Breaking News: Florida HOA Survey Demolishes Anti-Reform Arguments
Posted by Dr. Joyce Starr September 30, 2008
Florida HOA Survey Demolishes Anti-Reform Arguments: You heard it first on Rights Radio.com.
Midnight tonight is a critical time. An important survey of homeowners in Florida HOAs goes on-line.
The survey asked Florida HOA homeowners and non-owners with different roles in those organizations if they were in favor of or opposed to each of 14 proposed reforms to Florida Statute 720 which governs those associations. The well-known Cyber Citizens for Justice, Inc. [CCFJ] sponsored that study.
It’s an important study for several reasons. It’s the first reliable one on the subject with over 1,000 valid responses from all parts of the state. It provides broad and deep coverage of the issues and presents its findings clearly in nontechnical terms.
Perhaps most importantly, CCFJ’s report demolishes the anti-reform arguments so often raised in the past. No one can ever again truthfully assert that reforms aren’t wanted. Nor can opponents of reform honestly claim that HOA owners aren’t willing to pay for an independent agency with enforcement powers to regulate HOAs in Florida. Nor can anyone say with a straight face that only a few vocal malcontents in South Florida want some reforms but everyone else is satisfied with the way their board of directors runs their HOA. This study’s rigorous statistical analysis proved that there’s less the one chance in a billion that any of those claims is correct.
Last week Jan Bergemann, President of CCFJ, shared some highlights from that survey with our Rights Radio audience. (You heard it first on Rights Radio!)
What isn’t well known is that Dr. David Goldenberg, author of one of our best selling books - Creating Home Owner & Condo Association Documents and the author of our best selling special report “Ten Steps to Recall Your Board” - analyzed the data from that survey and wrote the report which appears on-line and is available in hard copy from CCFJ.
Dave’s analysis uncovered a number of interesting facts in addition to those mentioned above or by Jan on last week’s program. For instance, people from all over Florida were strongly in favor of every proposed reform by 75% to 96%! Naturally this result varied by the specific reform and across five sets of respondent traits, namely: Interest or role in the HOA, gender, membership or non-membership in CCFJ, region and whether or not the respondent made a comment or identified which reform was most important to him/her.
Two remarkable outcomes of Dave’s analysis are solid proof that: homeowners views on reform differ significantly from those of their boards of directors and that the directors have a strong and consistent bias against reform. The latter point means that conclusions drawn from prior studies by lobbying groups such as CAI [representing Community Association Managers], and CALL – CAN [representing law firms serving HOA boards] could be open to question on several counts - including the use of undersized samples.
You owe it to yourself to read this important study.
You can access the complete survey here and Jan’s comments on the survey here.
To Your Empowerment!
Your Homeowners Association Rights: Condo Rights & HOA Rights
Posted by Dr. Joyce Starr September 22, 2008
Homeowners Association Rights: Condo Association Rights & HOA Rights -Florida Condo Act FS 718 - Florida Law H 995
Topic: Important changes to Florida Condo Act FS 718 resulting from the recent passage of Florida Bill H 995.
Show Date: SEPTEMBER 24, 2008 at 5:00 PM. Here is your Link to the LIVE show. Join our mailing list on the home page (also immediately following this post) to receive instant notification about future homeowner association rights broadcasts.
Guest: Jan Bergemann, President, Cyber Citizens for Justice, CCFJ.net. Back by popular demand, Jan Bergemann discusses condo association board candidate eligibility and certification.
The certification form is now available from the Florida Division of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) and from CCFJ.net.
He will also discuss the soon-to-be released CCFJ HOA REFORM SURVEY. Although final survey results are still being tallied, Jan provides important highlights. Condo & HOA owners demand reforms, especially regulatory agency enforcement reforms and increased accountability for the people in charge.
The plunging housing market and roller-coaster stock market demonstrate that owners are being misled when told that condo associations and HOAs inherently protect property values.
To the contrary! Numerous condo associations and HOAs create a serious financial liability for their association members.
The many foreclosures and empty homes/units create a crippling financial burden for responsible owners. Associations have to raise the monthly fees and levy special assessments to cover the budget shortfalls caused by foreclosed and empty homes.
This results in greater financial strain on owners whose finances are already overburdened – causing more families to lose their homes!
Reminder: The link to the LIVE show will be provided on this page on Tuesday, September 23, by 3:00 PM. You can hear the LIVE show on September 24 at 5:00 PM.
Demand, defend and protect your Homeowners Association Rights with our Homeowners Association Rights Defense Kit
Join our Rights Radio Audio Club - for downloadable audios, special reports and more!
To your empowerment!
Dr. Joyce Starr
Pet Food False Advertising Lawsuit - Content of Commercial Pet Foods
Posted by Dr. Joyce Starr September 7, 2008
Rights Radio - STARRPublications.com Features the Lead Attorney in the National Pet Food False Advertising Lawsuit. This law suit seeks class certification of a nationwide class of people from all states.
Topic: A nationwide class action lawsuit was launched in 2007 against leading pet food manufacturers and distributors for negligent and intentional misleading of the public about the actual content of commercial pet foods. The lawsuit alleges that major national pet food manufacturers, marketers and distributors advertise and promote their products as “Premium,” “Complete and Balanced” and other misleading slogans, even though their food products actually contain such Items as euthanized dogs and cats, restaurant grease, hair, hooves, and diseased animals, and other inedible garbage.
Guest: Catherine J. MacIvor, a partner at Maltzman Foreman, PA is the lead counsel in this case. Ms. MacIvor works tirelessly - often 24 hours at a stretch - to give guilty pet food companies their just rewards. She possesses substantial expertise in complex litigation. Throughout all her years as a litigator, she has maintained a winning track record. She has successfully defended breach of contract, maintenance and cure, wage claims, Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and personal injury cases and class actions in state and federal courts and at the Florida Supreme Court.
Additionally, Ms. MacIvor has developed expertise in emotional injury causes of action involving the transmission of infectious diseases such as the Norwalk virus. She’s a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law and listed in Who’s Who in America Law, 1998.
Date: September 10, 2008 at 5:00 PM EST. [Rights Radio Members receive FREE "Private Access" to the LIVE show. Join Rights Radio Now.]
Here’s important background about the case:
The Plaintiffs in this case are non-litigious individuals from various backgrounds who brought this case out of principle – to simply seek to have the Defendants do the right thing by being honest with pet owners about the food and treats that they manufacture, market and sell. They are not requesting this Court to regulate an industry, as the Defendants would have the Court believe; rather, they simply seek to hold the Defendants accountable for false, unfair and deceptive advertising intended to lead unsuspecting Plaintiffs to purchase food and treats which are materially different from the Defendants’ advertising and for the illness and deaths of their cats and dogs.
Don’t miss this show!
To your empowerment!
Dr. Joyce Starr