Miami Beach Commissioner Jerry Libbin To Campaign for Condo Foreclosure Reform
Jerry Libbin, a Miami Beach City Commissioner, today kicked off a campaign to protect Florida’s condominium unit owners from unfair assessments levied on them when banks foreclose on other units in their buildings.
The residential real estate meltdown has forced thousands of condo unit holders to pay higher assessment fees so they can maintain their buildings. That’s because banks holding mortgages on distressed condo units aren’t paying their fair share of assessments.
“Banks are taking unfair advantage of condo owners who have done absolutely nothing wrong,” Commissioner Libbin said. “It’s disgraceful to shift this huge financial burden onto them. Florida residents should not be forced to subsidize predatory banks.”
Under current Florida law, banks and other mortgage holders only have to pay 1 percent of the normal condo assessments once they foreclose on a distressed property. Many banks don’t even pay this paltry sum in a timely manner. Condo associations often must sue lenders to recover their assessments and late fees.
The result is that condo unit owners in good standing are burdened with sky-high assessments to make up the shortfalls, which in turn leads to an increase in distressed units.
“We must stop this vicious cycle,” said Commissioner Libbin, noting that Miami Beach is in the epicenter of the problem. “Our economy is teetering on disaster because of greedy lenders.”
Commissioner Libbin has formed a coalition of condo unit owners and condo management companies to lobby the Florida Legislature for reforms. He will host a town hall meeting on the subject in the coming weeks.
There are 23,631 condos in Florida, with a total of 1.4 million units, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (FDBPR). In Miami-Dade County, there are 4,045 buildings with a total of 242,352 units, according to FDBPR.
“We expect to receive broad, bi-partisan support for these important consumer protection measures,” said Libbin.
Tags: Condos, Florida Real Estate, Foreclosure, Miami Beach, Miami Condos, Miami Real Estate, Real Estate, South Florida