What items/fees can be included in a Special Assessments

[chuerter]

What is the name of your state? Florida

I live in Miami-Dade county at Greenwich Condominiums and just received a notice from our management association, Caribbean Property Management, Inc. regarding a special meeting of the board of directors to adopt a special assessment in the amount of $1,978,724.47 to be paid over 7 years. I have a few questions about the notice and the special assessment being proposed by the board of directors.

* The meeting is scheduled for March 5, 2008 and the notice is post marked February 19, 2008, but it did not arrive in my mailbox until yesterday. Other unit owners told me they got it approximately 2 or 3 days ago. While the notice is postmarked 14 days in advance of the meeting, the unit owners did not get it 14 days in advance. Is the board in violation?
* The building has had several special assessments over the past few years for hurricane repairs and also for redecorating the interior of the building (new carpeting and wallpaper in all hallways). There are 14 floors in the building. I've only been in the building for 3 years, but have seen the maintenance fees increase by over $100 dollars per month and have been consistently paying special assessments over the past 3 years. Now the board wants to remove the carpeting and replace it with tile and wallpaper all hallways again. Is there a limitation on how often they can charge for redecorating the same area?
* There are several late fees and legal fees included in the special assessment, including a lawsuit judgment in the amount of $87.405.16. Can the board force the owners to pay these legal and late fees through a special assessment. Isn't this a result of poor management? why isn't the Property Management company liable for these fees?
* There is a service fee of $29,200.00, but no explanation of what it is for. What documents can I request from the Board of Directors to make sure we are not paying for expenses we are not liable for?
* This special assessment is going to be paid over a 7 year time period. As I mentioned above, we were recently assessed for new carpeting and wallpaper in all the hallways, less than 3 years ago. Now the board wants us to pay again for wallpaper and change the carpeting to tile. How can I be sure that they will not mess up again? I just paid for this and now they want me to pay again? and charge me $141.76 for 7 years with no guarantee that the work will be completed correctly this time??
* At a time when our economy is in such trouble (cost of gasoline is almost $4.00/gallon and in general the cost of living has increased) while my and many others paychecks have remained the same, I can't believe they are proposing such a steep assessment. There are many elderly people in my building who are on a fixed income. How are they going to be able to keep up with these continued special assessments? It doesn't make sense!! What can I, as a homeower, do to make this board see reality???

[kick3]

I'm on the BOD of a home owner association in NH. We recently paid for a reserve study to let a professional identify common area replacement items (roads, decks, porches, roofs, etc) and determine how much we would need to pay now and in future years to fix these items. It was a relatively inexpensive expenditure, but well worth it. We can now save for the future and not have to be dealt with "special assessments" (unless something unexpected occurs). It sounds like your association has no such reserve fund and instead uses special assessments to fix common elements. While this has been a "free ride" for many people in the past, the current residents are now going to pay for replacement costs. Everyone living there should have been paying something into a reserve for as long as the association has been active. The hurricane issue was unexpected and should have been covered with insurance for the association and individual policies. I would think they'd have to have some type of insurance?
In any event, I'm afraid the makeup of your association lends you to dig into your pockets when things need to be replaced. Is there any way the assocation can take out a loan to cover the replacement and extend the repayment? I would also suggest you ask the BOD about getting a reserve fund together in the future.