Should We or Shouldn't We Join The Current Lawsuit

We can empathize with the contributor of the blog comment posted October 8, 2008. Having paid our window assessment in full and on time, in addition to meeting all of our financial obligations, we are angry as hell that we find our condo under lien to General Bronze. This could have happened only one way. The Board, either legally or illegally, misappropriated this money to fund other projects, or in the worst case scenario, used the money for their own personal gain. Like others, we are beginning to believe we can only get the answer to these questions through litigation.

We question, however, the urgency to join the current lawsuit en mass as our grievances may be of a different nature than those of the other owners. It is not known by many how broad the current litigation in defined. The redress of their complaints , for example, may extend only to the question of windows. We doubt that it includes redress for a window assessment loss or action to free our units from the General Bronze lien. Both of these matters could conceivably involve criminal liability on the part of Board members or others acting in an administrative capacity in concert with the Board.

We would appreciate a comment from Mr. Garrity relative to this question.

For those of us who fit the problem profile as commented on in the October 8th blog remarks, we have been harmed by the Board in more than one way.

First, we don't know where we stand with regard to the money we paid for the window assessment. It is obvious that it did not go to General Bronze otherwise there would be no reason for them to impose a lien on our units. This requires immediate clarification through an official audit, by a reputable firm, of Ocean Manor financial records even if it takes a court order to accomplish it.

Second, we declined the offer of a loan to pay the window assessment since we did not wish to become involved in ligitat6ion in the event one or more of the owners defaulted. We documented this request and forwarded it directly to the Board. Guess who is now paying special assessments for October and November to cover the mishandling of the loan proceeds? The incompetence or lack of integrity on the part of this Board in incredulous.

Third, it is not known if the State of Florida requires a Disclosure Statement to accompany all real estate transactions. If it does, we would not be able to sell our unit without disclosing the fact that there was a lien on the property held by General Bronze. In an already depressed market you can imagine the impact this would have on the selling price.

Again, it might be prudent to seek a legal opinion as to whether joining the current lawsuit is the right way to go.

Posted by Anonymous