As most of you know by now, Lynn Sandford and Jane and Joe Doe (presumed to be homeowners) filed a major lawsuit in September 2020 against the HOA and several current and prior volunteer board and Committee Members. Sandford, Doe, and Doe (who refused to be named) are represented by Attorney Bruce Burtoff, also a resident of North Shore. The original suit was seeking damages close to $20 million. Jennifer Englert, of The Orlando Law Group, who represents the HOA, filed a motion to dismiss in October 2020.

Regardless of what you may have heard from the plaintiffs, if successful, this suit might have cost homeowners up to $20,000 each. Homes in North Shore – still an extremely sought-after community to live in – would have faced possible litigation and assessments against each homeowner’s account, resulting in reduced home values and the diminished desire to buy here. Likely, homes would not sell in record time and for the record prices they are selling for now.

In May 2021, the suit was amended by the plaintiffs and Burtoff. While the damages they were seeking were difficult to determine, it appeared to be somewhere between $10 million and $20 million. Our HOA attorney once again filed a motion to dismiss the case on numerous legal grounds. One of the HOA insurance policies also provided legal defense by engaging attorney Kyle Mixson to assist in the case.

Our motion to dismiss these cases was finally heard on September 9, 2021. After hearing from attorneys Englert and Mixson, the judge agreed with us and granted the motion to dismiss both the original and the amended complaints for failure to state causes of action. The judge gave the plaintiffs 30 days to file an amended complaint if they so desire.

The HOA has spent tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees defending the community against this complaint and against the possibility of a settlement obligation by the residents. We have sincerely tried to bring new voices and people onto the board and volunteer committees. But this case has resulted in numerous volunteer homeowners resigning from volunteer positions, some citing threats and intimidation as the reason. Several other homeowners have concluded that it’s not worth it to volunteer at North Shore if you may get sued by disgruntled homeowners.

Some of these disgruntled residents were part of a previous HOA board, which was replaced in its entirety in 2014. Some of the insults and commentary come from residents who haven’t even lived or owned a home in North Shore for years. The current board including Dave Gordon – is not the previous board who agreed in a Mediated Settlement to resign in its entirety. Please remember after the 2014 Board’s resignation, the new board discovered $250,000 of association money missing, as well as the conflict of interest of a previous board president employed by the association management company who had an unusual and what other association management companies would call “sweetheart deal” for her employer.

This board also did not accept the 2014 board members’ recommendations to take a $4,000 eminent domain offer from Orange County for the taking of our land for the very poorly designed Moss Park Road diversion – which adds dozens of minutes of inconvenience and delays to our residents who enter and depart into our north (Moss Park) entrance each week. Instead, subsequent boards fought for and won a $230,000 settlement, without a penny of attorney or expert witness fees paid for by North Shore residents. Your current board also successfully enlisted our neighboring communities and demanded Orange County to reroute the sewer line from North Shore Golf Club Blvd. to the more appropriate Narcoossee Rd. route.

This absurd lawsuit, the manipulation, the many lies told during the unsolicited improper access to resident email accounts and unauthorized cell phone numbers, the utter lies told during the recall door to door interruptions and constant harassment, the accusations of “rogue board”, the lies on social media pages, have now all been vindicated and will continue to be shown as untrue. Your volunteers have spent hundreds and thousands of hours helping North Shore -not the ones who constantly complain and attack on social media, with zero suggestions or even spending five minutes a year to volunteer and make North Shore a great community. These same people have horribly attacked volunteers and board members resulting in many interested and quality people no longer attending board and committee meetings where we encourage ideas and suggestions. To deviously get their agenda done, or just have a reason to complain, they have even discouraged community voting for our annual elections. Also, a board member’s home was vandalized. Fortunately, the perpetrator was caught and charged. Another board member’s grandchild was harassed while being dropped off at school. This is madness and these actions are unacceptable.

The HOA Board has authorized the two attorneys representing the HOA to seek out the names of the anonymous Jane and Joe Doe and to recover 100% of all legal fees expended while defending against this absurd and unfounded case which they can do without filing another suit because the Judge can still do this in the dismissed case. The Board is also considering pursuing damages for the slanderous and libelous actions of the plaintiffs. Additionally, we are going to vigorously fight the last of the ongoing litigation cases to recover all damages due and to ensure community members are not afraid to volunteer any longer.

By Steve Smith

It costs substantially more to operate the HOA today than it did when it was established more than 20 years ago. You may be one of the homeowners wondering why. 

There are lots of reasons but consider the cost of taking care of your home today in comparison to when it was brand new two decades ago.

There was very little, if any, maintenance required on your new home for several years. It didn’t require painting inside or out for a pretty good while. The shrubs and bushes were new and didn’t require much trimming. The grass was new and healthy. The sprinkler system operated properly. The sidewalks and driveway were new and relatively easy to keep clean. The plumbing, air conditioning and appliances worked. The roof was new and in good shape. Tree roots hadn’t pushed up the landscape bed borders. Your home required very little money and time for the first few years of ownership, but that doesn’t last forever. 

The exact same scenario happened with the HOA. Everything was new and didn’t require a lot of money or time to maintain. The result was relatively low monthly HOA assessments. But just like your home, it costs a lot more today and requires a lot more time to manage than it did 20 or 15 or 10 or even five years ago.

Here are just a few of the items in a long list that contribute to higher HOA dues pretty much every year.

• Removing and replacing dead trees, bushes, and shrubs. This problem didn’t exist much in the early days of the HOA but trees, and for that matter all landscaping, have a finite life span and must be replaced. If you have had a tree removed from your property you understand it’s expensive and time consuming. 
• The streets and curbs are almost 20 years old. While repairs weren’t needed in the first several years of the HOA, they are now necessary on a regular basis. Again, this is a time-consuming task to contact companies and have them come out and give an estimate for repairs. It requires someone from the office to meet with each contractor and make sure the scope of work is accurate and it’s the best price possible, while ensuring the contractor is responsible.
• Amenities repairs and maintenance: Whether it is the pool, pool equipment, the clubhouse, the fitness center, the walls at Heron Pointe, Marsh Pointe and Sparrow Landing, as well as the playground, tennis courts, basketball court and all the other amenities, they ALL need more frequent repairs and maintenance. Just like with your home, you have probably figured out by now that repairs don’t get cheaper each year. Prices go up. 
• Gates: The gates at the entrance to each community are quite a bit more sophisticated than they were when they were initially installed. To reduce the number of unauthorized vehicles from entering the communities by tailgating, arms were added five years ago as well as cameras because so many vehicles were damaging the gates. The results have been successful, but it does cost money and time to maintain the gates and collect damages from the people who run through the gates without stopping.

Just as all the assets and amenities belonging to the HOA are older and require more money and time to maintain, so do the 1,049 homes in North Shore. In the beginning days of the HOA, homes and landscaping were in good shape and monthly compliance inspections didn’t take very long. All it took was just a quick drive through the community and usually only a handful, if any, violations were noted.  Homes have gotten older, landscape has matured, home ownership has changed hands and people have gotten busy with life, which results in compliance now taking a lot more time. No longer is it just a quick drive through the community. Instead of just a handful of violations each month, there are usually more than 100 each month. 

Compliance is meant to be a gentle reminder to the homeowner that it’s time to address some of the issues that may have been overlooked. Most homeowners are quick to take care of the problems noted, but it still requires a follow up visit from staff. And unfortunately, each month there are some homeowners who don’t respond, and these take a lot of follow up and sometimes result in fines which take even more time. All of this results in a community that continues to look great, keeping home values at all-time highs, but does require a lot of staff time.

At the top of the cost ladder is the reserve fund. It is used to set aside money that will be needed in the future to replace or refurbish amenities. The fund was established years ago, and the first reserve fund study was done in 2008. New studies should have been done at least every three years but were overlooked by the early boards. As a result, contributions to the reserve funds were less than they should have been and that makes the need for new contributions higher. 

And to top it off, things just cost more money these days. For example, the latest reserve study, which was done in 2020, estimates that it will cost more than $2,250,000 to repave the streets. And chances are it may cost more than that by 2026, the year that the repaving is scheduled. The annual transfer of funds to the reserve fund in 2022 will be $420,250. This number increases every year, which causes assessments to rise every year.

When you consider all the above items and add in all the other costs such as utilities, insurance and landscape maintenance assessments increase every year. General Manager/Community Association Manager John DeCrotie, along with the Finance Committee and the Board work diligently to keep costs as low as possible and keep the annual increase in assessments as low as possible but just like with your home it requires more time, more staff employees and more dollars each year.

 

Steve Smith is the treasurer of the North Shore at Lake Hart HOA