Very good write up. After 40 years of apparent stability it was easy to get complacent.I wonder how many of the dead would have voted to spend the money needed?
Thank you.
Check out this security video from inside a condo unit, the building appears to be crumbling like snow then it falls.
Well done! Thanks.
If there is a big, expensive repair needed, and the association does not have enough money set aside to do it, then the Board must call for a special assessment to raise the money. The special assessment is in addition to the regular monthly assessments and must be approved by the owners (usually 67% must vote yes).
That is why the first suit filed yesterday was against the homeowners association.
Glad I am not a board member of that mess (or any other).
Not a constructive post.
Example:
“If the manager brought this to the board and the board did not move ahead, the liability is now on the board and there is nothing the building manager can do other than resign.”
So the management company kept collecting the management fees every month, even though the knew there were structural issues and had raised them to the board?
I would not want to be your insurer.
I was a security guard for seven years at the first large condo on the Beach here, buil in the 70s. The politics and stubborness and stupidity of the owners and even the Board was amazing. it determined me that I would never buy a condo nor would I have a house subject to an HOA. They paid fines for the faulty fire alarm and suppression system for many years until they were told that they had to replace the old and finally totally nonfunctional system with a new one or the building would be condemned and everyone would have to vacate.
VERY informative a HUGE thank you!!!
I disagree with some of your statements, but you are mostly accurate.
In short - and somewhat in agreement - I fault the condo owners themselves for failing to involve the county. Technically, every surviving tenant and, most-pertinently, surviving members of the board/association share liability. Some reports seem to be absolving the county of liability in citation of a yet-scheduled 40-year inspection per code; we shall see in the ensuing weeks as to whether the county knew of the building deficiencies and, as I suspect, where the money flowed. Reports are that the mandated inspection ‘was underway’; how any responsible engineer could not have previously cited major structural flaws in a single visit is a bit beyond the pale, considering the photos most of us have seen. Those who inspected the building prior to its collapse share liability.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article252340108.html
I recommend anyone interested read both the article above and about Miami-Dade County’s “Unsafe Structures Board”, linked below:
I find it very difficult to believe that the county was unaware of potential structural issues with this complex.
The 12-story beachfront condo in Miami-Dade County was built in 1981 — and had been sinking into the ground since the 1990s, according to a 2020 study conducted by Shimon Wdowinski, a professor at Florida International University.
“I looked at it this morning and said, ‘Oh my God.’ We did detect that,” Wdowinski told USA Today on Thursday.
https://nypost.com/2021/06/24/collapsed-florida-condo-was-sinking-for-decades-researcher/
And you may want to add to your complete analysis:
If it is shown the managers and the HOA Board were negligent in getting things fixed, then the insurance companies might balk at paying any claims.
Good summary. If the association required 67% approval and only 60% approved, I’m assuming the ones that voted yes (for an assessment) are still liable as an owner (even if they voted yes)?
The lawyers will have the taxpayers pay for this.
There is not much rational thought or honor with most human beings.
Boikers and elebators are always cause trouble in buildings like this. They should be outlawed.
I didn’t see mention of the possibility the building was constructed improperly from the get go and was a disaster waiting to happen.
There may be others involved than just the condo managers and owners.
You don’t often read of a large building in the United States just falling down.
Still fails to answer the most pressing question...
At least 20% of the Florida Atlantic coast has condos and hotels built on it.
There are literally thousands of buildings - many of them have been there for fifty years, or even longer.
None of them have suddenly collapsed and killed hundreds of people.
Until proven otherwise, I am still going with a terrorist attack on a heavily Jewish neighborhood.
Until they clear away enough rubble to inspect the columns on the lowest parking level, this catastrophe is still an unsolved mystery.
Yet to be considered; should any multi-story building be allowed in areas with this type of soil? No matter how many pilings or how wide, or how securely sealed, etc., the end result is building on top of concrete or steel sticks in messy soil subject to weathering and erosion. Any disturbance is going to result in wider damage and require wider remediation.
This is one excellent post. Thank you.
Thanks for the info. I was most curious about #6. I presumed that the state had some schedule for structural inspection and that schedule was almost certainly not annual or even bi-annual. But, 40-yaers? That seems...insufficient particularly for a building smack-dab in the middle of a hurricane zone.
I’m also curious if there is any obligation on the part of the inspector who discovered the problems with building movement and basement concrete issues to report the findings to the municipal inspection/regulatory authority in spite of the building not being outside the 40-yaer window.
If not, that may change as well.