Let's End Fraud:: Adopt On-line Voting NOW!

BPBALLOT LIVE DEMONSTRATION

Presented by:
Donna DiMaggio Berger, Esq.
Becker & Poliakoff Shareholder
&
Rosa M. de La Camara, Esq.
Becker & Poliakoff Shareholder

Whether you are being asked to elect a new board, approve a material alteration, amend your governing documents or waive reserves, Becker & Poliakoff's new online voting system, 

BPBALLOT, allows you to weigh in on these important issues for your community by casting your vote from the comfort and convenience of your home or office.

BPBALLOT has been specifically designed to comply with Florida law to allow members in condominium, cooperative and homeowners' associations to cast their votes online. Online voting can be a more effective, secure way for your association to conduct membership votes.

Our demonstration will take you through the process of an election and an amendment vote, and will explain how online voting works from the perspective of a member, manager and a board member

Thursday, August 4, 2016
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Registration begins at 11:30 AM

Contact Leydis Hernandez at lhernandez@bplegal.com or

305.262.4433 Ext. 11041 for more info.

He rented his condo to a fugitive — and the guy won’t leave

Cyber Citizens for Justice, Inc.

ccfj.net |

Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald
By Kyra Gurney   

Published July 5, 2016

The trouble started in April, when Sergey Umrikhin’s new tenant paid his $1,500 rent a month late — surprising, considering records showed $138,000 flowing into his bank account in December alone.

Then Umrikhin received a violation letter from the property manager at Avant Garde, the highrise Hallandale Beach condominium complex where he owns a unit. Umrikhin’s tenant was throwing cigarettes over the third-floor condo balcony and drinking out of glass bottles on the pool deck, the letter said.
 

Umrikhin filed eviction papers in mid-May, after two months of late payments.

After he found out about the Interpol “red notice,” Umrikhin said he contacted the Hallandale Beach Police Department the next day, and called the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security in mid-June. Two weeks later, Kholodnyak and his wife are still in the apartment, according to Umrikhin.

The Herald was unable to determine what action, if any, has been taken by federal authorities in response. The FBI would not confirm whether Umrikhin had called the agency, and a spokesman for Homeland Security in Miami said the department “does not confirm or deny any ongoing investigations as a matter of policy.”

The U.S. Marshals Service, the agency with primary jurisdiction over foreign nationals on Interpol’s wanted list, said it is unable to arrest Russian nationals on the list because the United States and Russia don’t have an extradition treaty.

“At this point in time, the U.S. Marshals Service is not investigating or looking into Mr. Kholodnyak. Since there is no treaty between the U.S. and Russia, Mr. Kholodnyak can’t be picked up on the Interpol notice,” explained Senior Inspector Barry Golden, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Foreign money, some of it from individuals with questionable financial backgrounds, has flooded the South Florida condo market,so much so that the Treasury Department announced temporary regulations requiring title insurance companies to identify the owners of shell companies buying high-end Miami real estate in cash.
 

“If you’re renting out luxury units to an international clientele, you need to get professional advice to see who they are. Kenneth Rijock, former money launderer who became a financial crime consultant

But the more restrictive rules do not apply to renters, leaving landlords at risk of leasing their condos to tenants with sketchy backgrounds.

The online background check Avant Garde required Kholodnyak to complete failed to turn up the charges against Kholodnyak in Russia, or his presence on Interpol’s wanted list.

The background check, provided to the Miami Herald, states “All Clear,” highlighted in green, followed by a short explanation: “No criminal or eviction history found.”

The service Avant Garde used searches national records, but does not perform an international background check, according to its website. Avant Garde referred the Herald to the condominium complex’s lawyer, who did not respond to requests for comment.

International background checks are typically more expensive and take longer to complete than searches of national or state criminal records.

Kholodnyak responded to the Miami Herald’s questions through his wife, Olga, whose English is better than his.

“When Vladimir moved to the apartment, he gave all information to Avant Garde to the building manager,” Olga Karpenko told the Herald. “If they approve him, it means they checked everything about him that they need.”

Kholodnyak and his brother Alexander, who is also on the Interpol list, owned a construction company in southwestern Russia. They allegedly erected residential buildings without obtaining permits, and failed to finish some of them, defrauding clients who had purchased units in the buildings, according to Russian media reports.

The brothers were charged with fraud and illegal business practices in July 2014, a Russian Embassy spokesman, Ivan Filatov, told the Herald. Both men were added to Interpol’s red list in December 2014.

“Our position is that the charges are politically motivated,” said Michelle Estlund, a criminal defense attorney representing Vladimir Kholodnyak. Estlund said Kholodnyak has applied for asylum in the United States and that he has petitioned to have his name removed from the Interpol list. Kholodnyak is still waiting for a final response in both cases, according to Estlund.

Vladimir Kholodnyak “has problems with Russia with politics and doesn’t want to talk about it,” his wife told the Herald. Alexander Kholodnyak could not be reached for comment.

Vladimir Kholodnyak’s asylum lawyer, Anis Saleh, cautioned that some foreign governments have been known to use criminal charges as a means of political persecution. “There are many, many instances of people who are designated as fugitives or criminals and it’s later shown that it’s a measure of persecution or extortion or revenge,” he said.

The eviction case against Kholodnyak is pending. Umrikhin said he was ordered to update his three-day eviction notice at the most recent hearing, and that he is now waiting for a new hearing to be scheduled. Even if Kholodnyak agrees to pay the rent on time, Umrikhin still wants him out.

“I think he may provide some kind of danger to other people,” Umrikhin said.

Umrikhin and his partner have received what they interpret as threats from Kholodnyak in recent weeks.

“Listen to me you conman, I am already tired of you, mind your own business and take care of your health!” Kholodnyak e-mailed Umrikhin in Russian on June 22. “Shut your mouth and keep quiet.”

Maj. Pedro Abut, a spokesman for the Hallandale Beach police, said the department did not have a record of Umrikhin’s complaint and might have passed the information on to federal authorities without recording the complaint. Abut said the department contacted federal authorities following the Herald’s request for comment.

The Russian Embassy has not been contacted by U.S. law enforcement agencies regarding the Kholodnyak brothers, said spokesman Filatov.

“When Vladimir moved to the apartment, he gave all information to Avant Garde to the building manager. If they approve him, it means they checked everything about him that they need."

Olga Karpenko, tenant’s wife

In addition to Kholodnyak’s alleged fraud in Russia, Umrikhin has questions about his business dealings in the United States. The Herald found six companies registered in Kholodnyak’s name or in the names of apparent relatives, of which five appear to be shell companies. Two of the companies purchased three South Florida properties in 2014, all of which have since been resold.

“If you’re renting out luxury units to an international clientele, you need to get professional advice to see who they are,” said Kenneth Rijock, a former money launderer who became a financial crime consultant.“Unfortunately, many unit owners, when they see a large amount of rent that far exceeds the amount they’re paying for the mortgage, they see stars in their eyes and if it’s too good to be true they’ll go for it.”

Boris Vedenyapin, a broker who was hired by both Vladimir and Alexander Kholodnyak, said he was “not really” aware that Vladimir was on Interpol’s wanted list when he agreed to help him find an apartment. “He told me that he had some problems in Russia,” Vedenyapin explained.

“Anyway, they were just asking me to help them with the rental. I did my job. I just showed them a few properties.”

Rijock said some in the industry are becoming more careful about vetting prospective clients.

“The last thing a landlord wants is to see a picture of his unit in the newspaper involved in a drug bust,” he said.

Read More: http://www.ccfj.net/

Mark Your Calendar: FREE DBPR WORKSHOP FOR CONDO OWNERS

WHEN:  Tuesday, July 19 2016

TIME: 6:30pm to 8:30pm

WHERE: MDC InterAmerican Campus Room 3103
 627 SW 27th Ave Miami 33125

Conducted by  Representative JOSE JAVIER RODRIGUEZ

Email: Jose.Rodriguez@myfloridahouse.gov

Telephone: (305)854-0365

Short-term rentals become top concern for condo owners, residents

WATCH VIDEO HERE: http://www.ccfj.net

Rentals impacting quality of life, condo residents say

Cyber Citizens for Justice, Inc.

ccfj.net |

THE TIDES:

The view of sun-kissed tourists hanging poolside on a gorgeous South Florida day wouldn't seem out of place unless you knew The Tides isn't a hotel, it is a condominium with by-laws provided to Local 10 News by condo owners that say in no event shall any lease be for a period less than 90 days.

"If you look at VRBO, there are 143 listings. You wouldn't think of that as a condo, you think of that as a hotel," London said. "There are so many short-term renters here it just makes life difficult, challenging."
  

"The washing machines and dryers are always broken," London said.

Nearly everyone the Call Christina team encountered while Hassman and London took our crew for a tour of the grounds said they were visiting.

Several large groups said they were visiting from Argentina.

The Call Christina Team found more than 40 units listed on an Argentine-based website called Viajo a Miami Beach.

Canadian based Somil Corporation advertised 14 Tides units on its website.

Broward County property records confirm the company owns several units at the waterfront condominium.

The Call Christina team also checked with Broward County's Records Taxes & Treasury Division.

Director Tom Kennedy confirmed that Somil has a current account registered with the county's Tourist Development Tax Section.

In an email exchange between London and a Somil representative provided to Local 10 News by London, a company representative confirmed a rental unit reservation at The Tides for a period of eight days, which London points out is much less than the 90-day minimum as per the condo's own rules and regulations.

"That type of activity causes so much wear and tear on the building," London said.

Some of the advertised rentals say a 1-bedroom fits four; in another listing a 2-bedroom is said to sleep 6.

"Water has gone sky high, because you have six to eight people in an apartment," Hassman said.

The condo owners who spoke with Local 10 News also pointed out a tiki hut erected near one of the pools and a lobby café selling tourist sunglasses and sunhats.

"Towels, mugs, everything an owner would need right?" Hassman said.

London explained how visitors are given resort-style temporary plastic bracelets.

The moment our crews walked into the management office to inquire about the residents' concerns, like the concierge desk of a hotel, a staff member was snapping those resort-style bracelets on a couple who said they were "guests" for a couple of nights.

The Tides executive manager Eveline Smythe said she would need to get permission from her bosses for an on-camera interview, and then never returned a follow-up inquiry.

Calls and emails to the Akam management company and association attorney Marci A. Rubin went unreturned.

Also not willing to talk was resident board member and real estate broker Joe Cimino, who not only shut the door on Local 10's Christina Vazquez, but then promptly locked the door.

Requests for comment sent to Somil, Viajo a Miami Beach and VRBO were unreturned.

Airbnb tells Local 10 News that they ask all hosts to follow their local regulations to include the rules of their HOA's.

THE BOOMING BUSINESS OF VACATION RENTALS:

"You should not be renting to people for a one night's stay," said Hollywood Commissioner Patricia Assefff. "That is ridiculous."

Asseff also serves on the Broward County League of Cities and said coastal cities have been dealing with issues that have come about due to the vacation rental industry to include zoning, property rights and public safety.

The American Hotel and Lodging Association recently called short-term rental platforms an "illegal business," accusing them of dodging taxes and ducking rules.

"We share the concerns local residents have expressed about the growing number of commercial operators who are using sites like Airbnb to run multi-unit, full-time lodging businesses without any oversight," AHLA stated on its website.

The associates said a growing number of commercial landlords are using rental platforms to run "illegal hotels."

LARGELY UNREGULATED:

The cities of Fort Lauderdale, Dania Beach and Hollywood have recently created vacation rental ordinances.

The Tides, however, falls outside the scope of Hollywood's ordinance, which focuses on single-family neighborhoods.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the state agency that regulates condos, tells the Call Christina team that the renting of a condo unit in and of itself is not a violation of the Florida condo act and that document enforcement falls outside the division's jurisdiction, leaving The Tides in turbulent waters of seemingly regulatory limbo.

Hassman and London said they continue to watch vans full of tourists arrive and depart from their condo building, continue to struggle finding a spot by the pool, continue to worry that their HOA dues are being siphoned to support a rental operation in violation of their association's rules, continue to deal with a board and management company seemingly unwilling to reign in the people making money from breaking the rules.

They want state regulators to step-in and take a look.

"It is a mess," Hassman said.

"It is completely frustrating," London added.

The Call Christina team has asked state regulators to investigate whether the unit owners renting their units online need to secure public lodging licenses as required by Florida law based on how the units are being advertised. We will keep you posted.  

Read More: http://www.ccfj.net/

Approvals to Alter Condominium Property Must be Made at a Properly Noticed Board Meeting

Question: I regularly attend the board meetings of my condominium association. When I cannot attend, I make certain to read the minutes when they are posted. In the association’s quarterly newsletter, the president announced that the association would be changing the configuration of a conference room to allow for storage. Though the board is authorized in our declaration to approve material alterations, there was no vote taken at a board meeting on this. I believe the board is making decisions via e-mail, which I understand is prohibited by statute. To confirm this, I sent the association a certified letter requesting copies of all email communications between the board members and the property manager. Thirty days has passed since I sent the certified letter and I have not been provided with access to the e-mails. Shouldn’t they have provided me access within 30 days or do I have to wait 60 days before I can take further action?  (T.T. via e-mail)

Answer: The Florida Supreme Court recently certified condominium and planned development law as an area of legal specialty. I was given the privilege of being appointed to the committee which will write the test that must be passed by lawyers who want to be certified as specialists in condominium law. Maybe we can use your question for the test, as it raises many interesting, inter-related and frequently encountered issues.

The Florida Condominium Act was amended in 2014 to provide that members of the board may use e-mail as a means of communication but may not cast a vote on association matters via e-mail. In my opinion, this was the law before the statute was amended. In your case, if the board is given authority by the declaration of condominium to approve alterations to the condominium property, those decision must be made at a properly noticed board meeting. Members (unit owners) are generally entitled to attend board meetings and speak to items the board will be voting on.

Whether the e-mails you have requested are “official records” of the association is a matter of some disagreement. The Condominium Act does not specifically address this issue. The Division of Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes (“Division”), the government agency that is tasked with oversight of condominium associations in Florida, issued an arbitration decision on the subject. The finding in that case was that e-mails between directors that are only on the directors’ personal computers are not “official records” of the association and therefore not subject to inspection by other owners. In a footnote, the arbitrator stated that his conclusion might be different if the association owned a computer, or if e-mails were printed up and passed around for discussion at a board meeting. There is also a question of whether the existence of emails on a management company’s computer has any bearing on the issue. Arbitration decisions are not binding legal precedent. The legal question on emails remains open, and is hotly debated from various perspectives.

To the extent your request for access to the e-mails is a proper request to inspect official records, the association must provide access to official records within 5 business days of receipt of a written request. After 10 days the association is presumed to have willfully disregarded the request and violated the statute. That presumption can be rebutted by the association.

Requesting access to official records is different than making a “certified inquiry.” The Condominium Act states that an association must respond to an “inquiry” sent by certified mail from a unit owner within 30 days of receipt. The Association must either provide a “substantive response” or notify the requesting member that the association has referred the matter to the Division, or legal counsel. If referred to the Division, the association must provide a substantive response within 10 days of receipt of an answer from the Division. If referred to legal counsel, a substantive response must be provided within 60 days of the original receipt of the inquiry.

Read More: http://www.floridacondohoalawblog.com/

The cheapest homes in Miami are quickly getting more expensive

By Jack Herrickjherrick@miamiherald.com

miamiherald |

Miami-Dade home prices rose 6.4 percent compared to last April of last year

Prices for the low-cost homes are rising twice as fast as high cost homes

Nationally, prices increased by 5 percent over last year

Miami home prices continued to rise this spring, according to a report released Tuesday by in the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices.

Selling prices of existing homes rose 6.4 percent in April over the same period in 2015, according to the report. The data covers the Miami metro area — essentially Miami Dade County.

Nationally, the price of existing homes rose 5 percent during the same month.

“The housing sector continues to turn in a strong price performance with the S&P/Case-Shiller National Index rising at a 5 percent or greater annual rate for six consecutive months,” said David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “The home price increases reflect the low unemployment rate, low mortgage interest rates, and consumers’ generally positive outlook.”

But the numbers don’t tell the full story, according to Dr. Svenja Gudell, chief economist for Zillow, an online real estate tracking service.

“Today’s Case-Shiller data shows continued fast growth in the housing market, but there is also a growing divide between the top and bottom of the market that the Case-Shiller numbers don’t reveal,” said Gudell “Home values for the least-expensive homes are growing twice as quickly as they are for the most-expensive homes, and the gap is widening.”

In Miami, the gap is clear. In May, sales for homes in Miami-Dade priced between $200,000 and $600,000 grew 5.9 percent, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. In contrast, homes in the bottom tier ($175,200 and below) grew 12.5 percent.

At the same time, the total number of existing home sales in Miami-Dade slid to 2,435 in May, down 10.4 percent annually, according to data from the Miami Association of Realtors. Earlier this month, Trulia named Miami one of the most unaffordable housing markets by in the country.

Read More: http://www.miamiherald.com/

CONDO LAW - "REASONABLE"? FOR MANY OBVIOUSLY A FOREIGN WORD!

An Opinion By Jan Bergemann
President, Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.

Published June 25, 2016

     

It seems that our legislators in Tallahassee love to use the word "reasonable" in the statutes. There would be nothing wrong with it -- if the people interpreting these statutes would really understand the meaning of this obviously "complicated" word.

This is, according to Merriam-Webster the simple definition of the word REASONABLE:

1. fair and sensible
2. fairly or moderately good

So -- what's so difficult to understand?

In my opinion many of the "reasonable" rules created by certain attorneys, community association managers and board members are anything but reasonable.

A "reasonable" rule should serve a purpose that is fair to everybody having to deal with such rules, not just one party making rules to suppress the freedom of the other party.

Yes, it can be reasonable to create rules that make sure that a person taping a meeting is not disturbing the meeting, like making noise and/or wandering around during the meeting. That makes sense, assuring a meeting can be conducted without being disturbed by an overeager owner pointing the camera in peoples' faces.

But what purpose does it serve to require an owner to give the manager a 24-hour written notice that he/she intends to tape the meeting? I'm sorry, but such a rule is absolutely unreasonable -- and plainly makes no sense. It doesn't serve any other purpose but to make it difficult for any owner to tape the meeting.

Then you see all the rules created by attorneys and dictatorial board members in regards to the statutory requirements of the law to allow the owners to speak at meeting. These "rules" are created to circumvent the Florida statutes -- nothing else.

And as an additional intimidation factor the threat of fines is added, telling the owners that they are being fined -- right or wrong -- if the board doesn't like what the owner has to say -- and when he/she says it. This is a typical example why we should do here in Florida the same owners did in Virginia and Rhode Island: Go to the Florida Supreme Court and enforce our constitutional rights: Only government entities can fine citizens, contract or not! These fines are only serving one purpose: To take away rights of owners given to them by the statutes. Make no mistake: Clear violations of the deed-restrictions can easily enforced by the association in a court of law -- no fining provisions needed!

These rules, written by association attorneys who should know better, and "enacted" by dictatorial board members without informing the membership prior to enactment, are becoming more and more common in Florida's community association. They are clearly aimed at taking away the rights of owners -- what little rights they have in the first place.

After reading this example of rule-making "enacted" by the board of the CHAPEL TRAIL OWNER'S ASSOCIATION, INC. and most likely written by attorney Howard Perl from the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff (the regular association attorney) I would like you to tell me which one of these rules you find reasonable. For your information, these rules were mailed to the owners without any cover letter, dates or signatures. I guess nobody felt comfortable enough to put his/her signature under such dictatorial -- and definitely unreasonable -- rules.

Read More here: http://www.ccfj.net/