What is a Homeowners Association?
It is a business like GM or McDonalds, except it is non-profit. It can be compared to shareholders who own these companies through shares of stock that are purchased. It’s like we own shares of Garden Patio Villas through the villas we have purchased. Like GM, the Board of Directors steers the corporation, or in our case, the HOA to make decisions for the betterment of the community. Being a shareholder of a corporation, you are an owner with limited rights. When you purchase a villa in Garden Patio Villas, you have a restricted deed. You agreed to abide by the Governing Documents and Rules and Regulations. A shareholder of McDonald’s cannot go in and ask for a free hamburger. Same as in the HOA, there are not unlimited rights granted. The Board of Directors represents the Association in making good decisions for the Membership to maintain common area and help increase the home values.
Our mission statement is to maintain the community and increase homeowner value. One of the decisions made in November (and required by our Governing Documents) is that for 2024, we must go to a three person board. A Board Member resigned, and no one wanted to step up to take the Board of Directors position.
We may have to think about going to a management company in the future because no one is stepping up to do the Board of Directors’ work. This will increase the HOA fees because of the additional costs that a management company would charge to manage the community. Also, when something needs to be done, we would go in the “in basket” of the company and when they get to us, that’s when it would be fixed. It also means we must trust a company with our association financials. Some people feel that we should be managed by a property management company. It would cost each of us at least an additional 10%, over what we currently pay in dues. This means that it would cost at least $220 per year per villa for a management company.
Garden Patio Villas must take a modest increase of $15 or 2.8% a quarter for 2024. As a comparison, Oriole Gardens 2 is taking close to a 30% increase per quarter to $1,519. Our increase is for the following reasons:
1.) Water and pool services and a couple other vendors are increasing at the beginning of the year in 2024.
2.) We have two non-performing villas. The first is deceased with no known heirs. The second is an owner who is behind on his dues. We are actively working and pursuing legal remedies up to and including lien and foreclosure to bring to a positive resolution for our members. This, of course, is an expenditure because our lawyer is involved with this process.
Transparency:
This year, there has been a series of articles in the Sun Sentinel about HOA and Condo Associations. The articles talk about how secretive and non-responsive HOA’s and Condo boards can be to the Members of the community that they serve. Please know that this Board tries to be as transparent as possible!
We have a website, which is only required for communities of 150 or more homes. On our website are all the financials that are open for anyone to look at without having to track down a Board Member to view it. We also have meeting minutes posted from all meetings that the Board conducts. It has a link to Florida Statute 720, which is the statute that governs HOA’s in the state of Florida. It has our Governing Documents. It also has our Rules and Regulations, which is a summation of the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) from our Governing Documents.
We have a lot of articles on our website to help you understand more about our community. These articles are meant to keep you informed about all types of things happening in our association. Some articles help explain our rules and other articles help you to save money.
Our website has all our required forms for Members as well as for Realtors. If you are wanting to sell your villa, we do help out by putting it on our website. We have been told numerous times how helpful our website is to those seeking to purchase into our community.
We have Garden Patio Villas and Maintenance phone numbers to reach us via call or text. Also, Garden Patio Villa’s email address is on the website. In short, we want to react quickly to an issue that our Members may have concerns about. That being said, sometimes the answer may not be forthcoming if it is a difficult question. Also, sometimes we have to say no because of different reasons. Rest assured though, there will be a response to your question or concern.
Home Sales:
Garden Patio Villas has had five sales this year for an average sale of $255,000. This average is lower because in one villa, the previous owner left money on the table. There are currently two villas for sale in our community.
Insurance:
As many of you know, the state of property insurance in Florida is still out of control. The Association had to forgo wind mitigation insurance on the clubhouse roof. While it saved the Association approximately $5,500 in premiums, we will be looking at having to replace a 20-year-old roof. Our reserves have come up in the past 3 years to help cover the cost of a new roof with a modest special assessment. This is a topic that will be discussed in the spring before the next hurricane season. Fortunately, we didn’t have any storms this year. By the way, we did not special assess for any reason this past year through sound fiscal management.
Accomplishments:
A first reading of the townhomes project went before the Margate Commissioners for the rezoning and re-development of the golf course. The Commissioners listened to the presentation and to comments by residents. Commissioners voted to rezone and approve the redevelopment of the golf course to 132 townhomes. These changes must still be reviewed by Broward County along with the State of Florida, In three months, it will go back to the Margate Commissioners for a final vote. Commissioners want to hear from you!
In Memoriam:
We lost three valued Members of our community this year. Marshall Hyman, William Carullo, and Lawrence Gittleman. They will be fondly remembered.
To Finalize:
Thank you for helping to make Garden Patio Villas a community that we are all proud to call our home!