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	<title>Florida HOA &#8211; HOA ALLIANCE</title>
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	<title>Florida HOA &#8211; HOA ALLIANCE</title>
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		<title>Florida condo collapse settlement reached, tops $1 billion</title>
		<link>https://www.hoaalliance.org/florida-condo-collapse-settlement-reached-tops-1-billion/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[HOA Alliance]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 May 2022 15:35:52 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Florida HOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Condos]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hoaalliance.org/?p=319840</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for the families who lost relatives in last year&#8217;s collapse of a Florida condominium tower that killed 98 people reached a $1.02 billion settlement Friday, providing a speedy resolution to lawsuits that could have dragged on for years. The agreement to end litigation over the Champlain Towers South tragedy awaits approval by Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman, but that should just be a formality. Lawyers previously had announced in court a tentative agreement that almost $1 billion would be split by the families whose relatives died or were harmed in the collapse of the 12-story tower in Surfside, and parties on both sides of the lawsuit filed a motion Friday committing to a $1.02 billion settlement fund. Additionally, nearly $100 million will be split by those who lost their property in the collapse. Families of victims will have to file claims, as the money will not be split evenly. The goal is to begin distributing money by September. The money comes from several sources, including insurance companies, engineering companies and a luxury condominium that had recently been built next door. None of the parties are admitting wrongdoing. A billionaire developer from Dubai i s set to purchase the 1.8-acre (1-hectare) beachside site for $120 million, contributing to the settlement. The judge will determine the attorneys fees, but it is expected to be a fraction of the third lawyers would normally earn. Cases like this typically take three years or more to reach a settlement, let alone get to trial. In their motion for “preliminary approval of class action settlement,&#8221; attorneys for plaintiffs and defendants described the collapse in Surfside as a “ ‘black swan’ event that devastated this community,&#8221; and said they were “proud to have met this Court’s challenge to provide relief to the class of victims before the one-year anniversary of the collapse.” Most of Champlain Towers South collapsed suddenly around 1:20 a.m. last June 24 as most of its residents slept. Only three people survived the initial collapse. No other survivors were found despite around-the-clock efforts by rescuers who dug through a 40-foot (12-meter) high pile of rubble for two weeks. Another three dozen people were able to escape from the portion of the building that remained standing. All 135 units were ultimately demolished, leaving a gaping hole along Surfside&#8217;s beachfront. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is investigating the cause of the collapse, a process expected to take years. Champlain South had a long history of maintenance problems and questions have been raised about the quality of its original construction and inspections in the early 1980s. The collapse drew new scrutiny to high-rise safety statewide, especially in vulnerable coastal areas. At the time, Miami-Dade and neighboring Broward counties were the only ones of Florida’s 67 counties requiring buildings to recertify their safety after 40 years. New legislation passed by the Legislature this week in a special session and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis will require those certifications statewide, significantly earlier in the building’s lifespan. Recertification will be required after 30 years, or 25 years if the building is within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of the coast, and every 10 years thereafter. The Champlain Towers South was 40 years old and its condominium association had been struggling with compliance at the time of the collapse.]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Charlie Crist bashes Gov. DeSantis’ inaction on property insurance</title>
		<link>https://www.hoaalliance.org/charlie-crist-bashes-gov-desantis-inaction-on-property-insurance/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[HOA Alliance]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 May 2022 19:03:22 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Florida HOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FL HOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hoaalliance.org/?p=285300</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Rep. Charlie Crist , a Democratic candidate for Governor, slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday for not pushing to fix Florida’s troubled property insurance market , which has seen steep rate hikes for most homeowners  “Prices are rising and Floridians are hurting, but Gov. DeSantis is ignoring the problem — he’d rather focus on culture wars and his 2024 political ambitions,” Crist said in a released statement.  Five companies last year opted not to renew more than 120,000 policies, and another company, St. Johns Insurance Co., went insolvent. Although St. Johns’ policies were taken on by Slide Insurance Co. , those moves put pressure on the rest of the market, which received large rate increases by state regulators, driven mostly by surges in roof claims and litigation costs.  DeSantis has said if the Legislature can come to an agreement on insurance reforms he’ll sign it into law , but the Special Session he called to address congressional redistricting that starts April 19 won’t include property insurance or any other subject. Also, the reforms pushed in the last Legislative Session would not have immediately lowered premiums.  “Gov. DeSantis has turned a deaf ear to the insurance crisis facing our state. When I was Governor, I lowered property insurance premiums,” Crist said. “And when I’m elected, I’ll do it again.”  The GOP-led Legislature considered some changes to the market during its 60-day Session that ended last month, but ultimately couldn’t pass anything. The Senate advanced SB 1728, which would have installed a new roof-only deductible for new policies — a provision endorsed by the DeSantis administration. But the House was skeptical of the measure.  Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier , however, said during last week’s Cabinet meeting that he’s allowing insurers to offer the roof deductible as an option for customers.  Other parts of the bill were aimed at making Citizens Property Insurance , a state-run company, have rates more in line with the private market. Citizens is designed to be an insurer of “last resort” — an insurer for homes the private market won’t cover.  But Citizens’ rates are capped at 10% increases per year, while some large private companies have seen rates rise by more than 30% in parts of the state. That’s pushed homeowners into Citizens rather than the private market.  GOP lawmakers have sought to keep the Citizens policy count low, because if a large enough hurricane hits the state and erases its $6.5 billion surplus, assessments would be placed on all homeowner and auto policies in the state to pay for the claims.  Crist has tangled with Florida’s complex property insurance market before. When he was a Republican Governor from 2007-2011, he famously said “good riddance” to State Farm. At that time, the insurance giant threatened to leave the state in the face of Crist’s refusal to soften regulations or allow larger rate hikes as the market rebounded from the massive losses stemming from the damaging 2004-2005 storm seasons.  Written by Gray Rohrer  for  Florida Politics]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>The Neighborhood Is The Amenity: Why Parts Of #Miami Are Booming</title>
		<link>https://www.hoaalliance.org/the-neighborhood-is-the-amenity-why-parts-of-miami-are-booming/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[HOA Alliance]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2022 14:17:14 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Florida HOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Homeowners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HOA Alliance]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hoaalliance.org/?p=239223</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[UrbanX principal Coralee Penabad developed the River Landing mixed-use project on the bank of the Miami River, in an area called the Health District, which bustles with workers from nearby hospitals and a courthouse. A key focus, she said, was providing access to the waterway, which had long been considered an industrial, working river rather than a community asset. Designed with an open-air passageway that invites people to walk through the retail complex from the street to the river, and with a setback from the water where people can linger, the project attracts people naturally, “without ever having to feel like they need to buy something in order to be there,” Penabad said. That welcoming feel paid off: River Landing’s 528 multifamily units were absorbed in nine months. Penabad and other commercial real estate experts spoke at Bisnow ’s Future of Wynwood and Allapattah event Thursday, held inside the newly completed 195K SF Gateway at Wynwood. Wynwood is a once-gritty neighborhood packed with warehouses that has transformed into a hub for street art that later attracted trendy, independent businesses. Now, the area is booming with construction cranes as tall high-rises stack the streets. The neighborhood is in the “fifth inning,” Tricera Capital co-founder Scott Sherman said. Normally, he said, neighborhoods grow with residential offerings first, then office and retail follow. Wynwood had retail first, and its bustling vibe made businesses want to be there. With work-from-home becoming a more viable option every day, panelists discussed how it takes something special for workers and business owners to want to be in offices — and Wynwood offers that with its authenticity and energy. “We bought The Cube in March of ’21. We’re already fully leased,” Sherman said. “We just signed Blockchain.com for two floors.” Numerous other notable companies, from hedge funds to Spotify and SoftBank, have also taken space in Wynwood, where Class-A office rents average $66.67 per SF, according to a Q4 2021 office market report from Blanca CRE. With land prices rising, development has spread outward from the neighborhood core. Wynwood Equity Partners President Yoni Bornstein is developing an area called Wynwood Norte in the blocks north of the trendy arts district. It was inevitable that, given the growth of Wynwood, development would creep northward, he said, so he decided to be proactive and involve longtime residents in planning as the neighborhood faced gentrification. Together, the stakeholders developed a community vision plan, then sought zoning changes that would allow the center of the neighborhood to remain low-rise while allowing density on the fringes. As a result, he said, character is maintained from the single-family homes and small apartments, while developers are still allowed to build denser product, which allows them to make returns and also provide affordable units. The long-term residents appreciated infrastructure upgrades and streetscape improvements that came with the new development, he said. “The reason it went fairly smoothly [is] it was never about our project, it was always about the community,” Bornstein said. West of Wynwoood, Allapattah is a working-class neighborhood where prominent Miami developers have been buying up parcels and announcing big projects over the past few years. Allapattah Collaborative Director of Economic Development and Strategy Francesca Escoto said that, like Bornstein, she’s working to influence zoning ordinances to prevent displacement of longtime residents. Equitable development is a growing philosophy for urban planning that lets traditionally underserved populations be more involved in how their communities evolve. “Sometimes when developers come in, they imagine a blank canvas, that they’re creating something new,” Escoto said. “And what we’re saying is, ‘It’s not a blank canvas. There’s a beautiful painting already.’ So can we work with the painting that exists? Can we enhance the colors?” A key focus now, Escoto said, is how best to develop Little Santo Domingo, a section of the commercial corridor lined with Dominican-owned businesses. A combination of stakeholders, styles and ideas ultimately leads to a more vibrant feel than a master-planned project, panelists said. “I don’t think a neighborhood needs one singular identity to survive and to thrive,” Carpe Real Estate Partners principal David Weitz said. “It’s got multiple identities. That ecosystem is going to be what sustains the growth of Allapattah.” Source: Bisnow]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Judge OKs $83M for property loss in Florida condo collapse</title>
		<link>https://www.hoaalliance.org/judge-oks-83m-for-property-loss-in-florida-condo-collapse/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[HOA Alliance]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2022 17:12:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Florida HOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Condos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HOA Alliance]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hoaalliance.org/?p=152510</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[People who owned units in a Florida oceanfront condominium building that collapsed last year will divide $83 million for property losses, with the compensation for families over the 98 deaths still to be determined, a judge ruled Wednesday. The money for owners of the 136-unit Champlain Towers South building will come from sale of the now-vacant beachfront land as well as insurance policies, officials said. Unless they opt out, the owners who take the deal will relinquish their rights to sue individually but also could avoid an assessment because of the loss. “It gives them certainty. These people need certainty and they need to carry on,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said before approving the deal at a hearing. “Maybe it&#8217;s not 100% of value, but it&#8217;s pretty close. I think it&#8217;s an outstanding result.” Champlain Towers South, a 12-story condo in Surfside, Florida collapsed without warning early on June 24. The settlement is part of a lawsuit arguing work on an adjacent luxury condo building, known as Eighty Seven Park, damaged and destabilized an aging building already in dire need of major structural repair. The defendants associated with Eighty Seven Park deny any negligence or wrongdoing. The cause of the collapse remains unknown, although the building was in the midst of a 40-year inspection and engineers had pointed out some serious structural flaws previously. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is the main investigative agency in a probe that could take many months. Under the agreement Wednesday, each unit owner will be paid a share based on their ownership portion of a condominium unit and for personal items that were lost. It does not does not include money for wrongful death claims arising from the 98 fatalities, which will be settled later after input from court-appointed experts. “We have 98 people who lost their lives and we need to keep this case in perspective,” Hanzman said. Some family members of those died questioned why the property owners get the first chunk of guaranteed money. “Loss of life is extremely more valuable than losing property,” said Martin Langesfeld, whose sister and brother-in-law were killed. “We believe it is completely unfair.” Yet Alfredo Lopez, who survived the collapse with his family, said the settlement does not begin to compensate owners for the true value of their former units. “We are surviving victims. We will be getting a fraction of what our homes were worth,” Lopez said. The Surfside site where the building once stood will be put up for auction in the coming weeks, attorneys said. One offer for about $120 million has been on the table for months, but there may be others as the auction approaches. Hanzman said the deal approved Wednesday is contingent on the land sale going through. It is possible the sale could be for a higher amount. The city of Surfside, meanwhile, is creating committees led by Champlain Towers South families to organize an anniversary event this June and to consider how to construct a permanent memorial to the victims who died. Source: Local10  News]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>Florida Legislators Victor Torres And Kristen Arrington target HOA Fines And Liens</title>
		<link>https://www.hoaalliance.org/florida-legislators-victor-torres-and-kristen-arrington-target-hoa-fines-and-liens/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[HOA Alliance]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Feb 2022 18:05:21 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Florida HOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FL HOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hoaalliance.org/?p=30566</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Written By Scott Powers &#124; &#8216;People are pretty upset that, during these trying times, they&#8217;re getting fines of up to $1,000 for not pressure-washing their driveway.&#8217; Home owners associations across Florida could see their powers curtailed or restricted as it relates to imposing fines and liens against home owners, under legislation introduced by Sen. Victor Torres and Rep. Kristen Arrington. Arrington, a Kissimmee Democrat, and Torres, an Orlando Democrat, are responding to complaints that certain home owners associations, particularly those where developers retain control of HOA boards, can abuse fines and liens and cause overly burdensome hardships for home owners who often find they have little recourse. The dynamic has been a high-profile, chronic source of hostility and litigation in the burgeoning Osceola County community of Poinciana, which is in Torres’ Senate District 15 and partly in Arrington’s House District 43. Arrington, though, said there is a statewide problem, and that she has been hearing from frustrated home owners across the state. “People are pretty upset that, during these trying times, they’re getting fines of up to $1,000 for not pressure-washing their driveway,” Arrington said. Her House Bill 1039 would prevent unpaid HOA fines from becoming liens that could lead to properties being seized. Her House Bill 6103 would repeal the ability for associations to issue fines. Torres’ companion bills are Senate Bill 1362 and Senate Bill 1364, respectively. Home owners association law reform bills are perennial in Legislative Sessions. Arrington said she believes this to be a new approach to addressing the fines and liens. “If there was a quick fix, it probably would have been done a while ago,” Arrington said. “Talking to some real estate professionals and some people in associations, they recommend both of these options: either repealing the fine option, or stopping the lien option. “These two things, I haven’t (seen) any red flags raised or had anybody say too much against them as of yet. … But these are two avenues I want to explore. I’ll be talking to leadership about ways to do one of these to help folks, especially during these trying times, when we’re not trying to push people out of their homes,” she said. See more at  FloridaPolitics.com]]></description>
		
		
		
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		<title>New HOA questionnaire could torpedo condo financing under Fannie, Freddie</title>
		<link>https://www.hoaalliance.org/new-hoa-questionnaire-could-torpedo-condo-financing-under-fannie-freddie/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[HOA Alliance]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Jan 2022 17:03:34 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[US News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida HOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FL HOA]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.hoaalliance.org/?p=30231</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[A nightmare scenario looms for condo buyers applying for certain types of federally-backed mortgages.  If you are selling or are looking to buy an attached condominium in a community with five or more attached units, conventional financing from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may soon become elusive. Beginning Jan. 1 for Fannie and starting Feb. 28 for Freddie, the mortgage giants are putting the screws to a required HOA questionnaire. New questions ask applicants about the structural integrity of the community and whether any code violations are anticipated.  No doubt, Fannie and Freddie’s updated lender mandates are in response to the Florida condo tower that killed 98 people last June 24 . Years of deferred maintenance at the Champlain Towers in Surfside caused the 12-story building to collapse.  Answering the agencies thoroughly and completely could force lenders to decline a mortgage application. (Remember: Mortgage lenders fund a loan, and then may sell it to Fannie or Freddie). “Yes, lenders are declining projects even for a simple special assessment for repairs now. Things are just trickling in right now because the guidance started January 1,” said one condo project approval expert, who asked to remain unnamed because he’s not the media spokesman for his company. “Soon enough we’ll see the effects hit all the condo market. I’ve only seen it affect projects with major issues at this point; meaning (the project) has code violations and millions of dollars of repairs underway.”  Answering these questions honestly or possibly with a guess could bring liability in the form of future lawsuits against HOA stakeholders such as the property management company, board members, inspectors, engineers and the association.  If the questionnaire isn’t completely answered because the answers are unknown or undetermined, it might mean the purchase or refinance gets torpedoed. Here is a sprinkling of questions included in Fannie Mae’s Form 1076 condominium project questionnaire (posted December 2021 and updated to eight from five pages): Q: Is the HOA aware of any deficiencies related to the safety, soundness, structural integrity, or habitability of the project’s building(s)? My reaction: If management didn’t know about any deficiencies, for example, and answered as such, should they have reasonably known these calamities could come up later? Q: Is it anticipated the project will, in the future, have such violations (zoning ordinances, codes, etc., which are related to safety, soundness, structural integrity, or habitability)? My reaction: For the love of peace, how could one possibly determine if yet-to-be-written, jurisdictional codes trigger new violations in the condo complex?  These dubious questions could be akin to a winning lottery ticket for any attorney who lives in the world of HOA litigation.  Why is this so problematic? The nation has a huge community of really old condos and many of them are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages. The U.S. has as many as 156,000 condo associations and cooperatives housing between 27 and 32 million Americans, according to the Community Associations Institute.  “Seventy percent of all condo loans in the U.S. are Fannie or Freddie (backed),” said Dawn Bauman, senior vice president of government affairs at CAI. “Sixty to 70% of all condo complexes are more than 30 years old.” Fannie Mae has a published list of 82 “unavailable” California condo-projects including the Marina City Club in Marina Del Rey, which has $80 million to $140 million in needed repairs according to a report last year . That a 10-acre complex is one of nearly 1,000 “unavailable” condo projects nationwide. To Fannie Mae, unavailable means a property is ineligible for purchase by the agency.  One mortgage executive told me Fannie is making the rounds, emphasizing these new condo questions during lender visits. So, don’t be surprised if that unavailable list explodes as Fannie collects more intel. To be fair, Fannie and Freddie need to dig more deeply to assess and consider condo structural risk before purchasing those mortgages from lenders. The mortgage giants also may disqualify a condo community for other reasons, such as a lack of budget reserves.  If your loan is denied over the Fan or Fred HOA certification answers, you may be able to get funded on what the industry calls a non-warrantable loan. You should expect to pay perhaps one-half to one point higher in rate than conventional financing. You might also have to provide a larger down payment or have more remaining equity compared with Fannie-type requirements. But buyer beware: Non-qualified mortgage lenders that offer the exotic non-warrantable condo mortgages are not a loan approval shoo-in either.  For example, California-based LendSure has a condo guidance checklist to help determine investor risks. The common three items it looks at are investor concentration (how many rentals are in the complex), single investor (does one person or entity own a bunch of the units), and litigation against the condo complex, according to Joe Lydon, co-founder, and managing director of LendSure.  Why so much deferred maintenance? Unit owners are often resistant to increased HOA fees or special assessments for repairs and updates. Condo complex building inspections can run $15,000 to $50,000 depending on the number of units, according to Bauman. “Community Associations Institute is lobbying for laws mandating reserve studies and building inspections,” said Bauman. CAI is also asking Fan and Fred to give HOAs more time to be able to address so many of the new HOA questions. “Five years to ramp-up the requisite building inspections.”  Freddie Mac rate news  The 30-year, fixed-rate averaged 3.56%, its highest rate since March 2020 and up 11 basis points from last week. The 15-year fixed rate averaged 2.79%, up an eye-popping 17 basis points from last week.  The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 2.3% increase in mortgage application volume from the previous two weeks. Bottom line: Assuming a borrower gets the average 30-year fixed rate on a conforming $647,200 loan, last year’s payment was $279 less than this week’s payment of $2,928.  What I see: Locally, well-qualified borrowers can get the following fixed-rate mortgages without points: A 30-year FHA at 3.125%,]]></description>
		
		
		
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