A Royal Palm condo board finds rebuilding after last year's hurricanes overwhelm

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Return to normalcy eludes complex

A Royal Palm condo board finds rebuilding after last year's

hurricanes overwhelming.

By Wolfe

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2005

/06/02/c1b_condo_0602.html

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, June 02, 2005

ROYAL PALM BEACH — Last year, after Frances and Jeanne tore through

Charolais Villas, 31 of the 44 units sat stinking, trashed and

growing mold.

For months, the condo board waited for an adjuster from Citizens

Property Insurance Corp. When desperation peaked, board members

hired a public adjuster, who for a fee works on behalf of insurance

customers rather than an insurance company. Weeks later, with the

public adjuster's help, they held a check for $1.4 million — and

rejoiced.

/The Post

enlarge

Annette Yebba stands in her gutted Charolais Villas condo. Hurricane

Frances damaged her unit, then Jeanne forced her out of a rental in

the same complex.

But this happy ending had an epilogue.

" We're stuck in the Twilight Zone, " said board Secretary

Yelton. " It's unfortunate because people aren't getting into their

homes and we're coming up on our year anniversary (since the storms).

" We have three units that required more demolition work and mold

treatment to repair them. We had mold damage to several fire walls

that are going to have to come down. We had lots of additional

electrical work to bring us up to safety codes; those are just the

things I can think of off the top of my head. "

These problems are similar to those being faced by numerous

volunteer boards across the state that were unprepared for the

aftermath of a disaster. In Charolais's case, a million-dollar

construction project is pretty sizeable for an inexperienced,

elected board.

" We've had to do everything ourselves — it's just one thing after

another, " Yelton said. " It's a never-ending nightmare. "

Yelton said she and with other board members spend several hours

every day coordinating construction projects. She said contractors

have started work and abandoned them, and they have remained

confused about the role of a public adjuster. They thought he would

be there several times, filing supplemental claims as new needs

arose. Instead, they've learned, he won't file supplemental claims

until all $1.4 million has been spent.

Yelton said the money has been allocated, and she can already tell

the condo is going to need more.

" We just finished the mold treatment and couldn't start any

reconstruction until mold treatment was done, " Yelton said, when

asked why the money hadn't been spent. " Now contractors can get in

there. "

Yelton said 14 of 44 owners in the Charolais Villas can't live in

their homes.

Bill Raphan, executive director of communication for the condominium

ombudsman of Florida, said he takes daily calls from condo dwellers

complaining that repairs are lagging and the new season is here.

" The damage that occurred created a multiphase problem, " Raphan

said. " First, the association had to contact the insurance

companies, adjusters had to come in and do their things, and then

the boards realized they didn't get enough money to take care of the

damages. "

Raphan said many of the condo boards try to save money by not hiring

professionals to oversee the work — like Charolais did. But in the

end, they end up spending more.

" They are trying to do the right thing, " Raphan said. " But it's a

very complex issue, and it's very difficult for boards' members to

handle it. They try and do their best, but they just can't handle

it. "

The condo ombudsman was a position created at the beginning of this

year to hear complaints from condo residents across Florida. The

office tries to mediate between residents and board members whenever

possible.

" Before lawyers step in, " Raphan said.

Since last year, public adjuster Ken Hecht has been the condo's

liaison with Citizens Insurance, which covers all common areas in

the condo building. He has suggested the association hire a

professional to oversee all the construction, but Yelton said she

was already burned by one contractor who walked off the job. Then,

the board decided not to spend any money on anything that didn't go

directly toward repairs.

" We don't have the money to pay for the repairs we have now and he

was encouraging us to hire an architect — that's not the response we

needed, " Yelton said. " We needed someone out here to see the damage

and put in the bids. "

But Hecht can't file for any more claims until the board has spent

the money under rules adjusters must follow.

" I can't foresee that the owners will be back in their units by the

next hurricane — assuming we have one, I'm hoping we don't, " Yelton

said. " There's so much of the unknown. We don't want to budget a lot

of money to something that is going to pull away. The main thing is

that we get the building secure. "

Looking back, she'd do it differently.

" I would probably hire one project manager to handle it — to do all

the hiring of the contractors and subcontractors. The general

contractor we hired, that we hoped would handle all this, walked out

on us, " Yelton said. " We expected people to do the job they were

hired to do, and we've been disappointed in the follow up that we've

gotten. In hindsight, it's easy to see mistakes that have been made.

I still feel we've done the best we could with what we've had to

work with. "