developer turnover

Condo & HOA Board Members May be

Neglecting the Duties You are Owed

Are you concerned that the developer of your condominium did not deliver on the promises made to you when you purchased your condominium unit? Are you concerned with the construction of the condominium in which you live? For most individuals the purchase of a condominium unit can be their most important investment. However, many of the decisions impacting this investment are not up to the owner of the unit, but rather they are left up to a board of directors controlling the association.

At a specified time, the developer of a condominium is required to relinquish control of the association’s board of directors in favor of the unit owners. The turnover of an association from developer to the unit owners presents the first opportunity for the association’s board to hire a lawyer, an accountant and an engineer to perform important and time-sensitive inspections of the condominium. These inspections will identify construction defects and other concerns that may exist. As such, it should not be surprising that a developer would want a “friendly” association board of directors following turnover. But imagine the havoc an unscrupulous developer could inflict if the association’s newly elected board — or the attorney and engineer working for the unit owners — have financial ties to the developer.

A recent Miami-Dade grand jury report found that there was extensive fraud, mismanagement, stacking of boards and conflicts of interest among condominium association boards (click here for the complete report). Such misconduct is not limited to Miami-Dade, however. Perhaps surprisingly, one of the largest public corruption cases set in the fast-paced, scheming neon desert notoriously dubbed “Sin City” did not involve the usual Las Vegas suspects, but rather a contractor, a lawyer, and a stacked board of condominium directors. In 2015, Leon Benzer, a construction company boss, was sentenced to 15 and a half years in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme to take control of association boards for the purpose of channeling construction defect repairs to Benzer’s company. Benzer’s scheme involved a network of recruited purchasers and real estate agents who would get elected to association boards, hire Benzer’s attorney, and award lucrative contracts to Benzer’s construction company. Through these unethical practices, these individuals violated the duties owed to the association and its unit owners.

Condominium unit owners are considered shareholders of the association, and act in a fiduciary relationship to each owner. In such relationships, the law demands a higher than ordinary degree of care from each director and officer, with Florida law specifically demanding directors to discharge their duties in good faith. Simply put, directors should act to protect the best interests of the association and its unit owners, rather than their personal interests or those of affiliated third parties. The actions of the board members in Benzer’s scheme were in complete disregard of the unit owners’ rights, as they participated in rigging elections and seeking only personal gain.

Gary M. Mars

The firm’s Gary M. Mars authored an article that appeared in today’s edition of the Daily Business Review, South Florida’s exclusive business daily and official court newspaper. Gary’s article, which was titled “Ruling Reminds New Associations to Watch for Developers Waiving Reserves,” focuses on a recent appellate ruling regarding the issue of developers waiving their funding of reserves prior to the turnover of an association for a new community from the developer to the unit owners. His article reads:

A recent appellate ruling shined a spotlight on the all-too-common issue of developers improperly waiving their funding of reserve accounts while they retain control of an association for a new community before its turnover to the unit owners.

The ruling served as an important reminder for the owners at new developments of the careful vigilance that they need to exercise for any questions involving the funding and use of reserves by developers.

The ruling was filed by the Fifth District Court of Appeal in the case of Meritage Homes of Florida v. Lake Roberts Landing Homeowner Association. Meritage, the developer of the subdivision located in Winter Garden, appealed the trial court’s final judgment in favor of the homeowner association, which found that the requirement for HOA reserve accounts in the city code of Winter Garden cannot be waived as Meritage had attempted.

Meritage based its appeal on its contention that the lower court’s ruling created an impermissible conflict with section 720.303(6)(f), Florida Statutes, which expressly grants homeowner associations the right to waive reserves. The developer’s initial annual budget planned for the HOA’s operating expenses as well as an $11,000 deferred maintenance reserve account, but it later approved a budget that completely waived its funding of the reserves.

Meritage asserted that it issued written notice to all of the association members, which included several homeowners at that point, but none of the members other than Meritage attended the budget meeting in which the board members approved the budget sans reserves.

Articles Tagged with developer turnover

Unit Owners Beware: The Developer May Have Stacked The Board Against You

Article by Gary Mars in Today’s Daily Business Review: “Ruling Reminds New Associations to Watch for Developers Waiving Reserves”