Maintaining a Condominium Way of Life.

A high-rise condominium community attractively situated on Biscayne Bay was shut down and evacuated by emergency order of the City of Miami as a result of substantial failures in and to the structural steel members of the building.  Facing widespread disruption in their lives, involving the severe financial stresses of special assessments for the repairs compounded by the expenses of relocation, many of the community's residents were assailed by a variety of land speculators, hotel developers, brokers and predatory investors interested in purchasing multiple condominium units.  Mass purchases by such interests posed a very real threat of "termination" of the condominium if the new speculative purchasers were able to throw the vote to the required 75%.  This would allow a sale of the building to a developer who could then raze it and put up a high-rise hotel in its place.

In order to preserve and protect the residents' homes and their present way of life, the Board of Directors put in place a temporary amendment to the Declaration of Condominium which restricted any one purchaser from acquiring more than two units.  This "poison pill", designed to last only until the residents were restored to their homes after repairs were completed, effectively kept speculators and developers away.

The residents have now been restored to the building after several months of repairs and are grateful that their life-style and the character of their homes have been preserved.

Article Concepts: community law, association law, homeowner associations.

 

© 2008, The Barthet Firm