Fraudsters Beware, State Proposes Condo Cops

Could this happen in your state?) A new police force could soon be deputized to monitor the operations of thousands of Florida condominium associations, some of which are victims of fraud. Florida State Rep. Julio Robaina, R-Miami, and his counterpart Florida State Sen. Rudy Garcia, R-Hialeah, have filed companion bills in the state legislature to create a four-person police force to be based in Fort Lauderdale to "investigate, enforce and prosecute" violators of five statutes that govern condominiums, homeowners associations, cooperatives, mobile home parks and timeshares, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "We are getting so many cases of potential fraud that most local police departments are too overwhelmed to deal with them," Robaina told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "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." Currently, evidence of potential fraud at a condominium association must be collected and presented to police in order to initiate an investigation. This type of initiative is what led to two cases - both in Broward County - where police arrested board members and maintenance workers in connection to service contracts that were inflated or where the work was never completed. The condominium police force would be funded from Florida's $10.5 million Condominium Trust Fund, which is supported by a $4 annual fee collected from every unit in Florida. Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached

Is it time to ask vendors to cut rates?

The short answer is Yes, kind of, When Dan Greenstein brought the subject up yesterday about freezing contractor prices for 1-3 years or doing an outright cut, there were nervous coughs from the vendors in the audience. Can I afford a bidding war this year? No, Will my service come in as low bid most of the time, No. Do I make a ton of money, No, so there's no room to cut, right? My cost for fuel, tires, fertilizer, salt all doubled last year, but there was no room to double the prices. Here are 2 areas where cuts could be made. I'll focus on lawn and snow because it's the biggest part of your budget, but it could apply to anything. Here are 3 quick areas that you could look at: 1. Cutting services in your contract. We talked to a large office park last year that needed cuts. We already had a contract in place, but we went through the specs and cut out an edging, pruning and one application of fert and weed control. 2. Standard bid specs. I'm the #1 advocate for standardized bid specs. (If you don't have them, I'll send you one) Here are a few specs that can be cut that will have minimal effects on quality and minimal impacts on contractor profits. 1. Apply much around all trees (whether it's needed or not) Too much mulch is BAD for trees 2. Rough Cut 7 times per year. There's a site I'm looking at now, where I can save them $4000 if I cut it 4 times per year. There is a segment of the market that will likelyy either put off landscape care or reduce their maintenance programs. We are working closely with all our clients to prioritize the work that cannot be put off, and giving them a program tailored to their budget. It's important to maintain open, honest communications with each other. Someday we'll talk about hybrid snow contracts.

Half the room, all the assessment in Roseville

By JEAN HOPFENSPERGER, Star Tribune Last update: January 25, 2009 - 10:48 PM what you do not know What was not in the article, there are 47 units of the 47 five are small, about half the size as the larger units. The Board members all … read more live in the large units. Many of the large unit owners have been here for 40 years. I am an owner in a small unit and I did read and understand the documents, however, when this project began the Board decided to change the documents and with 42 large units, they shepherded thru the change in documents to cut their costs. The Board was responsible to keep up the housing units and now want the small units to subsidize their large units which they have neglected, and are asking Roseville to subsidize the larger more expensive units at a great financial loss for the less expensive units owned by the elderly. One of the members of the HRA (who is recommending this project) lives in Westwood Village 1 in a larger unit. The homeowners in the larger units also knew what the Declarations said when they bought. Her 796-square-foot home was assessed at $32,000 for roofing and siding improvements -- the same amount as her neighbors with more space, she said. She also doesn't understand why Roseville has declared her middle-class condo building a "housing improvement area'' and given it a $1.5 million loan for the exterior repairs. "If the city is lending them $1.5 million, you'd think there would be some kind of oversight for fairness,'' said Dalnes, who will take her case to the City Council tonight. A growing effort As Twin Cities suburbs work to maintain quality housing, older condos and townhouses are showing up on their radar screen. Dalnes' experience points to one financial option that many suburbs are tapping to repair those buildings -- and raising questions about what the law intended. DISCUSS IT HERE, and Read the rest of the article at: http://townhomeassociation.blogspot.com/

truthseeker said... What was failed to be mentioned in this article is that all town homes in Westwood Village 1 are approximately the same foundation size of around 800 square feet. The difference in size as it refers to this project is the number of VERTICAL levels. Under the new declaration, in order take the difference in the number of stories into account, the cost for each town home for the siding project is calculated in square footage for the front and backs. Sides, garages, etc are calculated 1/47th (47 units in association)for each unit. Maureen Dalnes has been trying for 3 years to make a case of unfairness when the board members and other residents have gone to great lengths to make changes in the declaration to account for the differences in town home sizes. Her own attorney even agreed to the new calculation but later reneged on his word when she heard about it and wanted an unreasonable discount for her unit. She failed to disclose for this article that her town home is currently listed for sale for $229,400 and described as 1592 finished square feet. Prices for what she refers to as the larger homes with double the square footage (as stated on the tax statements) are not marketed or sold for twice that amount! So using the method of square footage on tax statements (in this case 796 square feet for her unit)as Maureen Dalnes wants to do to calculate for a project such as this, is woefully inaccurate. Fortunately, the mayor of Roseville and four of the council members (Amy Ihlan dissenting,as expected) agreed that the way the declaration correctly calculated the cost of the project for each resident. Bravo to them as they did their homework and listened to reason! Maureen's continued efforts to delay this project is just adding additional costs to the project for all residents. January 28, 2009 9:11 PM

VACANCIES SPIKE, PRICES PLUMMET

For renters with leases about to expire, it's time to negotiate. Landlords are working extra hard these days to keep units filled. More from BusinessWeek.com : • Rents Drop Nationwide as Vacancies Spike • The Best and Worst Housing Markets of 2008 • How Much Home You Can Buy for $500,000 Of course, your ability to hold on to an apartment—especially a luxury unit—depends on how secure you feel about your own job. Americans lost about 2.6 million jobs in 2008 (mostly in the final quarter of the year) and are likely to lose millions more this year. They are losing money on stocks and other investments and are cutting back on costs by downsizing and moving in with family members or roommates as they hunker down for a deep recession. Landlords, as a result, are forced to offer discounts to fill vacancies. Apartment vacancies spiked in September after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the eruption of the financial crisis. Go for a Long Lease "If you've got job, it's a great time to be a renter and to sign the longest lease possible," said Ron Johnsey, president of Axiometrics.com , a Dallas apartment data company. BusinessWeek.com worked with Axiometrics to come up with a list of 25 large metros where rent declines accelerated most at the end of 2008. In Salt Lake City, where the economy had been holding up better than most cities, effective rents (including landlord concessions) fell 2.3% in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter. By comparison, rents were climbing 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2007. The New York metro area, including New York City and its New York and northern New Jersey suburbs, saw a 3.7% drop-off in effective rents in the fourth quarter (compared with a 0.5% increase in the fourth quarter of 2007), according to Axiometrics, which surveys landlords across the nation once a month

Free Help from KARE 11 if you're afraid of foreclosure

Foreclosure Prevention Telephone seminar, KARE-11 News provide two chances for worried homeowners to seek help this week
This week, homeowners will have two opportunities to have their questions answered from the comfort and convenience of their home. On Tuesday, the Minnesota Home Ownership Center is offering the first of its 2009 series of telephone seminars. The following evening, KARE-11 will feature a phone bank of housing counselors during its 10 pm newscast.
Telephone seminar offers homeowners chance to ask questions, find out what to do if worried about mortgage
Telephone seminars provide a convenient, private access point to information for homeowners who are worried about their mortgage and are just beginning to ask questions about their situation as well as those facing foreclosure. The telephone seminar allows people to phone in and participate anonymously from the privacy of their home, work or car. The seminar format is similar to a radio call-in show, including informational segments and questions from callers.
The telephone seminar will take place on:
Tuesday, February 10 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm.
Call in number: (888) 886-6603
Those interested in participating can call in anytime between 7:00 and 8:00 pm
Housing counselors available during KARE-11 news
On Wednesday, February 11, housing counselors will be taking calls during the 10 pm newscast of KARE-11. Phone lines will be open during the entire broadcast. The phone number will be announced throughout the newscast, which will also feature a segment about a homeowner who successfully averted foreclosure by working with one of the Minnesota Home Ownership Center's counseling agencies.
For more information about the telephone seminar or KARE-11 segment, call 651-659-9336 or visit www.hocmn.org.

JOIN LINKEDIN. It's Free and it's great for business

The CIC industry has need for a lot of knowledge and a lot of contacts.
Joining LinkedIn is free. Sign up at the site, then lookup Steve Hoogenakker and link with me. You can look through my list of other property managers, and link with them.
You can also go to groups. There are 3 groups that serve your community.
1 Townhome and CIC site, THIS SITE IS YOURS
2. CAI - Minnesota
3. CAI - National
At least link to 1 and 2. You can post questions, or solutions online for free.

Metro Extension Agent Phone numbers

Anoka
Yard and Garden Line 763-767-2891General Info 763-755-1280 Leave message.Calls returned. Note: Your phone line must be able to receive blocked calls
Bunker Hills Activity Ctr 550 Bunker Lake Blvd NW Andover, MN 55304
Carver
MG Yard and Garden Line 952-466-5308Leave message 24/7. MG will return call.
11360 Highway 212 W Ste 4Cologne, MN 55322
Dakota
651-480-7700Leave message. MG will return call.
Suite 1014100 220th St WFarmington, MN 55024
Hennepin
612-596-2118Leave message 24/7. MG will return call within 48 hours.
479 Prairie Center Drive Eden Prairie, MN 55344

Ramsey
Yard and Garden Line 651-704-2071Leave message. MG will return call. Note: Your phone line must be able to receive blocked calls.
2020 White Bear Ave. Maplewood, MN 55109
Scott
Yard and Garden Line 952-466-5308Leave detailed message 24/7. MG will return call.
7151 190th St WSuite 100Jordan, MN 55352
Washington
Yard and Garden Line 651-704-2071Leave message. MG will return call. Note: Your phone line must be able to receive blocked calls.
14949 62nd St. N.Stillwater, MN 55082
Wright
763-682-7394Calls referred to MG. Response within 48 hrs.
10 2nd St. NW Buffalo, MN 55313

Links and articles for the CAI February Luncheon

Here are the links you'll want for future lawn and landscape information. There are also many articles below this posting that apply only to Common Interest Communities
Feel free to read, comment and "share".
www.cai-mn.com
For the homeowner session coming up February 25th

Taylor Made Landscape website
link for University of Minnesota Extension site (Trees and Shrubs)
http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/environment/BD565.html
http://www.extension.umn.edu/topics.html?topic=5 link for Lawn and Garden information

Townhome Associations - Minnesota: Half the room, all the assessment in Roseville

Townhome Associations - Minnesota: Half the room, all the assessment in Roseville

Half the room, all the assessment in Roseville

Half the room, all the assessment in Roseville
A Roseville townhouse owner is questioning the fairness of a city "housing improvement" plan that lends townhouse associations cash for renovations but doesn't assure balanced assessments.

By JEAN HOPFENSPERGER, Star Tribune

Last update: January 25, 2009 - 10:48 PM

Featured comment

what you do not know
What was not in the article, there are 47 units of the 47 five are small, about half the size as the larger units. The Board members all … read more live in the large units. Many of the large unit owners have been here for 40 years. I am an owner in a small unit and I did read and understand the documents, however, when this project began the Board decided to change the documents and with 42 large units, they shepherded thru the change in documents to cut their costs. The Board was responsible to keep up the housing units and now want the small units to subsidize their large units which they have neglected, and are asking Roseville to subsidize the larger more expensive units at a great financial loss for the less expensive units owned by the elderly. One of the members of the HRA (who is recommending this project) lives in Westwood Village 1 in a larger unit. The homeowners in the larger units also knew what the Declarations said when they bought.
Maureen Dalnes says it's just not fair: Under a city loan program soon to be revisited by the Legislature, she is expected to pay as much for repairs to her Roseville townhouse as neighbors who have twice the space.

Her 796-square-foot home was assessed at $32,000 for roofing and siding improvements -- the same amount as her neighbors with more space, she said. She also doesn't understand why Roseville has declared her middle-class condo building a "housing improvement area'' and given it a $1.5 million loan for the exterior repairs.

"If the city is lending them $1.5 million, you'd think there would be some kind of oversight for fairness,'' said Dalnes, who will take her case to the City Council tonight.

A growing effort

As Twin Cities suburbs work to maintain quality housing, older condos and townhouses are showing up on their radar screen. Dalnes' experience points to one financial option that many suburbs are tapping to repair those buildings -- and raising questions about what the law intended.

At least a half-dozen suburbs have declared a condominium or townhouse -- or a cluster of them -- "housing improvement areas'' eligible for city-backed loans. The designation is from a 1996 law to help cities prevent these high-profile buildings from deteriorating, as well as to give homeowners a longer-term loan to repay than a big one-time assessment.

Suburbs such as Hopkins and St. Louis Park said their assessment fees have generally varied by unit size or other factors. But Roseville officials say they can't recommend a different assessment formula to help the six small units such as the one Dalnes owns, which are half the size of the standard 1,600-square-foot units, because the formula is based on the governing rules of her Westwood Village I homeowners association.

"We're not going to try to come up with a perfect formula,'' said Pat Trudgeon, Roseville's community development director. "If [the homeowners association agrees] as a board, that's the way it is. There's nothing we can do about it.''

A sympathetic response

City Council Member Amy Ihlan disagrees. "The council's job is to make sure assessments are fair, just like what they do for private property,'' she said. "When we assess for street improvements, we don't let homeowners on the block get together and decide how the assessments should be allocated.''

The 1996 law that allowed cities to use this funding option is scheduled to sunset this year, but the League of Minnesota Cities is lobbying to maintain it. The law was based on a request from Hopkins officials, who were worried about housing deterioration in that city's Westbrooke neighborhood, said Kersten Elverum, city planning and economic development director.

About 17 percent of the city's housing was in that neighborhood, she said, but conditions had declined in some properties to the point where lenders didn't want to give mortgages. Hopkins tried unsuccessfully to pull together private and government loans, she said, then turned to the "housing improvement area'' option to repair 1,040 units in three projects. She considers the loan arrangement a success.

The Westwood Village I building, meanwhile, is a well-kept 47-unit building, nestled among two companion townhouses near the corner of Dale Street and County Road C. The homeowners association asked the city to declare it a housing improvement area and submitted two rejected loan bids from local banks to show it could not get a lender, Trudgeon said.

Sarah Maristuen, the association manager at Westwood Village I, said the designation was a good fit because of the scope of the project and the association's lack of financial reserves. As for assessing every homeowner the same amount, everyone benefits from exterior repairs such as roofing and siding, Maristuen said.

"Townhome living is community living, and you pay for things you don't use,'' she said.

"We're not going to try to come up with a perfect formula,'' said Pat Trudgeon, Roseville's community development director. "If [the homeowners association agrees] as a board, that's the way it is. There's nothing we can do about it.''

A sympathetic response

City Council Member Amy Ihlan disagrees. "The council's job is to make sure assessments are fair, just like what they do for private property,'' she said. "When we assess for street improvements, we don't let homeowners on the block get together and decide how the assessments should be allocated.''

The 1996 law that allowed cities to use this funding option is scheduled to sunset this year, but the League of Minnesota Cities is lobbying to maintain it. The law was based on a request from Hopkins officials, who were worried about housing deterioration in that city's Westbrooke neighborhood, said Kersten Elverum, city planning and economic development director.

About 17 percent of the city's housing was in that neighborhood, she said, but conditions had declined in some properties to the point where lenders didn't want to give mortgages. Hopkins tried unsuccessfully to pull together private and government loans, she said, then turned to the "housing improvement area'' option to repair 1,040 units in three projects. She considers the loan arrangement a success.

The Westwood Village I building, meanwhile, is a well-kept 47-unit building, nestled among two companion townhouses near the corner of Dale Street and County Road C. The homeowners association asked the city to declare it a housing improvement area and submitted two rejected loan bids from local banks to show it could not get a lender, Trudgeon said.

Sarah Maristuen, the association manager at Westwood Village I, said the designation was a good fit because of the scope of the project and the association's lack of financial reserves. As for assessing every homeowner the same amount, everyone benefits from exterior repairs such as roofing and siding, Maristuen said.

"Townhome living is community living, and you pay for things you don't use,'' she said.
The original Star Tribune article is linked here: