Post by Admin on Oct 17, 2013 21:18:21 GMT -5
Cross-post from AnonNews:
September 20, 2013
I also have a question for the lady, S u e, who has posted on this site in regards to her lawsuit with HOA, SLR:
If you can answer or not, since still in litigation.
Q: what is the relief you seek in your lawsuit with your HOA?
Is it to have your clouded title lifted so as better able to sell your home, or is it to get your fees reduced or both?
Also, one more Q: lets say another homeowner in SLR doesn't want to sell, but wants the their fees brought back down to earth; (it is reasoned by all of my Sm all circle of friends in here that the fees are way to high,) does this homeowner need to get a lawyer and go thru all that you did?
_____________________________________________________________
Whew...complicated answers to those questions! But I will try to answer. The goals are both short and long term--and personal and "community".
First, there is no lawsuit--yet. The Pre-suit Mediation offer has been sent to BOD; Florida requires that mediation be conducted before a lawsuit can be filed. The mediation must be conducted in 90 days. That would mean the issue might be settled by Christmas at the latest.
To answer your questions, I will start with short-term and personal.
1) I want the cloud on my title removed. This is good personal and financial business management. I cannot allow the assault on my personal property ie my title, to go uncH allenged.
I will have more difficulty selling my home because I have knowledge of a property defect due to the title search and attorney opinion. I must now, by law, disclose the title defect and legal dispute to the Buyer. If I do not do this, the Buyer can turn around and S u e ME for fraud at a later date.
2) I want the legal fees that I have paid so far--thousands of $--to be reimbursed to me by the entity that recorded an encumbrance of my free, unencumbered title. That entity is SLohA.
3) I want owners in SLR to know that I have prevailed in a Slander of Title lawsuit and have gotten all my costs reimbursed.
4) I want my property's "independence" to be recognized and the maintenance fee to fairly and appropriately reflect that.
This will require some adjustment in the fee, however, I do not know how that will be calculated. It has been ordered in other states but-to my knowledge-not yet done in Florida.
For example, my fee would be reduced by whatever SLohA was paying in management fees, since I would no longer be subject to HOA administrative costs. Fees are a less important concern but are included in the issues to be mediated.
In a legitimately-operating HOA, fees reduction is best achieved by community consensus when the annual budget is submitted on the ballot for approval. If the budget is not approved, the mechanisms of budget adjustment must be addressed by owners with the Board. In an illegitimate HOA, the fees are voluntary and the budget will necessarily be uncertain. (This is why revitalization is critical, in my opinion, to reestablish the legitimacy of SLohA to collect fees.)
Longer term...
If the dispute is not resolved at mediation, it can then be litigated. My attorney has advised me that other owners who have the same interests as I do can become part of what can be thought of as a "class action" and execute a joinder to my lawsuit(s). If my complaints are upheld, then the judicial decisions and terms will apply to all who have formally joined the lawsuit. That is how I understand what my attorney has said, but I will qualify that by saying I do not have full knowledge of the nuances of what potentially can take place if mediation is not successful. I certainly hope that things will not get to that point, but that is not in my control.
In the final analysis...
I do not wish to be part of this HOA--or any mandatory HOA--in the future. My preference is to be remain in SLR in my HOA-unencumbered home among my friends and a community that I love. But, if a buyer comes along, I will jump on the opportunity to be free of the flawed Florida HOA model that has few internal or statutory restraints on its power. I would be happy to resume the peaceful retirement that I envisioned when I came to SLR. If a Buyer does NOT come along, I would welcome and support a voluntary HOA entity that kept its corporate nose out of people's lives and concerned itself with common property infrastructure only!
September 20, 2013
I also have a question for the lady, S u e, who has posted on this site in regards to her lawsuit with HOA, SLR:
If you can answer or not, since still in litigation.
Q: what is the relief you seek in your lawsuit with your HOA?
Is it to have your clouded title lifted so as better able to sell your home, or is it to get your fees reduced or both?
Also, one more Q: lets say another homeowner in SLR doesn't want to sell, but wants the their fees brought back down to earth; (it is reasoned by all of my Sm all circle of friends in here that the fees are way to high,) does this homeowner need to get a lawyer and go thru all that you did?
_____________________________________________________________
Whew...complicated answers to those questions! But I will try to answer. The goals are both short and long term--and personal and "community".
First, there is no lawsuit--yet. The Pre-suit Mediation offer has been sent to BOD; Florida requires that mediation be conducted before a lawsuit can be filed. The mediation must be conducted in 90 days. That would mean the issue might be settled by Christmas at the latest.
To answer your questions, I will start with short-term and personal.
1) I want the cloud on my title removed. This is good personal and financial business management. I cannot allow the assault on my personal property ie my title, to go uncH allenged.
I will have more difficulty selling my home because I have knowledge of a property defect due to the title search and attorney opinion. I must now, by law, disclose the title defect and legal dispute to the Buyer. If I do not do this, the Buyer can turn around and S u e ME for fraud at a later date.
2) I want the legal fees that I have paid so far--thousands of $--to be reimbursed to me by the entity that recorded an encumbrance of my free, unencumbered title. That entity is SLohA.
3) I want owners in SLR to know that I have prevailed in a Slander of Title lawsuit and have gotten all my costs reimbursed.
4) I want my property's "independence" to be recognized and the maintenance fee to fairly and appropriately reflect that.
This will require some adjustment in the fee, however, I do not know how that will be calculated. It has been ordered in other states but-to my knowledge-not yet done in Florida.
For example, my fee would be reduced by whatever SLohA was paying in management fees, since I would no longer be subject to HOA administrative costs. Fees are a less important concern but are included in the issues to be mediated.
In a legitimately-operating HOA, fees reduction is best achieved by community consensus when the annual budget is submitted on the ballot for approval. If the budget is not approved, the mechanisms of budget adjustment must be addressed by owners with the Board. In an illegitimate HOA, the fees are voluntary and the budget will necessarily be uncertain. (This is why revitalization is critical, in my opinion, to reestablish the legitimacy of SLohA to collect fees.)
Longer term...
If the dispute is not resolved at mediation, it can then be litigated. My attorney has advised me that other owners who have the same interests as I do can become part of what can be thought of as a "class action" and execute a joinder to my lawsuit(s). If my complaints are upheld, then the judicial decisions and terms will apply to all who have formally joined the lawsuit. That is how I understand what my attorney has said, but I will qualify that by saying I do not have full knowledge of the nuances of what potentially can take place if mediation is not successful. I certainly hope that things will not get to that point, but that is not in my control.
In the final analysis...
I do not wish to be part of this HOA--or any mandatory HOA--in the future. My preference is to be remain in SLR in my HOA-unencumbered home among my friends and a community that I love. But, if a buyer comes along, I will jump on the opportunity to be free of the flawed Florida HOA model that has few internal or statutory restraints on its power. I would be happy to resume the peaceful retirement that I envisioned when I came to SLR. If a Buyer does NOT come along, I would welcome and support a voluntary HOA entity that kept its corporate nose out of people's lives and concerned itself with common property infrastructure only!
