Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Proposed Florida bill would create a condo police force -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Proposed Florida bill would create a condo police force -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com: "Soon Florida could have condominium cops who would bust those who defraud community associations.

The state officers would have the authority to inspect the records and premises of any state regulated community — condos, homeowners, cooperatives, mobile home parks and timeshares. The cases they uncover would be handed over to a state attorney's office.

'We are getting so many cases of potential fraud that most local police departments are too overwhelmed to deal with them,' said Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, who filed House Bill 1397, proposing the new police force. 'And most often they are low priorities for police who must worry about robberies and murders. So, nothing happens. But all this police force will do is condo fraud cases.'"

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Rep. Robaina takes another step toward cleaning up the CID industry. Couple this with what Sen. Schneider is doing in Nevada, and you have two states where serious muscle might be brought to bear on the crooks.

In the comments to the Nevada article I posted (see below), CID prohibitionists weighed in with the usual sour grapes routine over any and all attempts to make this institution work a little better. Please don't try to tell me that prosecuting the people who steal from and defraud CID owners is not worth doing. Regardless of whether it cleans up the industry, it needs to be done. There has to be some punishment and some deterrence. There happen to be millions of innocent people living in these communities, with billions of dollars of their money in the hands of others. They have a right to some protection from thieves. Until recently state governments have largely ignored this problem and told people to go file a civil suit. That's why crooked property managers, lawyers, board members, and contractors have felt so free to steal. Finally, we see some signs that the criminal justice system will get involved.

Anybody who doesn't get behind that idea is not on the side of homeowners. I don't care how high you think your horse is.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Representative Robaina introduced legislation a few years ago that would train and empower the police to investigate allegations of fraud and criminal activities in condos.

As far as I understand it, the bill flew through both the House and Senate but was vetoed by then Governor Jeb Bush. I can't for the life of me understand the logic behind it. The bill was a pilot program, using some of the funds collected from condo owners and NOT from the taxpayers. That's the only problem I had with it but in the overall scheme of things it is such a minor point.

I don't think it is any great secret that I am no great fan of associations but if the fraud, embezzlement and abuse are allowed to continue they will, I believe, bring down the whole common ownership concept like a house of cards.

Not that that would be such a great loss however a lot of innocent people will be hurt in the process, irreparably in many cases. And those individuals deserve better.

So anyone who stands in the way of investigating and prosecuting criminals, whether they are board members with sticky fingers, corrupt individuals who have figured out that taking over an association is easy pickings, or full fledged, credentialed card carrying members of CAI with access to millions of dollars of homeowner money in more than one HOA, must have rocks in their heads.

It would seem to me the only people who would oppose such a thing would be the criminals themselves.

Evan McKenzie said...

Shu--I agree. Rocks. Big, hard, heavy rocks. In their heads.

Anonymous said...

Shu and Dr. McKenzie, I agree too!
The devastation to innocent homeowners has been a tragedy no individual, or family should be forced to endure. Many have clearly been trapped into fighting for everything they have to be abused, over and over, due to the greed and wrong doings of a few, within a group. The discrimnation, harassment, terrorizing, property damage, lies, lies, lies and fraudulent lawsuits.
These perpetrators need and deserve jail time NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE; Dr., Lawyer, Indian Chief, Board Member, Industry Designee (Credentialed Professional), and EVEN ELECTED OFFICIALS, IF WARRANTED.

Anonymous said...

With all due respect, perfessor, I wouldn't so cavalierly dismiss so-called "CID prohibitionists."

They likely believe that the abuses that are rife in private HOA governance require us to rethink whether public policy of the past 40 years favoring the privatization of local government is good public policy and whether like any public policy it should be renewed or reversed. Reversing that policy in response to these abuses is a legitimate and entirely understandable response. Moreover, your characterization that the commentators somehow favor doing nothing in response to wrongdoing or criminal conduct in HOAs is a gross and intellectually dishonest distortion.