Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Fountain Court Condos - The Fountain Of Information - May 13, 2009

"THE FOUNTAIN OF INFORMATION"
- SPECIAL EARLY EDITION -
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

(PLEASE PRINT OUT SEVERAL COPIES OF THIS NEWSLETTER AND DISTRIBUTE THEM TO YOUR NEIGHBORS WHO MAY NOT HAVE EMAIL OR BE ONLINE TO READ
http://TheFountainOfInformation.blogspot.com. Thank You!)

-- HEADLINE --
ANOTHER "DID YOU KNOW?" COLUMN -

(NOTE - This column is a follow-up to the May 12, 2009 edition of "The Fountain Of Information" so please read it first and/or have it handy for reference purposes.)

Did you know, that the Fountain Court Condominium's By-laws, ARTICLE III, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, SECTION 2. POWERS AND DUTIES, states the following, in part:

"Section 2. POWERS AND DUTIES. The Board of Directors shall have all of the powers and duties necessary for the administration of the affairs of the Unit Owners Association and may do all such acts and things as are not by the Condominium Act, the Declaration or these Bylaws required to be exercised and done by the Unit Owners Association. The Board of Directors shall have the power from time to time to adopt any Rules and Regulations deemed necessary for the benefit and enjoyment of the Condominium; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that such Rules and Regulations SHALL NOT be in conflict with the Condominium Act, the Declaration or these Bylaws. In addition to the duties imposed by these Bylaws or by any resolution of the Unit Owners Association that may hereafter be adopted, the Board of Directors shall on behalf of the Unit Owners Associations:

...(f) Make and amend the Rules and Regulations

...(l) Keep books with detailed accounts in chronological order... Such books and vouchers... shall be available for examination by the Unit Owners, their duly authorized agents or attorneys, during general business hours on working days at the times and in the manner set and announced by the Board of Directors for the general knowledge of the Unit Owners. ALL books and records shall be kept in accordance with good and accepted accounting practices, and the same SHALL BE AUDITED AT LEAST ONCE EACH YEAR BY AN INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANT retained by the Board Of Directors who shall not be a resident of the Condominium or a Unit Owner. The cost of such audit shall be a Common Expense.

...(q) Do such other things and acts not inconsistent with the Condominium Act, the Declaration or these Bylaws which the Board of Directors may be authorized to do by a resolution of the Unit Owners Association."

Now, lets examine what this says and means...

"The Board shall have the power from time to time to adopt any Rules and Regulations...; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that such Rules and Regulations SHALL NOT be in conflict with the Condominium (Documents)... by any resolution of the Unit Owners Association that may hereafter be adopted..."

So, yes, the Board can adopt Rules and Regulation, "PROVIDED, HOWEVER," they are in compliance with the Condo Laws & Documents and as you saw in the May 12th edition of "The Fountain Of Information" there are those pesky "Three Simple Steps" that the Board has to follow as part of adopting or amending any Rules and Regulation, including Step 2., "A resolution adopting a proposed amendment... and after being proposed... MUST be approved by the Unit Owners... Such approvals MUST be by NOT LESS THAN EIGHTY (80%) percent in number of the Unit Owners." THE CURRENT BOARD AND MANAGER AND THE PAST BOARDS AND MANAGERS HAVE NEVER ALLOWED THE OWNERS TO VOTE ON ANY PROPOSED AMENDMENTS OR CHANGES TO THE RULES AND REGULATIONS, IN ABSOLUTE VIOLATION OF THE CONDO DOCUMENTS.

BUT... since the Board "thinks" that the above Article III, Section 2, does give them the power to "make and amend Rules and Regulations" (even thinking they can do this without a vote of the owners), then why have they continually failed to read down a little further in that Article III, where it says that the "books... SHALL BE AUDITED AT LEAST ONCE EACH YEAR BY AN
INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANT..." (and in a couple of other parts of the Condo Documents, they SHALL provide a copy of said audited financial report to each and every owner within 90 days of the end of each year. Did anyone get their copy of the audited financial report by the end of March, 2009? Or any other time in the past ten years? NO, YOU DID NOT... BECAUSE THE
CURRENT BOARD AND MANAGER AND SO MANY OF THE PAST BOARDS AND MANAGERS HAVE DECIDED TO IGNORE THIS VERY IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR CONDO DOCUMENTS... but they did find $10,000.00 for a security camera system and another $10,000.00 for attorney's fees for their illegal threats, harassment and lawsuit against certain owners!)

IN CONCLUSION, THE BOARD AND MANAGER ARE NOW CRYING ABOUT FINANCES AND WILL BE ASKING YOU FOR MORE OF YOUR MONEY TO PAY FOR THEIR $20,000.00 SPENDING SPREE FOR NON-ESSENTIAL THINGS LIKE THE CAMERAS AND HIGH-PRICED LAWYERS, NOT COUNTING THE $15,000.00 MORE EACH YEAR THAT YOU ALL ARE PAYING FOR ALCOR COMPARED TO WHAT YOU ALL PAID FOR PAST MANAGERS... ALL THIS SPENDING BEING DONE, WHILE IGNORING THINGS THAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING PURSUANT TO THE CONDO DOCUMENTS, LIKE THE ANNUAL AUDITED FINANCIAL REPORTS. BUT REMEMBER, ANY SPECIAL ASSESSMENT THAT THEY TRY TO IMPOSE ON YOU HAS TO BE VOTED ON... AND TWO-THIRDS (66%) OF THE OWNERS HAVE TO APPROVE ANY SPECIAL ASSESSMENT BEFORE THEY CAN JUST TRY AND FORCE YOU TO PAY IT... HOWEVER, BE WARNED, THAT PAST BOARDS AND MANAGERS HAVE IGNORED THE SECTIONS OF THE CONDO DOCUMENTS THAT REQUIRE A VOTE OF THE OWNERS BEFORE PASSING A SPECIAL ASSESSMENT, SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THIS POTENTIAL VIOLATION OF THE CONDO DOCUMENTS. NOW, YOU KNOW THAT THEY CAN NOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR 66% APPROVAL... DARN.. THEM PESKY RULES THAT PROTECT THE OWNERS, GETTING IN THE WAY OF THE BOARD AND MANAGER'S ILLEGAL PLANS AGAIN!!! THEY SURE LOVE TO SHOVE THEIR RULES DOWN OUR THROATS WHILE IGNORING ALL OF THE RULES THAT APPLY TO THEM... SOUNDS ALMOST LIKE CONGRESS AND WASHINGTON, D.C., DOESN'T IT! MAYBE THEY CAN ASK PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR A BAILOUT! ;-)

Until next time, let "The Fountain Of Information" flow!

Lenny Vasbinder, Editor
TheFountainOfInformation@gmail.com
http://www.TheFountainOfInformation.Blogspot.com
Cell-504-621-1870 eFax-413-318-0742

Advertisement:
Lenny Vasbinder NHSNOLA@gmail.com
Cell-504-621-1870 Fax-413-318-0742
http://www.NeighborhoodHomeServices.com
P.O.Box 74031, Metairie, LA 70033-4031
Handyman Services, Lawn & Garden Care, Residential Contractor, General Cleaning & Trash Hauling, Etc.

No comments: