Resident Wendy King outside of her condo at University Club in Coral Springs. {courtesy}
By Ryan Yousefi
A conflict has arisen at University Club Condominiums due to unexpected assessment fees and a lack of reserve funds, leading residents to seek access to booking records and consider legal action.
In July, Coral Springs Talk detailed how the 26 University Club unit owners had grown frustrated with their condominium association’s financial practices and handling of maintenance issues, heightened by a massive surprise assessment fee.
Wendy King, a University Club resident spearheading the efforts to bring attention to Southeast Condo Management’s sudden demand, shared the association had recently told each unit owner they must soon pay a special assessment fee of $14,400 per unit or face massive fines.
The obligatory fee, imposed on all unit owners, comes in addition to the existing $400 monthly maintenance charge, causing what King says many residents have complained is a significant financial strain and, in some cases, impossible.
According to King, instead of working out a solution to the residents’ concerns about being asked to fork over an additional $14,400 over the year, representatives from Southeast Condo Management is now demanding residents pay all or most of the $14,400 immediately, with threats of daily fines from the city if the work doesn’t begin soon.
“On our most recent call with the management company, a representative repeatedly said they need as many people as possible to pay upfront so the work can begin,” King explained.
“They said this is the only way to avoid hundreds of dollars a day in fines from the city.”
King says she immediately questioned the association’s threat of fines because she has personally spoken to city officials about the possibility of extensions in the past.
“I brought up that I had an email from the city’s chief building official who indicated they would be happy to waive fines as long as permits were pulled,” King said.
“Based on the emails from the city, they are willing to work with us on the timing of the work, but the association doesn’t seem to care.”
King says while she’s taken the lead in the community when addressing the mounting concerns of her fellow unit owner, the association has been not only non-respondent in her efforts but downright shady in scheduling meetings to discuss the issues.
The association’s choice of meeting times has also drawn criticism, as meetings are held during the workday, making it difficult for many residents to attend, particularly those who have taken up second and third jobs in a desperate attempt to come up with the $2,000 per month fee.
Wendy shared that the association’s reasoning for meetings during the day is disingenuous, claiming no one wants to go anyway.
“They said that because the condo owners are not involved or interested, as they claim, they have scheduled the meetings during the day because that is what works for their schedule.”
When questioned about why there is so little in the community reserves – even though they’ve each paid $400 monthly while the community deteriorated, she said, “I have asked for records of where past fees were spent, but we were told that if we need to see where the money went, we must come to the office during business hours and look through the records ourselves.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do this as I work during the day.”
In response to Wendy’s comments in Coral Springs Talk’s previous article about the situation, she claims the association threatened legal action against her for libel.
“A representative said several times that she would be suing me for slander over the first article, King said. “She says I’m trying to tear down her reputation.”
Since the initial story in July, Coral Springs Talk has repeatedly tried to gain comment from Southeast Condo Management, but they have yet to respond to email requests.
King explains the ordeal has left homeowners feeling trapped, as selling their units is not a viable solution due to the association’s demand that fees be paid before closing any sale.
As of now, the 26 unit owners say they’re banding together to fight what they believe are unreasonable assessment fees being imposed by an association that hasn’t been upfront about not keeping reserve fees on hand,
“Besides filing a complaint with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees condo management companies, we are working with Commissioner [Nancy] Metayer Bowen on the next steps,” King says.
“And we plan to meet with Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor next.”
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