"THE FOUNTAIN OF INFORMATION" Monday, December 5, 2005
Headline - OVER THREE MONTHS AND COUNTING!!!
It has been OVER THREE MONTHS (that's right.. 15 WEEKS or
105 DAYS since Hurricane Katrina) and the Board and Manager
STILL HAVE NOT given the 60+ hurricane affected unit owners
any kind of solid information about their insurance
settlement proceeds. Everything that has come out in
writing is subject to unknown deductibles, unknown debris
removal expenses, unknown amounts that the Board or Manager
intends to confiscate from YOUR INSURANCE SETTLEMENT, etc.
Several unit owners have attempted to view the financial
records and minutes of the Board Meetings (AS DIRECTED IN
THE BYLAWS) but "Chet Hingle, The Rude-Assed Manager"..
(hmmmm.. sounds like the name of a Christmas song parody
that I'm working on.. LOL) has REFUSED these owners attempts
to see the financial records and James Williams (Board
Member in unit #79) has also REFUSED to show an owner the
books or meeting minutes... and HE is the
Secretary/Treasurer for the Association.
EDITORIAL REPLY -
WHEN WILL ONE OF THE OWNERS FINALLY FILE SUIT AND GET AN
INJUNCTION ORDERING THE BOARD TO FULLY DISCLOSE ALL
INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION AS WELL AS THE MINUTES
OF THE BOARD MEETINGS?????
BREAKING NEWS -
I just got off of the phone with one of the owners at
Fountain Court Condo's who is still asking "WHEN IS THE
BOARD AND MANAGER GOING TO GIVE US INFORMATION ABOUT HOW
MUCH MONEY IS ALLOCATED TO OUR UNIT AFTER THE DEDUCTIBLE AND
DEBRIS REMOVAL EXPENSES?"
During this conversation, I explained to this owner that it
would be rather simple for the Manager and Board to compile
a formula to determine each unit owners "common" expenses
for debris removal and the deductible portion of the various
insurance settlements.
One rather simple way to determine the "pro-rata" share of
debris removal would be to first determine how many 3BR
units had 100% damage and how many had just 4' down flood
damages. Then do the same for 2BR and 1BR units. Once you
have these numbers, you could then estimate that the units
with just 4' down would have 75% of the debris of a fully
gutted unit (the furniture, flooring and 4' down make up
around 75% of the bulk of the debris... the 4' up and
ceiling make up the other 25%. These estimated figures
could be changed to 80/20 or whatever the Board decides....
oh yeah.. that would take an actual written decision by the
Board!) Then you would have how many 3BR, 2BR and 1BR with
total damages as compared to the ones with only 4' down
damages. Then, based on the square footage of each unit,
the pro-rata share of the debris could be calculated.
Once the pro-rata share is formulated, it would just be a
simple matter of publishing how much money has been spent on
the debris removal from the parking lots to determine what
each unit owners pro-rata share of the expense is. For
example, if the total expense for debris removal, right now,
is $20,000.00 and your pro-rata share is 3%, then you would
know that $600.00 is your pro-rata expense at this time.
The final figure would be higher as they finish gutting the
final units and when the Board and/or Manager eventually has
someone gut the Rec Rooms and Laundry Rooms. (Note - I have
submitted a proposal to fully gut both Rec Rooms and Laundry
Rooms for LESS than $2,000.00... which is about 1/2 or less
than what outside contractors are charging, but so far, I
have not heard back from the Board about whether or not my
proposal was accepted or rejected... just that is was under
consideration.)
The deductible portion of the expense would be even easier
to compute or you could use the same formula to determine
the deductible. One simple way would be to make the
deductible a pro-rata portion of the entire settlement
amount or whatever language is included in the insurance
policy pertaining to the deductible. For example, we know
that the Flood Settlement Offer was OVER $400,000.00 for the
flood victims in the rear courtyard. Since there are 22
units, the Rec Room and Laundry Room, you could divide the
deductible by 24 and make each unit owner pay an equal
amount of the deductible... with the Association paying two
equal amounts for the Rec Room and Laundry Room. Another
way would be to divide the deductible on a pro-rata basis so
if you are receiving 5% of the insurance settlement
proceeds, you would pay 5% of the deductible, etc. This is
another decision that would actually have to be made by the
Board and published... so don't hold your breath!
EDITORIAL REPLY -
Well, it's time to go back to work... and my song writing,
of course... "Chet Hingle, the rude-assed Manager, had a
really vulgar mouth, And if you ever 'questioned' him, He
would turn and curse you out!... " (More to come later!)
Not bad so far! Even, if I have to say so myself ;-).
Until next time... let "The Fountain of Information" flow!!!
Sincerely,
Lenny Vasbinder
http://www.NeighborhoodHomeServices.com
Hurricane Damage Cleanup, Gutting & Tear-Outs,
Sheetrock & Flooring Removal, Handyman Repairs,
Homeowner's Contractors Agent (HCA), etc.
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com
504-621-1870 eFax - 413-318-0742
NHSNOLA@Gmail.com LNVTM1@Gmail.com
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