This Is our Village

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Advice Please!

Advice Please!

How do you deal with a renter who has an 22 year old living with her and a lot of shady visitors.
Her water was shut due to no payment, she uses a garden hose for water. Her gate access privileges are void. H E L P !!

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19 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2013 at 9:56 AM

    Hello Marc- sorry about your trouble. You need to do three things:

    First, give formal notice to your board President. Describe the problem in writing, send it registered mail. This action triggers the "fiduciary responsibility" section of your bylaws.

    Second, put one or more of your Officers in touch with UCO President. If you cannot make this happen, make the contact yourself. From my own recent experience, I can promise you that something will be done.

    Third- if you see or suspect any illegal or suspicious activity, call PBSO. Not CV security. 911. Nothing bad will happen to you if your suspicion turns out to be unfounded, but a report will be generated and the address will remain on the PBSO "radar".

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  2. MarcSeptember 22, 2013 at 9:58 AM

    Thanks Don4060

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  3. elainebSeptember 22, 2013 at 10:07 AM

    Call PBSO, Most practical advice I ever got was from experienced Sheriff on what could work, he said video tape the rule breaking and threats, (there are varying opinions on video taping), he set up visit from Elder Abuse (they take time). Then there are all those other questions: Where is landlord, where is lease, where is lawyer (presumably bills are not being paid), where is Board? Do you suspect elder abuse (I would think lack of clean water qualifies for visit from Elder Abuse Dept).
    I am told condo without water is condemned, not fit to live in.
    Remember that Aging / Health ? Agency that was going to come back and answer our real questions, you have REAL QUESTIONS.

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  4. PlcruiseSeptember 22, 2013 at 10:20 AM

    Amen to the Board question! Where is the Board in your building?? DO you even have a Board anymore?? You need a management company and an attorney asap. If there is not an active Board, then the association should be reported to the State of Florida and they will appoint a conservator to run the association--who will spend your money and lien your owners if they will not cooperate.

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  5. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2013 at 1:26 PM

    Elaine makes an interesting point. Lack of water service may void the unit's Certificate of Occupancy and present an immediate health hazard. What are these people doing with their bodily waste? Call Dept of Code Enforcement and Dept. of Health. Couldn't hurt.

    Nobody can live without water. Restrict access to it. Remove and secure the garden hose. Locate and close the hosebib supply valve. Go to Lowes, buy a "hosebib cap", and use a wrench to tighten it onto the valve threads as hard as you can.

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  6. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2013 at 1:29 PM

    Oh yeah, and remove the valve handle. Should have thought of that first.

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  7. Bob RiveraSeptember 22, 2013 at 10:39 PM

    I had a simular person in a unit in my building. She didn't pay her bills, didn't pay her rent, and had suspicious men coming in and out of her place. She finally left leaving the unit in shambles, and filthy. She and her "friends" also used the bucket method. It took 3 months to get her out and she left owing two months rent. Hope for your sake it isn't the same woman.

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  8. MarcSeptember 23, 2013 at 8:22 AM

    Thank you all for your advice and suggestions, our board is on top of the situation and hope to have this person out very soon. Thanks again

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  9. elainebSeptember 23, 2013 at 9:25 AM

    Marc, all out or whom? When this is done you MUST publish best methods.
    We do not want to be destination for the destitute.

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  10. PlcruiseSeptember 23, 2013 at 10:36 AM

    Good point Elaine. The building next to us just ousted two illegal occupants and their red pick up truck, but it seems it was "Greyhound Therapy" and the two departed to another section of CV.

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  11. ejs2283September 23, 2013 at 3:52 PM

    I hope everyone is reading between the lines on this post. Ensuring a history of financial responsibility is as important as any other aspect of a background check. I would be very surprised if the the tenants referred to above have ANY history of meeting their financial obligations. Not now, not before. Yet, they are being placed in units among us.

    We should not have a double standard for occupancy. Tenants should have no more and no less privileges and/or responsibilities than unit owners. They must meet C.V.'s requirements for occupancy the same as any owner who is qualified to occupy one of our units. We need our leadership to make certain this important aspect of the background check is included in the process. If it is not included, we will continue our downward spiral of accepting folks who can't meet their obligations and bring their life of problems into C.V.. The absentee owner(s) could not care less. They are warehousing their units until the market improves and they can unload the unit. Our primary concern should be to the owners residing here, not to facilitating absentee owners to get revenue to pay common charges.

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  12. Bob RiveraSeptember 25, 2013 at 11:06 AM

    Wen you buy, investigations includes not only a background check, but a credit check as well. Same should apply to renters. You pay a hundred dollars for either buyer or renter, so why aren't financials part of the renter investigation package? I was told it was a privacy issue, but if a board is to make an educated decision on whether to allow a unit to be rented, they require the same info as they would for a buyer. DEMAND financials on renters as you would for a buyer. If not provided, then they should only charge fifty for renters and the association should do their own financial checks.

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  13. Bob RiveraSeptember 25, 2013 at 11:06 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. ruthphildSeptember 25, 2013 at 8:09 PM

    Why would you investigate the renters financially when they are not responsible for paying maint. to either the bldg. assoc. or WPRF?That is the unit owner's concern to insure that they have adequate income to pay their rent. It would be up to the renter to check their finances.

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  15. elainebSeptember 25, 2013 at 8:34 PM

    Does Investigations pay less for the renters' criminal check than for the credit and criminal check for owners? How much? They charge $100 either way.

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  16. ejs2283September 26, 2013 at 8:55 AM

    I think my earlier point goes to the fundamental questions of what type of community is C.V.W.P.B. We first need to determine whether it is an affordable retirement community for "middle class" condo owners or a community of subsidized housing for the poor.
    In answering that question, we can look to the requirements for ownership of a unit. There is a threshold of minimum standards that must be met to own a unit. Those standards reflect the type of person we want to attract to C.V. All owners must meet those standards. Part of the requirements is a history of financial responsibility. That is evidenced in a credit check. Answering Ruthphild's comment, it is well settled in the law that a tenant who assumes the "bundle" of rights associated with occupying a unit can have no more or no less rights/responsibilities than an owner. While Ruthphild's point concerning a lack of financial responsibility of a tenant is a valid one, there is more involved. As a community, we have determined minimum requirements for ownership and occupancy. Among other things, that includes a history of financial responsibility. That history demonstrates either positively or negatively upon an individual's history of meeting their obligations. Often a failure to meet financial obligations presents a strong signal that an individual does not meet his/her other obligations. If we would disallow a potential owner because of an unacceptable income or credit history, a tenant should not be treated differently. Whether the tenant pays his/her rent is between the tenant and the unit owner. However, our community has a right to be confident that the person living next to us has met the same criteria as any other owner in C.V.

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  17. MarcSeptember 26, 2013 at 12:29 PM

    Well, I'm glad to have started this discussion. I am getting an education.
    I agree with ejs2283 that a renters income and credit history should be a requirements for ownership and or occupancy.

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  18. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2013 at 1:32 PM

    I don't agree that the Association has no interest in a potential tenant's past history of financial responsibility (or lack of it), simply because the unit owner/landlord is, in effect, the guarantor of the tenant's behavior during the period of occupancy.

    When tenant turns the unit into a flophouse for "shady" people and uses buckets for toilets, that has immediate negative effect on the adjacent Homeowners. A financial background check, showing past incidents of eviction, landlord/tenant court cases, or small claims would be a big red flag for the unit owner/landlord and the Association to see and act upon.

    Obviously, there is some legal or liability related reason for UCO not providing this service for the Associations. It makes no sense not to. I have inquired about this issue several times at UCO, CV Real Estate, and my own Association- no one has been willing or able to adequately explain it to me.

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  19. Bob RiveraSeptember 26, 2013 at 3:40 PM

    When a unit is a rental, yes, the owner is responsible to pay for WPRF and the HOA fees, but where does that money come from? Unless the owner is independently wealthy, it comes from the rental fees. If a person moves in and can not pay their rent, then who gets hurt? The owner, yes, but also the HOA. The HOA doesn't get it's fees, then their grass doesn't get cut or repairs get neglected. If the fee is $100 for both buyers and renters, then the same information should be given. Granted, on a rental, the owner or their agent should be the one to receive the financial report in order to make the decision on whether to rent to that person. For a buyer, the financial report goes to the board as normal. It only makes sense. No excuses then. If the owner rents to someone that has suspect credit, or references, then it is on the owner, and there are no excuses. This will cut down on foreclosures, Section 8s, and undesirables in the village. When someone is trying to buy up a building or get the majority, then you know you are going to have problems right around the corner. We have a two year policy in my association. you must live in a unit for two years before it can be rented. This, I am told, was implemented because a former owner was trying to buy more than two units in order to make them rentals. Seems to have worked for the most part. Not particularly happy about it, but it works.

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