{"id":558,"date":"2016-02-02T02:16:45","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T02:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/?p=558"},"modified":"2016-02-02T02:16:45","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T02:16:45","slug":"black-friday-nov-2015-vlc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/?p=558","title":{"rendered":"BLACK FRIDAY – NOV 2015 @ VLC"},"content":{"rendered":"

This web blog is the result of research AND analysis\u00a0conducted by the domain owner and writer,\u00a0AND opinions\u00a0offered and is not sanctioned by the appointed (not elected for 2015) board of directors of Van Loon Commons Condos.\u00a0\u00a0 The author is an original pre-construction owner, along with her husband and is invested for the long term, or until the condo is worth at least what they paid for it (not likely to occur\u00a0during natural lives) and has significant interest in seeing honest and qualified persons serving on the board.<\/p>\n

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.\u00a0 We are having a 2nd one today, as we have such a large family, so we are doubly blessed (or fattened).<\/p>\n

Today, (11\/27\/15) \u00a0is exactly 2 months from the scheduled, annual owners meeting\u00a0on January 27, 2016.\u00a0 At the annual meeting, the results of the election of new board members are announced OR\u00a0if only 5 candidates for the 5 positions submit notices of intent, they are appointed (as long as not disqualified for other exceptions under statutes).\u00a0 This occurred\u00a0in 2015 with 5 board members being appointed without a ballot process.<\/p>\n

The State of Florida has a process for\u00a0condo elections and it is required that the association send the “first notice” no less than <\/strong>60 days prior to the Annual Meeting to ALL owners.\u00a0\u00a0Board vacancies would be “advertised” with this notice to allow owners to submit their interest in being a candidate, within the prescribed time frames. I have attached a brochure which can be found on Google, as well as many\u00a0other websites with explanations of the process.<\/p>\n

Florida Elections for Condominiums\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Florida Elections for Condominiums<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

UPDATE:\u00a0\u00a0We just received the “1st Notice” of the Annual Meeting and solicitation for candidates.\u00a0 We\u00a0are curious when the Canadian owners will be receiving\u00a0this, which indicates that it was mailed on 11\/25\/15.\u00a0 Also, the return contact person is C\/O CAM Lisa Mason.\u00a0 ???<\/p>\n

At the budget meeting\u00a0on 11\/16\/15, the Treasurer announced that our CAM, Lisa Mason\u00a0had been promoted within Associa and would be working on other opportunities.\u00a0Several owners had tried\u00a0to contact Ms. Mason during that week and the week of 11\/23\/15, regarding\u00a0billing or other issues and did not receive any response.\u00a0One owner called the corporate\u00a0office and was told Ms. Mason went to a different association.\u00a0\u00a0 We emailed a\u00a0 Congratulations on her promotion. Oh well….<\/p>\n

Also, we were told that a board meeting was held on 11\/23 though no agenda was posted to the portal, nor was it listed on the calendar.\u00a0 Yes, state statute only requires 48 hour posting on the property building.\u00a0 And that is what the board likes to stick to. Bare minimum.\u00a0 There were very few owners present due to the Thanksgiving holiday.\u00a0 Deja vu to the Thanksgiving Eve meeting in 2013 almost.<\/p>\n

Jim and I\u00a0were present for\u00a0the 11\/16\/15\u00a0Budget meeting which I summarized and emailed to a few owners\u00a0who are\u00a0considering candidacy for the board.\u00a0 I will post some\u00a0thoughts and analysis of this later of budget later.\u00a0\u00a0 There are several\u00a0serious issues for concern – the increase from $6k to $20k of Legal.\u00a0\u00a0 One owner\u00a0asked why this increase?\u00a0 The response from the Treasurer was that it was only a buffer; they didn’t know that they would spend that amount.<\/p>\n

In our opinion, it is not a buffer.\u00a0 To explain, the board switched back to the auditor (Stroemer and Co we’ve been told) recommended by the attorneys, in\u00a0previous years and provided a hefty\u00a0increase in his rate for the annual audit; from $4,500 to $6,000.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0(Has anyone actually shopped for a truly independent CPA?\u00a0 No – that was rhetorical)\u00a0\u00a0This is a very expensive audit for the boilerplate report we receive and the 2013 audit, by Stroemer, was signed off on after questioning a\u00a0Water expense total of $654.\u00a0 The amount was not even close to correct\u00a0 – the actual was closer to\u00a0$30,000 due to water meter battery failure and board members choosing to not to repair and collect the funds owed to the association.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So what are we paying for?<\/p>\n

In the years we have owned, the only\u00a0auditors used have been recommended by the attorneys\u00a0or management company.\u00a0\u00a0 The\u00a0recommendation presented to\u00a0VLC owners by the auditor, for\u00a0changing\u00a0to Pooled Reserves which can be\u00a0a serious problem.\u00a0 The board voted to adopt it Nov 16th, 2015.\u00a0\u00a0 I have proposed a volunteer audit committee for the past 2 years as owners can vote to waive the paid audit and VLC has several retired and employed (myself included) degreed accountants and auditors.<\/p>\n

As for the projected legal expense increase – is the\u00a0board planning to pay the 1 or 2 attorneys to attend the Annual Meeting, like the former president did in January 2014? That cost nearly $4,000 for that day alone, at $675 per hour for their attendance to support the “agenda” of the president and run our election.\u00a0 IMHO – pathetic.\u00a0 Is the board anticipating any litigation that owners are not aware of?\u00a0 (Personal injury, water meter failures, ??)<\/p>\n

This association has struggled through the crash of the economy,\u00a0 numerous owner foreclosures, and has barely begun to build reserves. An owner vote (not just board members) is required to move the current reserves which are “dedicated”, meaning Roof $$ are for Roof, Painting $$ are for Painting, etc, to the Pool.\u00a0 Pooled, meaning the board members have the flexibility to spend however they decide-not line item savings or a vote to move from one to another.\u00a0 The board has operated without regard to the statutes already – Example: Moving $40,000 of unspent 2014 Special Assessment funds in to operating expenses in 2015 rather than crediting owners for amount or having a vote.<\/p>\n

Do board members possess sufficient financial backgrounds\/qualifications or have\u00a0long term commitments to the community?\u00a0 Are their backgrounds checked or their stated qualifications, such as educational degrees verified?\u00a0 The current president’s (president for 2 years) professed\u00a0“commitment to the community” over and over.\u00a0 His condo is listed as a pending sale after 3 years of ownership, purchasing for 95k and listing it for 144k.\u00a0\u00a0The president prior to him\u00a0 (1 year term) owned for about\u00a04 years, purchasing for\u00a0about 110k, and selling in the mid 130s.\u00a0 And before that,\u00a0was a 3 year owner who paid in mid\u00a080s and sold for about 109k.<\/p>\n

The point?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The nature of\u00a0Florida condos, is\u00a0short term ownership.\u00a0The population is older, many come for the winter only or on occasion\u00a0have invested when the market crashed to make\u00a0a quick, short term profit while either renting the condo or enjoying it themselves. To\u00a0\u00a0give board members\u00a0complete control over reserves for fixed assets that WILL need to be replaced, repaired, etc \u00a0who may choose\u00a0to use the funds for whatever pet projects they deem important, then they sell,\u00a0take their 20-50k profit, and leave the remaining owners with depleted the reserves is just PLAIN STUPID.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Over the years Jim and I have cringed, listening to the different board members and their personal plans, such as filling in the hot tub.\u00a0 There have been changes recently that are not progress – another post, another day.<\/p>\n

Pooled reserves are easier\u00a0for the board but are not<\/strong>\u00a0good for owners.\u00a0\u00a0Be\u00a0aware that\u00a0the CPA or attorney who is supporting Pooled Reserves or any issue from the board was\u00a0also selected and paid by the board.<\/p>\n

Google the issue yourself; read and think.\u00a0 Also, check out www.ccfj.net – Jan Bergmann.\u00a0\u00a0 He is terrific.<\/p>\n

Next up: Budget meeting and Perv Cameras, Volunteer Committees and Associa Gulf Coast<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This web blog is the result of research AND analysis\u00a0conducted by the domain owner and writer,\u00a0AND opinions\u00a0offered and is not sanctioned by the appointed (not elected for 2015) board of directors of Van Loon Commons Condos.\u00a0\u00a0 The author is an original pre-construction owner, along with her husband and is invested for the long term, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=558"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":560,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions\/560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanlooncommons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}