WHAT CONTRACT?
An Opinion By Jan Bergemann
President, Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.
Published November 18, 2009
Homeowners are always told that they signed a contract: They knew what they were getting into!
According to Merriam Webster, a contract is described as follows:
a : a binding agreement between two or more persons or parties; especially : one legally enforceable
b : a business arrangement for the supply of goods or services at a fixed price
While the homeowner is stuck with whatever the "contract" says, the other person/party can change the written agreement at a whim, creating financial hardship and/or injustice for the homeowner who relied on the contents of the initial "contract."
This so-called "contract" is actually nothing but a binding agreement that obligates the homeowner to stay at attention when being told, to shut up, even if the owner is right, and to pay whatever he/she is being told to pay -- without an argument. But the other party to the contract can make changes as they please. The other party: Developers and/or association boards.
Especially developers, who lure families into these communities with lots of promises spelled out in colorful brochures, are changing these contracts whenever they like, causing the homeowners to suffer heavy financial losses, being forced to live in a community that is turning into a nightmare.
And still homeowners are being told: You signed a contract!
But in the meanwhile this contract was changed without a mutual agreement of both sides and the community that was advertised as “a place in the sunshine with carefree living” quickly turns into a hell-hole. Dues are increasing, special assessments are levied, services no longer exist -- and the community starts looking like a war zone.
Now people say, “You don't like it -- MOVE!”Easier said than done. These homes, often purchased for hundreds of thousands of dollars with the life-savings of retirees who hoped to buy their dream home in the sunshine, will not find any buyers, short of giving it away.
You don't believe it? There are many examples all over Florida. Let's just pick one:
THE CASCADES OF GROVELAND HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC.
Buyers were lured into this community in Central Florida with great promises by Levitt & Son, the initial developer. But the dream homes quickly turned into nightmares, when the developer went bankrupt, and 241 homeowners were suddenly forced to pay the bills for a community that was initially planned for 999 homes, when fully built out.
This community quickly turned into an eyesore (See: HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION HEARINGS), creating a financial hardship for the current 241 homeowners. It didn't take long for the few owners to realize that they had been had and that they were quickly losing their life-savings.
Court appointed receiver Andrew Bolnick took over (Owners of homes in the EAGLES' RESERVE HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC. in Pinellas County surely will remember him). Bolnick quickly filed with the court the SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF RESTRICTIONS AND PROTECTIVE COVENANTS FOR THE CASCADES OF GROVELAND. The only one protected by this Supplemental Declaration is BANK OF AMERICA, the same bank that got truckloads of "STIMULUS MONEY" to pay for the mistakes their executives made. Read here some of the HIGHLIGHTS of this Supplemental Declaration:
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