Warring camps
“A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.”
—Napoleon Bonaparte

As the property slides further downhill, the owners split into opposing camps. One group wants to remove the existing board and raise the common element fees. They want live in a building that can be proud of. They want the building deficiencies fixed, maintenance standards restored and their investments protected.

Another group of owners also wants to remove the existing board. However they believe that the root of their problems is incompetent and dishonest management. They have convinced themselves that, if they can stop the present squandering of resources, the existing fees are more than sufficient to restore the property to its past glory.

A third group is happy with the way things as they are. The present board will not raise the fees so this group of owners will stick with them.

                          Fighting like cats and dogs

The building becomes one unhappy place as accusations of corruption and incompetence are mixed with insults, character assassinations and recriminations.

(See how bad things got at Greenacres a homeowners association in Florida.)
Two rival boards battling for control of a Greenacres community's finances prompted Valley National Bank to file an interpleader complaint to determine who should administer a nearly $500,000 account amid claims of fraud and misappropriation.

Time for an administrator
At some point, a new board is elected that realizes that fees must rise, sometimes drastically. When a large fee increase is announced, the owners may resist by petitioning for a special meeting to remove the directors.

In response, the corporation lawyer may obtain a court order blocking the meeting while the board applies for a court-appointed administrator; in effect, a dictator.

The administrator raises the condo fees and taxes the owners with a special assessment. He also aggressively demands all delinquent condo fees to be paid in full. Failure to do so results in liens on the units. Some go on the market as power of sales.

After a short painful period, hopefully the property stops its downward spiral and property values stop dropping and start to recover. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.


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