Blaming the people who owned condos is lame.  They’re not experts nor should they be treated like experts.  

Just now, Dave Moss said:

Blaming the people who owned condos is lame.  They’re not experts  nor should they be treated like experts.  

I thought HOAs raised prices for required expenses all the time. Not sure why something like this would even be put up to a vote.

9 minutes ago, Bill said:

I don’t think you know how CGAs work. 
 

The residents routinely voted against repairs to the building. This has gone back several years. 

I live in a Condo. I know exactly how it works. 

The residents can't vote against repairs. The Condo Association spends money if the Condo Board votes on it. It's called an Assessment where the costs of the repairs are passed on to the Condo Owners. 

Not to mention, the repairs were not to individual units but to common areas that controlled by building management. The Pool, the parking garage, the roof etc. 

Sounds to me like your defending those responsible and passing blame on the victims. Nice job.

Just now, Paul852 said:

I thought HOAs raised prices for required expenses all the time. Not sure why something like this would even be put up to a vote.

They do.  But it’s usually stuff like the pool needs repairs and it’s going to be $20,000.  Not $15 million in structural repairs.

14 minutes ago, Paul852 said:

Ok, what does that have to do with socialism? 

If those people had been good capitalists their building wouldn’t have fallen down.

1 minute ago, Dave Moss said:

If those people had been good capitalists their building wouldn’t have fallen down.

I imagine most of the owners wanted to keep the dues down to help with resale value.

17 minutes ago, Paul852 said:

I imagine most of the owners wanted to keep the dues down to help with resale value.

Right, I feel like most people just want bang for their buck though.  
 

Just as an example, my HOA in Texas had a pool staffed with lifeguards.  The lifeguards were often like 15 or 16 years old though and would be late opening the pool in the morning (if at all). Lol.  So we went to a swim at your own risk set-up to save money.  The downside?  They had to remove the diving board for insurance reasons.

17 minutes ago, Dave Moss said:

If those people had been good capitalists their building wouldn’t have fallen down.

I disagree. Building Management is responsible for the Upkeep of the Building, not the Condo Owners. Management is supposed to have maintenance take care of leaks, floods etc. If the parking lot needs repair, Management hires a company to go fix it they don't need owner approval for it. If the Pool needs repair the Management company hires a company to repair it. If the beams and the walls are cracked management is responsible to fix it.

Condo's have also have a General Fund. Not all of the Condo Fee's are spent in a given year. The extra money is put into the General Fund for use by the Condo Board to do repairs and Maintenance, etc. How was that money Spent? The Lawsuit will answer that question.

It's in the Condo Agreement that Management is responsible to maintain the common areas. That includes the structure, the roof, the hallways, the plumbing, the electric, the heat and air conditioning. 

The building needed repairs and a Special Assessment was issued to the tenants for the cost of the repairs. They don't pay first then hire the company to do the work. They pay the company and get reimbursed for the cost. 

I was kidding around because Bill blamed socialism.

10 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

I disagree. Building Management is responsible for the Upkeep of the Building, not the Condo Owners. Management is supposed to have maintenance take care of leaks, floods etc. If the parking lot needs repair, Management hires a company to go fix it they don't need owner approval for it. If the Pool needs repair the Management company hires a company to repair it. If the beams and the walls are cracked management is responsible to fix it.

Condo's have also have a General Fund. Not all of the Condo Fee's are spent in a given year. The extra money is put into the General Fund for use by the Condo Board to do repairs and Maintenance, etc. How was that money Spent? The Lawsuit will answer that question.

It's in the Condo Agreement that Management is responsible to maintain the common areas. That includes the structure, the roof, the hallways, the plumbing, the electric, the heat and air conditioning. 

The building needed repairs and a Special Assessment was issued to the tenants for the cost of the repairs. They don't pay first then hire the company to do the work. They pay the company and get reimbursed for the cost. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/majority-of-florida-condo-board-quit-in-2019-as-squabbling-residents-dragged-out-plans-for-repairs/2021/06/30/43592282-d98e-11eb-ae62-2d07d7df83bd_story.html%3FoutputType%3Damp

1 minute ago, Bill said:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/majority-of-florida-condo-board-quit-in-2019-as-squabbling-residents-dragged-out-plans-for-repairs/2021/06/30/43592282-d98e-11eb-ae62-2d07d7df83bd_story.html%3FoutputType%3Damp

Anyway

I can't imagine being a family member of one of the 159 still missing with them calling off the search

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

Anyway

I can't imagine being a family member of one of the 159 still missing with them calling off the search

same here

County Orders Inspection Of Marina City Club Towers In Marina Del Rey After Tragic Florida Condo Collapse

Some residents in the building have also collected video of cracks on the roof, along with cracks and decay on the ground. In the underground garage, way below street level, concrete on the ground that looks as if it’s been pushed aside actually came from above

An April 2021 report on the Marina Del Rey condos said, "Nearly all of the waterproofing throughout the property, on the recreation decks and tennis courts, is failing in some way with water penetrating the structure,” and adds that “…over time, this can cause significant damage to the building’s structural integrity.”

https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2021/06/30/exclusive-county-orders-inspection-of-marina-city-club-towers-in-marina-del-rey-after-tragic-florida-condo-collapse/

Possible incoming tropical storm in a few days. Just what they need.  

I don't think they will find many more bodies.  Many were likely pulverized to remnants during the initial fall.  Factor in a week of decomposition in the Florida heat.  Just not much left. 

Sad that people vote against repairs - stupid that necessary infrastructure repairs are something that can be voted down.

No lack of warnings.

2 hours ago, What The F said:

I don't think they will find many more bodies.  Many were likely pulverized to remnants during the initial fall.  Factor in a week of decomposition in the Florida heat.  Just not much left. 

I'm thinking the will be finding parts of bodies for a long time honestly.

2 hours ago, Toastrel said:

Sad that people vote against repairs - stupid that necessary infrastructure repairs are something that can be voted down.

No lack of warnings.

I'm not sure how condos work but if you own your home you're the one that decides if you make repairs or not. So I'm not sure how anyone stop them from voting it down if they owned it.

Just now, greend said:

I'm not sure how condos work but if you own your own home you're the one that decides if you make repairs or not. So I'm not sure how anyone stop them from voting it down if they owned it.

The laws have to be different with multiple parties involved in the same structure, or should be anyway. 

If the building is compromised, I want to fix it for safety reasons but my 2 neighbors don't. Now I have to risk my families lives because the two idiots next to me don't care? That's seems pretty odd IMO.

11 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

The laws have to be different with multiple parties involved in the same structure, or should be anyway. 

If the building is compromised, I want to fix it for safety reasons but my 2 neighbors don't. Now I have to risk my families lives because the two idiots next to me don't care? That's seems pretty odd IMO.

it's odd to you because that's not how it works. It's the Condo Management that is responsible for the repairs to the common areas and building Structure. Condo Management is a Separate Company that manages the building. The individual owners are not responsible for maintenance of the Structure of the building. Condo Owners do not have a vote on repairs to the common areas or structure. The Condo Management can spend the money and have the work done by Condo Board vote. That doesn't involve all of the owners. 

21 minutes ago, greend said:

I'm not sure how condos work but if you own your home you're the one that decides if you make repairs or not. So I'm not sure how anyone stop them from voting it down if they owned it.

Well that analogy would apply within the condo (think a hole in your wall) but not the common areas.

Are building inspections really lax?

Are codes really crappy?

We really do need to rebuild our crumbling architecture. Since I'm IT, I want our comm and power grids done first, then roads and bridges.

I'm wondering what will happen with all this empty commercial space that could get left empty with no one doing maintenance on them since some companies are deciding not to return to the office.  In my opinion, disaster waiting to happen.  I hate seeing empty houses, left alone strip malls, or downtown buildings.  If no one leases the space, it's up to the developer for it's up keep and taxes?  Convert them into residential rentals? But that would require a zoning change.  

Back when I worked in oil/hvac I had to pull permits for all the equipment we replaced.  I absolutely hated the inspection process.  I would try and walk the homeowners thru it and ask them to call, but I had to hold their hands so the company wasn't left with open permits all over the place.  I don't miss that at all.  That was one recent change to a law.  If you had too many open permits they would not give you one until you were under whatever number it was.

58 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

it's odd to you because that's not how it works. It's the Condo Management that is responsible for the repairs to the common areas and building Structure. Condo Management is a Separate Company that manages the building. The individual owners are not responsible for maintenance of the Structure of the building. Condo Owners do not have a vote on repairs to the common areas or structure. The Condo Management can spend the money and have the work done by Condo Board vote. That doesn't involve all of the owners. 

So does that make the Condo Management liable for a failure of this type?