Lawmakers look for ways to aid condo associations

Lawmakers look for ways to aid condo associations

Harvey Berman, president of Royal Oaks condominium in the California Club area of Miami-Dade County, takes a lot of flack from dues-paying residents in his building who are peeved about other owners in foreclosure and behind on their association fees.

”A man has been in a unit for 17 months and hasn’t paid a nickel for anything and that is not right,” Berman said, “Nobody should be allowed to live on a piece of property for free, especially in a condo where the condo pays the water, cable, laundry, lawn maintenance, the pool, the garbage.”

Still, Berman admits the problem in the 180-unit complex is not as bad as in many other South Florida condo communities where nonpaying units are swamping budgets and forcing associations to cut back on services and hike maintenance fees. But, he says, preventing that takes enormous effort.

The system that allows lenders to avoid paying maintenance fees is broken, says Berman, and needs fixing when Florida legislators meet for their annual session, which starts Tuesday in Tallahassee.