to block the termination. As you may recall from previous blogs, Florida statute maintains that 10% of members of an Association can challenge a termination approved by at least 80% of members.

So who are the “hold out” owners of these five condos? Tropicana Board members allege (in a $120 million counter suit) that they are straw buyers with ties to Manuel Grosskopf and Edgardo Defortuna, wealthy real estate moguls currently developing a 52-story Ritz-Carlton condo tower directly adjacent to the Tropicana. The Tropicana is only 9 stories, but if sold to another developer, the building would be razed and another new high-rise condo would be constructed in its place, effectively blocking ocean views for many of the Ritz-Carlton’s multi-million dollar units.

In this case, instead of wealthy investors staging a hostile takeover and kicking out owners at a substantial financial loss, we have what appears to be a small band of rogue buyers thwarting a termination to prevent a condominium sale to a rival developer!

How is that for the irony of unintended consequences?