Mike Trout on the West Boca Question

Candidate for Congress Mike Trout responds to our West Boca Question
Question 2:
The office you seek covers West Boca Raton and other communities. What issues do you
see as particularly relevant for the residents of West Boca?
Mike Trout’s Response:
West Boca News has challenged me to identify some issues that might be of particular relevance to residents of West Boca.
West Boca, like many of the western areas of Palm Beach and Broward Counties, is comprised of lots of diversely organized communities, but I think it’s safe to say that the HOA (Homeowner Association) model is prevalent.
HOAs can be a good thing, when they’re good. But when they’re bad, they can be very, very bad, as many a homeowner can attest. For some examples of bad behavior by socalled ‘rogue HOA boards’ from around the country, let me just google that for you: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=rogue+hoa+board .
HOAs have grown their authority to the point that, with respect to the power they wield over a community, they more resemble a government agency than the simple informal associations that were formed to manage the day to day affairs of maintaining the commons, and organizing the occasional social event that was once thought to describe their role.
HOAs have the power to ‘tax’ their members, through their annual assessments (sometimes charged monthly, quarterly, or biannually), and recently the Florida legislature has endowed the HOA with the authority to even fine homeowners for violations of community bylaws and maintenance standards.
As Americans, we’re accustomed to expect accountability from government — one of the prime standards of good government is transparency. We expect our boards to handle the community’s affairs in the interest of the people. We expect, especially, that finances be managed in a fiduciary manner, and that boards not take liberties and detours from that general mission, at least not without consulting and apprising the community in timely and regular fashion.
While it may not seem at first glance a topic of concern for congress — the many complaints I have seen both locally and from other states where HOAs are prevalent has convinced me that this is more than just a local issue, and that homeowners are clamoring for some relief from these HOAs gone bad.
In one local West Boca HOA community the Board of Directors, without so much as consulting the community, took the unusual and costly action of filing a lawsuit against a fellow homeowner for publishing a website critical of the BOD, claiming that the homeowner engaged in libel. Frustrated homeowners were alarmed to learn recently that costs associated with the lawsuit may already be in excess of $50,000, a sum nearly equal to a full months assessment, with no end in sight. When asked in open board meetings for exact numbers associated with the lawsuit, the president states that ‘he doesn’t know’ how much has been spent.
As a first step to bringing relief to HOA homeowners, I have created a petition that will be forwarded to your state legislators demanding some changes in the way that HOAs should be responsible to their communities.
FIX Our HOAs :: MANDATE TRANSPARENCY IN OUR MOST LOCAL OF GOVERNMENTS
Homeowners in Florida HOAs (Homeowners Associations) continue to be frustrated with Boards of Directors who will not adhere and submit to the spirit of transparency in community affairs, especially as applies to timely and convenient access to HOA records.
Florida House Bill 319 and it’s Florida Senate counterpart do not go far enough to address issues of access to records and transparency of HOA Boards of Directors.
We the undersigned do hereby petition that the legislature, declare HOAs (Homeowner Associations) as “Public Agencies,” as defined in Florida’s Sunshine Laws (Open Records and Open Meetings), inasmuch as HOAs do function as quasi-governmental authorities, with the powers to tax (assess), and even the power to fine Homeowners.
Additionally, in an open HOA meeting, Board of Directors shall be obligated by law to orally answer questions of fact about HOA business as may be posed by Homeowners, to the best of their abilities, and not to obfuscate the truths that the members may be seeking.
We, the undersigned, frustrated residents of Florida HOA communities, do hereby petition you, our elected State representatives to revisit the current language of the aforementioned bills, and to address the critically important issues of HOA Boards of Directors transparency and truthfullness in the execution of their duties.
To let your local state representatives and senators know that you are ready for some legislative relief, please consider signing the petition at:
http://www.change.org/petitions/fix-our-hoas-mandate-transparency-in-our-most-local-of-governments