Posted on 06/27/2021 8:33:55 AM PDT by TheWriterTX
There is a lot of misinformation floating around FR on the Miami condominium collapse. As a high-rise condominium manager, this story hit home. So here is a quick primer to help people combat fake news.
First, this is not an apartment complex. In an apartment complex, an investor or group of investors owns the building and everyone is a transient tenant. It is a for-profit business. If there are major repairs needed, landlords can raise the rents to cover repairs.
This is a condominium. Each unit has a separate owner, they purchase it with a mortgage or cash.
Every month, unit pay assessments to cover the operational expenses of the building (water, electric, maintenance, staff, grounds, pool, portering, systems, etc.). The condominium functions under a non-profit Association.
Each year, the owners have an Annual Meeting to vote for a Board of Directors. The same way we elect representatives to make laws and spending decisions on our behalf, so too does this community.
It is important to note that condominiums and homeowners associations are self-funded. They only have the money that the owners give it. If there is a big, expensive repair needed, and the association does not have enough money set aside to do it, then the Board must call for a special assessment to raise the money. The special assessment is in addition to the regular monthly assessments and must be approved by the owners (usually 67% must vote yes).
If the manager brought this to the board and the board did not move ahead, the liability is now on the board and there is nothing the building manager can do other than resign. If the board brought this issue to the communuty and the owners did not vote to approve, there is nothing the building manager could do other than resign. The liability falls back on the individual owners for refusing to fix it.
Approximately 2.5 years ago, the building had a structural engineer evaluate spalling, cracking in the underground parking garage, and building envelope issues. The report warned then that major repairs were needed and that structural integrity was compromised.
The building manager should have recommended and the board should have voted to approve having the engineering firm create a scope and then gone out to bid ASAP while calling for a massive special assessment. If they did not, they are in trouble.
Another issue that was impacting this building was land movement. Parts of the building were shifting at different degrees. All of these were putting stressors on the building envelope, as evidenced by external cracks and lawsuits for water intrusion.
So, the long and short is this:
1. There were warning signs the building was in trouble.
2. There were engineer reports the building was in trouble.
3. This was not some McAfee conspiracy theory controlled demo false flag event.
4. If the manager raised the alarm and the board/community did nothing, the manager is not liable.
5. If the board raised the alarm and the owners did nothing, the owners are liable to each other. Let the lawsuit party begin.
6. Buildings are evaluated every 40 years by law. Annual building inspections typically only deal with fire life safety equipment, boikers, chillers, elebators and other components, not structural. That may change in light of this event.
7. People blaming DeSantis are delusional. Give them a dime and tell them to buy a clue.
totally good points. sure would be nice if ONCE liberals are held to account for running counties and cities (and states and nations) right the hell into the ground.
In some states a home owner can walk away from a mortgage and the lender has no recourse to collect from the borrower.
This happened a lot int the State of Washington during the real estate bubble burst. Many of those who stopped paying their mortgages were asked by the lenders to just pay the utilities and property taxes in exchange for taking care of the property.
Then it appears that everyone was acting in good faith to fix the issue.
I am working on a building that has almost two decades of deferred maintenance. I’ve blown the budget every year by over $150K just getting things repaired. I need $6M more.
You read that right. Six million.
It also depends on how long the building manager was on property and what prior boards did/did not do. The person before me didn’t have a clue.
The explosive residue - if any - is at least 12 layers BELOW the rubble that is currently being cleared away.
The only way a concrete deck building can collapse straight down is if the primary support columns all fail at exactly the same moment.
Are there alternative explanations? I will certainly listen if there are.
At the moment, however, the only explanation that makes sense to me is a deliberate act of terrorism.
Does the report say if you don’t do x, y and z by so and so date that the building may collapses on itself?!?
This was MUCH faster than I expected:
https://nypost.com/2021/06/27/developers-of-fla-tower-were-accused-of-paying-off-officials/
Wow, unbelievable
It begins: WaPo runs interference for Cava with a BIG LIE as she desperately tries to credit Biden.
I’m with you. This is suspicious. The very fact that none of the people in charge want to even consider terrorism in some capacity makes it even more suspicious.
This past year or so should make every single one of us question the narrative/explanations we are told.
Meanwhile, this part of Florida is very corrosive to everything.
Management in a condominium can only do what the Board authorizes them to do. Managers do not control the purse strings.
Further, the management fee covers staff time, accounting, etc. It does not cover massive infrastructure repairs.
Something is not right here.
I use MSN.com as my home page and news page.
EVERY collapse news story they link to is about alleged structural issues. Photos of routine concrete issues under the pool are treated like a smoking gun for mass murder.
I have learned two new things in the last day...
The building did have salt water intrusion issues in the early 2000s that may have continued until the present day.
That would be unusual and could cause major damage or indicate foundation or bedrock issues.
Also, the night of the collapse, I pulled up a Google aerial photo of the building. The intact building had a really odd shape.
Yesterday, a civil engineer stated that the building was asymmetrical - i.e., not square or rectangular - and that if one part of an asymmetrical structure fails, it can be very hard to predict what happens to the rest of the building.
In any event, I always come back to the same question...
How do you pancake a 12 story concrete deck building unless all the primary support columns fail at the same moment?
That statement is ridiculous.
There are literally thousands of condos on the Florida Atlantic coast.
NONE of them have ever collapsed and killed hundreds of people.
The reasons are obvious...
Every condo unit is privately owned - most people who own things are consciously concerned about maintaining the value of what they own, limiting their personal liability, and - for owner occupied units - preserving their own lives.
Almost every condo unit is insured. What insurance company would write a condo unit policy if they thought the building might collapse?
Kudos to your faith in humanity. Let’s see what comes out now across the country about this issue.
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