Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By Linda Trischitta
Published February 4, 2009
Diela Narrabe may be forced to leave her Deerfield Beach condo next month, even though she's done everything right.
Narrabe is one of 28 unit owners — out of 168 — in the Deerfield Palms condo association who still pay their monthly maintenance fees, which are used to pay the community's water bill.
Residents owe the city $90,000. If they don't pay $12,929 by the first week of March, the city is threatening to turn off the water. Because the community has master meters rather than individual unit gauges, the city can't separate owners who are current on their bills from delinquent customers.
If the water goes away, so will Narrabe, a golf club employee and mother of two who says she could not afford both her mortgage and rent on another place.
"I don't know what to do," she said. "If they evict us, that's my big problem. If I was by myself, that's another thing. But my two little daughters? We can't live without water."
Associations with unpaid utility bills also are an issue in Coral Springs,
Deerfield Palms condo resident Diela Narrabe who is up to date on her bills, the condo maintenace company says. Out of 168 units, 140 are not paying their condo maintenance fees at Deerfield Palms. The city will cut off its water Feb. 9 because more than $90,000 is owed.
Lauderhill, Boca Raton and Tamarac, and the problem is likely to spread as joblessness and foreclosures keep climbing.
From December 2007 to December 2008, unemployed workers in Florida increased 80.9 percent, from 415,495 to 751,753, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2008, there were 47,387 commercial and residential properties in some stage of foreclosure in Broward County 23,399 in Palm Beach County, according to RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif. The range covers owners late with mortgage payments to those who have lost their properties.
Armando Fana, director of the Miami office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, estimated more than 80 units in Deerfield Palms are in some form of foreclosure.
"I understand that a lot of people [are in foreclosure] but they are still living here using the water, and they should continue to pay for it," Narrabe said. "It's not fair that the people that pay have to pay for the others."
The community cannot afford a lawyer to chase maintenance fees, said condo board president David Brenelus; nor could the association purchase foreclosed units and pay those monthly fees.
In the fall, Deerfield Beach officials began discussing the water bill delinquency with Deerfield Palms, a community of seven yellow, two-story buildings and 600 residents just west of Dixie Highway. After the units were converted to condos in 2006, residents paid $119,000 to $201,000 for them.
The city, which borrowed $17.5 million last year to improve and expand its water plant, must repay the debt through water sales, City Attorney Andrew Maurodis said. If those obligations are not met, he said, "all the other people paying water and sewer rates could have a rate increase."
In Tamarac, spokesman Andy Berns said the city is negotiating with two condominiums: Arbor Keys, with 232 units, owes more than $193,000; and Southgate Gardens, battered by Hurricane Wilma, has 108 units and is $21,700 in arrears.
"I cannot imagine a scenario in which we would turn off the water," Berns said. "Because we recognize many residents are living there and paying their bills, we believe it would be unfair for us to penalize them for the actions or inactions of their association."
Boca Raton Treasurer Carol Himes Hannigan said her city tries "to work closely with associations if they come up on the shut off list. We have had associations [fall behind] and it's typically just a phone call or the bill is lost. We've been able to come to a resolution."
In Lauderhill, the city this month told some residents of Stonebridge Gardens' 416 units they risked having their water turned off. Assistant City Finance Director Sean Henderson said of the community's four associations, condo one owes $110,124; condo two has a plan to repay $30,000 over six months; condo three owes $135,954; and condo four is up to date.
"We've found some condo and homeowner associations are struggling, when you add their bills from hurricane damages and foreclosures," Henderson said. "We negotiate bills all day."
Jonathan Graham, who owns a unit in Stonebridge Gardens condo two, said Hurricane Wilma forced him out of his condo for two-and-a-half years. He hopes the community and city can arrange a payment plan.
"If unit owners pay their fees when due, the association can support itself," Graham said.
In Coral Springs, five to 10 communities have been in arrears at times, said Financial Services Director David Russek.
"We were able to work out payment plans for them to get back on their feet," he said. "It's not with interest and may be a little bit of a loss for the city. We're not earning a lot on investments anyway because of the markets."
"I don't know what the solution is," Narrabe said. "The problem is so big."
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