JohT (Florida)
Posts: 3
Posts: 3
Posted:
Hi, Mr JA was a board member in a senior mobile home park in St-Petersburg Florida from 2002 thru 2008, acting first as secretary, then president from 2004. In 2008, a new owner decided to join the board and wanted Mr. JA’s place as president. She got elected by going door to door, giving out her resume (lawyer in Quebec, Canada, participated in an association for the defence of elders, etc) and by telling people that the president and directors were doing things that were not legal and she could help manage de association in a better way. She was elected by only a couple of votes and Mr JA was not.
Mr JA, always a gentleman, wished her good luck and offered his help. He is very optimistic and trusting. He always believes that people, like he, are acting in good faith. He never suspected that hell was about to break loose.
Since then, she has being doing an audit, herself, going back to 2003 is seems. She found some so-called "evidence" of wrong doing, and has been intimating, bullying, and pushing all residents to shun Mr. JA and other directors from the previous board... Her evidence: Mr. JA and the other board members spent about 2200$ to repair and clean some mobile homes that were sold or donated to the HOA. After the cleanup, the board was able to rent the units and revenues were about 14,000$ which is a good profit, but... he allegedly paid a person for some of the work that was not suppose to receive money because she is Canadian.... a mistake, even if receipts were signed for everything . To date, that is the only “tangible” thing she has (receipts). The board tried suing the person who received the money last year, but it did not work. Now, the board is suing Mr. JA ... This has been going on for two years : she and her supporters are going around telling everyone that Mr. JA is this and that, like accusing him of purchasing items (computer, pressure washer, etc) and giving the items to his "friends", which is false (he has proof and witnesses), that he made risky investments for the HOA, and lost over 35,000$ in a bad investment, which is false and he has recent copies of bank statements proving otherwise . During the time Mr. JA was on the board, the total asset value of the HOA increased by more than 20%.
Since she was elected, all the other old board members left the board; in all, as fas as I know, there has been 13 new board members or appointed director since she has become president. Because of the rollover, nobody really knows how the board works, the laws and regulations, etc. Most of the present board members were appointed by her, or were elected in March 2010, so they do what she says.
She wants things to go her way only and if anyone disagrees with her either she says that the issue is stated this way in the by-laws and regulations (always interpreted to her advantage) or that she will seek legal advice. Since this is a senior park and people are retired and do not want to deal with complicated issues, they often retreat and do not pursue the matter further.
She has less and less owners on her side, and her bullying is getting the better end of residents. Normal activities are cancelled, or attended only by a certain group of people, people are walking with their heads down, do not know who to trust, etc. The value of homes is going down because many homes are for sale...
To make things worse, the owners in this park are in a large majority Canadian, and the board members are all Canadian (as far as I know), so there are no meetings from April to November. The 12 units that are for sale should be sold to Americans, but owners are not allowed to advertise, so the units are sold mainly by word of mouth.
The problems :
Mr. JA’s reputation is tarnished by all of this. He is a valued and trusted citizen by all his friends and family. But people who do not know him personally, have read things about him : the money “lost”, the “gifts” he paid to his friends and everything else on the bulletin board (because the board published these allegations and left them on the bulletin board for 3 weeks and they discussed these allegations in the last open board meeting).
Mr. JA has received 6 letters from the board’s lawyers since 2008, but he has not been charged with anything yet other than paying money to a Canadian citizen. He has replied to all of them, supplying the requested information and denying all charges of wilful wrongdoing, but the menace and allegations are not stopping. The president told the attendance at the last board meeting (attended also by the board's new lawyer - the old lawyer was in favour of Mr. JA) that they will continue to investigate the old board's actions/decisions because of suspected wrongdoing and stated a list of allegation. Mr. JA did not attend this meeting because some residents told him that it would be his "trial".
I suggested they recall, but nobody wants to take on the responsibility... many are leaving soon to go back to Canada for the summer...
I told Mr. JA that he needed a lawyer, fast, and to sue the board for harassment. But he and his wife are not rich and Mr. JA does not want to incur more expenses for himself and he also would like to resolve the situation quickly (suing is a long process). He also thinks he can resolve this problem like he always did : by communicating and discussing and finding an appropriate solution.
I also think the anguish of the long "trial" could get the better of his mental and physical health. He’s in his 70’s. The stress and anguish is also making his wife sick and she stays at home most of the time. Mr and Mrs JA are not ready to sell; this has been their home for over 15 years.
Sorry, it is a long story, and I thank you for reading it all, it did me good to write it out.
Do you have any suggestions ?
Anybody (over 55) wants to buy a mobile home in this park ? They need new members for the board, next elections are in March 2011 and the President’s position is up for election, I hope she will not be re-elected, but if not enough people present themselves for election, she will be appointed again for 3 years! What a nightmare!
Mr JA, always a gentleman, wished her good luck and offered his help. He is very optimistic and trusting. He always believes that people, like he, are acting in good faith. He never suspected that hell was about to break loose.
Since then, she has being doing an audit, herself, going back to 2003 is seems. She found some so-called "evidence" of wrong doing, and has been intimating, bullying, and pushing all residents to shun Mr. JA and other directors from the previous board... Her evidence: Mr. JA and the other board members spent about 2200$ to repair and clean some mobile homes that were sold or donated to the HOA. After the cleanup, the board was able to rent the units and revenues were about 14,000$ which is a good profit, but... he allegedly paid a person for some of the work that was not suppose to receive money because she is Canadian.... a mistake, even if receipts were signed for everything . To date, that is the only “tangible” thing she has (receipts). The board tried suing the person who received the money last year, but it did not work. Now, the board is suing Mr. JA ... This has been going on for two years : she and her supporters are going around telling everyone that Mr. JA is this and that, like accusing him of purchasing items (computer, pressure washer, etc) and giving the items to his "friends", which is false (he has proof and witnesses), that he made risky investments for the HOA, and lost over 35,000$ in a bad investment, which is false and he has recent copies of bank statements proving otherwise . During the time Mr. JA was on the board, the total asset value of the HOA increased by more than 20%.
Since she was elected, all the other old board members left the board; in all, as fas as I know, there has been 13 new board members or appointed director since she has become president. Because of the rollover, nobody really knows how the board works, the laws and regulations, etc. Most of the present board members were appointed by her, or were elected in March 2010, so they do what she says.
She wants things to go her way only and if anyone disagrees with her either she says that the issue is stated this way in the by-laws and regulations (always interpreted to her advantage) or that she will seek legal advice. Since this is a senior park and people are retired and do not want to deal with complicated issues, they often retreat and do not pursue the matter further.
She has less and less owners on her side, and her bullying is getting the better end of residents. Normal activities are cancelled, or attended only by a certain group of people, people are walking with their heads down, do not know who to trust, etc. The value of homes is going down because many homes are for sale...
To make things worse, the owners in this park are in a large majority Canadian, and the board members are all Canadian (as far as I know), so there are no meetings from April to November. The 12 units that are for sale should be sold to Americans, but owners are not allowed to advertise, so the units are sold mainly by word of mouth.
The problems :
Mr. JA’s reputation is tarnished by all of this. He is a valued and trusted citizen by all his friends and family. But people who do not know him personally, have read things about him : the money “lost”, the “gifts” he paid to his friends and everything else on the bulletin board (because the board published these allegations and left them on the bulletin board for 3 weeks and they discussed these allegations in the last open board meeting).
Mr. JA has received 6 letters from the board’s lawyers since 2008, but he has not been charged with anything yet other than paying money to a Canadian citizen. He has replied to all of them, supplying the requested information and denying all charges of wilful wrongdoing, but the menace and allegations are not stopping. The president told the attendance at the last board meeting (attended also by the board's new lawyer - the old lawyer was in favour of Mr. JA) that they will continue to investigate the old board's actions/decisions because of suspected wrongdoing and stated a list of allegation. Mr. JA did not attend this meeting because some residents told him that it would be his "trial".
I suggested they recall, but nobody wants to take on the responsibility... many are leaving soon to go back to Canada for the summer...
I told Mr. JA that he needed a lawyer, fast, and to sue the board for harassment. But he and his wife are not rich and Mr. JA does not want to incur more expenses for himself and he also would like to resolve the situation quickly (suing is a long process). He also thinks he can resolve this problem like he always did : by communicating and discussing and finding an appropriate solution.
I also think the anguish of the long "trial" could get the better of his mental and physical health. He’s in his 70’s. The stress and anguish is also making his wife sick and she stays at home most of the time. Mr and Mrs JA are not ready to sell; this has been their home for over 15 years.
Sorry, it is a long story, and I thank you for reading it all, it did me good to write it out.
Do you have any suggestions ?
Anybody (over 55) wants to buy a mobile home in this park ? They need new members for the board, next elections are in March 2011 and the President’s position is up for election, I hope she will not be re-elected, but if not enough people present themselves for election, she will be appointed again for 3 years! What a nightmare!
