Community Associations Network Industry News

Negative Budget Impact Spurs Concern over Maintenance and Security Issues, Increased Fees and Assessments for Remaining Owners

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey of property owners in Florida's condominium, homeowner and other community associations shows rising mortgage foreclosures are causing revenue shortfalls that pose significant threats to operating and maintenance budgets and to the health and security of many communities.
The 2008 Florida Community Association Mortgage Foreclosure Survey, conducted online statewide from March 26-April 8 under the auspices of the Community Association Leadership Lobby, or CALL (http://www.callbp.com/ ), shows a direct correlation between rising mortgage foreclosures and corresponding decline in revenues from maintenance fees and other assessments in the state's condo and homeowner (HOA) communities.
More than 60% of the nearly 500 survey respondents said that banks and mortgage lenders now holding title to the foreclosed units or homes are not meeting their legal obligation to pay regular fees or other assessments to the association. More than 40% reported mortgage-foreclosed units or homes in their communities have been vacant for more than six months, with one in five citing vacancies of more than one year. Respondents expressed concern about maintenance and security issues related to vacant units as the 2008 tropical storm season approaches.
CALL Co-executive Directors David Muller and Yeline Goin, attorneys with the law firm Becker & Poliakoff, which established CALL in 2003, said the survey results are a sober reminder that individual mortgage foreclosures are having a negative ripple effect that can undermine the property values and available services in entire communities - particularly in Florida's common ownership residential condos, HOAs and other community associations.
"As a result of the mortgage foreclosure crisis, community associations statewide are now seeing the compounding effects of declining revenue collection and will likely have to balance association budgets through increased monthly fees and assessments for members, many of whom are already burdened with increased mortgage, insurance and property tax obligations," said David Muller, CALL co-Executive Director and a community association attorney in Becker & Poliakoff's Sarasota office. "As the 2008 storm season approaches, strains on many community association budgets from the downward- spiraling mortgage foreclosure crisis could leave many communities vulnerable and ill-prepared to cover storm damage costs and rising insurance rates in the coming months."
"Public policy makers need to take a hard look at the impact mortgage foreclosures are having in community associations, where the pain is being felt as much more than a crisis of declining real estate prices," said Yeline Goin, CALL's Tallahassee-based co-Executive Director and a community association attorney with Becker & Poliakoff. "The Governor's H.O.P.E. task force and Florida state legislators need to address in particular the growing number of vacant mortgage-foreclosed units and homes and declining revenue collection that undermines the ability to maintain the health and general welfare of millions of Florida community association residents statewide."
Three quarters of the 2008 Florida Community Association Mortgage Foreclosure Survey respondents (75.4%) were members of their association's Board of Directors, making them most likely within their communities to have knowledge of the current level of foreclosures and the impact on revenue collection and budgetary considerations in their community.
Key findings of the survey include:

-- More than half (58.2%) of survey respondents statewide reported a
definite increase in the number of mortgage foreclosures in their
associations, with a particularly sharp increase of 71.1% in mortgage
foreclosures in homeowners associations (HOAs) and a 52.9% increase in
foreclosures in condominium associations.

-- One in four respondents (26%) say the mortgage foreclosure rate within
their community over the past year had increased by at least 50%, with
13.5% reporting a jump of more than 100%.

-- A majority (50.9%) of survey respondents polled reported a decline in
the collection of maintenance fees and other assessments as a result
of mortgage foreclosures in their communities.

-- Almost 60% of respondents reported that mortgage lenders who have
foreclosed on units or homes in community associations are not
currently paying monthly maintenance fees and/or other assessments as
required by law.

-- Four out of every 10 respondents (42.3%) reported units or homes left
vacant for six months or more, with 20.5% -- one in five -- reporting
that units or homes have been uninhabited for one year or more as a
result of mortgage foreclosures.

-- Fully 66% of respondents said their association's Board of Directors
intends to increase maintenance fees and/or pass special assessments
to compensate for anticipated shortfall in revenues due to declining
maintenance fee and assessment collections resulting from mortgage
foreclosures.

Sponsored by the Community Association Leadership Lobby (CALL), an advocacy group established in 2003 by Florida-based law firm Becker & Poliakoff to advance the shared interests of the state's common-ownership community associations, the 2008 Florida Community Association Mortgage Foreclosure Survey polled more than 4,500 known owners of property in Florida condos, homeowners and other community associations.
The survey received a total of 487 responses, giving a margin of error for the total survey sample of +/- 5% at the 98% confidence level. Condominium owners represented the largest segment of respondents (64.5%), followed by those owning property in homeowners' associations (32.3%). Results of the survey can be seen in a summary report posted to the website of the Community Association Leadership Lobby at http://www.callbp.com/ .
About the Community Association Leadership Lobby (CALL)
The Community Association Leadership Lobby is the leading organization working to enhance the quality of life and protect property values for Florida's community association residents. CALL advocates on behalf of more than 4,000 member communities, including condominiums, homeowners' associations, mobile home communities and cooperatives throughout the state. More information on the Community Association Leadership Lobby can be found at http://www.callbp.com/ .
Community Association Leadership Lobby

Posted by Joe at 4:41 PM | Permalink

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Individuals who purchased Florida condo units in good faith in recent years face yet another threat to their property's value from a rising tide of lawsuits by speculative investors seeking to exploit loopholes in a 40-year old law known as the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, say two prominent South Florida attorneys.

In an Opinion piece published Saturday in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, attorneys Alan Becker and Allen Levine of the law firm Becker & Poliakoff (www.becker-poliakoff.com) write that the mushrooming litigation, based on perceived loopholes in the federal legislation, known as ILSA, and governing regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), represents a serious problem for the residential real estate market, particularly in Florida and potentially nationwide.

The full text of the Opinion piece can be found online at the Sun-Sentinel.com at: http://tinyURL.com/5czs7q or http://www.sun- sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-condo12forumsbapr12,0,2260792.story .

Becker, who is a co-founder and Managing Shareholder of the firm, and Levine, who leads Becker & Poliakoff's statewide real estate litigation practice, have called on the U.S. Congress and HUD to immediately address the problems with the ILSA legislation and governing regulations, which threaten to exacerbate the already troubled Florida residential condominium market.

"ILSA was originally intended to protect unknowing home buyers from unscrupulous developers who were selling property on swampland or wasteland unsuitable for development," Becker & Levine said in their article. While the legislation made sense 40 years ago when parts of Florida were truly undeveloped, they added, "now that the condo market is in a slump, some purchasers are taking advantage of the ambiguously worded regulations" to get out of contracts in highly developed areas.

"The majority of buyers behind these lawsuits are speculative short-term investors, commonly referred to as 'flippers,' who purchased units in highly developed areas of Florida but are now worried they won't be able to resell the units or make as much of a profit as they had hoped," the attorneys continued. "If these lawsuits are successful, it will set a dangerous precedent for large numbers of buyers skipping out on their contracts every time the market takes a downward turn, despite being provided with the completed unit they originally purchased."

Becker and Levine called on Congress and Florida legislators, in particular, to work together with HUD and "take immediate action to close the loopholes in ILSA before the real estate market is dragged down even further, harming not only developers and lenders but the true consumers that the law was originally designed to protect."

A former three-term Florida State Legislator, Alan Becker also serves in key leadership positions in Florida economic development organizations, including Enterprise Florida and The Beacon Council, Miami Dade County's private-public economic development agency. As Managing Shareholder of Becker & Poliakoff, Alan Becker is responsible for lead management responsibilities at the 34-year-old law firm and also heads business development, recruitment and strategic planning for the firm.

Firm shareholder Allen Levine leads Becker & Poliakoff's statewide real estate litigation practice team and has extensive experience representing multi-national and domestic businesses, developers, investors, community associations, contractors, and suppliers in business litigation. A member of the Broward Alliance Board of Directors, the Broward Alliance Investors Council, and person of the Broward Alliance Business Development Committee, Levine is also a recipient of the Florida Economic Development Council's Richard L. McLaughlin Award, recognizing his contribution to economic development in Florida.

More information about Alan Becker can be found online at: http://www.becker-poliakoff.com/attorneys/bios/becker_a.html

More information about Allen Levine can be found online at: http://www.becker-poliakoff.com/attorneys/bios/levine_a.html

About Becker & Poliakoff P.A.

Becker & Poliakoff, P.A. is a diversified commercial law firm based in Ft. Lauderdale with more than one hundred twenty five attorneys in fourteen Florida offices, plus New York, Prague and affiliated offices in China, France and Israel. In addition to Real Estate Litigation, the firm counsels clients in legal issues relating to Community Association Law, Real Estate, Construction, Litigation, Government Law & Lobbying, Corporate & Tax, International Business and Trade, and many other areas of law. For more information, visit: http://www.becker-poliakoff.com .

Posted by Joe at 10:53 AM | Permalink

Suwanee, GA (Vocus/PRWEB ) April 11, 2008 -- Community Association Management Website technology company AtHomeNet has officially announced the opening of a new satellite office based in Austin, Texas. The office will serve as a base of operations for expanding into new markets.

Company founders Jeff & Susan Sanders are enthusiastic about the new and exciting technology and opportunity this year's plan has brought forth. Director of Technology, Jeff Sanders stated, "Our soon to be released "AtHomeNet Elite" service is designed to be the comprehensive communications tool for Community Association Management Professionals and Community Volunteers. The expansion of our office into a new region is going to assist us tremendously in letting people in new markets know that AtHomeNet is committed to making communities stronger, safer, and better."

"The expansion will aid us in achieving our goal of meeting and exceeding the expectations of residents and property managers nationwide while still being sensitive to the fact that our communities want value as well as service. We plan to let people coast to coast know that AtHomeNet Elite is a phenomenal breakthrough in that it soars in functionality while remaining affordable and user friendly. Texas is a natural second location for us, as there are an enormous amount of community associations there. Having staff in the area allows us to meet with professional Association Managers & volunteer Board members on a daily basis," added Director of Marketing Susan Sanders.

The Texas AtHomeNet offices will be staffed by longtime Community Association administrator Jason Hollingsworth, who brings years of industry experience to AtHomeNet.

For more information on AtHomeNet's new Texas office and the release of AtHomeNet Elite, please contact Susan Sanders at 1-800-556-7852.

Posted by Joe at 8:23 PM | Permalink