Condo maintenance and the larger issue of deferred maintenance and repairs ... 135

#HOA #realestateagent #condominnium

Deerwood Realty and Friends Podcast

Condo boards(HOA’s) have been confronted with the collapse of the surfside towers and while some scramble to make repairs, they run into obstacles.

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Thoughts:

1. The condo board orders an inspection of the property and they are thanked with a recall effort. Does this provide a chilling effect on other boards throughout the country?

2. $80,000 per unit assessment! Can you imagine? Did the people who have purchased these units ever think they would be on the hook for such an amount? The structure is 45 years old…how much deferred maintenance has there been over the years?

3. Rumors that the reason behind the recall effort are that the condo owners are against the repairs.

4. The person quoted in charge of planning the repairs says on one hand no buildings are under imminent threat of collapse, but he then recalls the surfside condo collapse. That’s how to capitalize on a tragedy….I saw this after 9/11 where we needed new fire stations because we could be attacked and first responders needed to be ready. How do you argue against safety? This seems to be the dilemma? If you couch something in a safety argument, when is it not indefensible? It’s an issue that we should definitely examine more.

5. Why isn’t the condo board speaking out about this? Shouldn’t there be a president or something? Why is the fellow paid to be in charge of the repairs the one to speak to the media?

6. Strange Story, but it highlights this issue perfectly.

a. There may very well be maintenance issues with the condo..it is 45 years old and on the beach….bound to be repairs needed
b. The owners of the condos don’t want to be on the hook for the repairs, and can you blame them? Does anyone want to be on the hook for repairs?
c. The action by the owners to recall the board…under allegations of false representation is strange.
d. Is there any way that the majority of condo owners would ever believe the “experts” that repairs need to be made? This seems like the issue. There is no trust in the process.
e. Are there ways to improve trust? We used to use professionalism to create trust, but people are starting to see that the credentialed class isn’t always operating in anyone’s best interest than their own.

7. The surfside condo collapse…they keep adding more engineers, more credentials, and say that they will study the issue for as long as it takes…at what point are these people profiting on a tragedy? This is not my accusation specific to this issue. But at some point, those statements are not helpful to improving trust amongst those who are already skeptical of the credentialed class.

Source: https://www.nwfdailynews.com/story/news/local/2021/09/02/owners-destins-aging-shoreline-towers-want-boot-hoa-board/5683564001/

https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2021/06/nist-will-conduct-technical-investigation-collapse-champlain-towers-south

https://www.nist.gov/disaster-failure-studies/champlain-towers-south-collapse/news-and-updates

https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2021/10/oct-25-2021-update-nists-champlain-towers-south-investigation

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