“One of them told me about a situation where a condo owner sued the association board and claimed that the financial records he had received were inaccurate and incomplete. “
I reviewed the books when I bought the Florida condo and knew there were no reserves being accumulated. I anticipated when the developer turned over the building to the association the owners would vote to start accumulating reserves. I was surprised when they did not. After serving a year as treasurer for the board, and doing the research to determine the amount of reserves the association needed, and did not have, I sold my unit. Ten years later the current owners are experiencing significant repair costs and special assessments of as much as $12,000 per year for critical repair needs. One could certainly wonder if the board is deferring other maintenance and skimping on the quality of work, to keep assessments low.
Based on my experience I would not purchase condo in a muti-unit building in Florida or elsewhere. Condo boards often don’t have the knowledge and experience to properly oversee structures and properties of significant complexity. Humans inherently are biased in terms of minimizing economic cost to themselves. Democratic institutions make popular decision, not best decisions. Better to buy an individual housing unit and take care of the repairs and maintenance yourself.
Due to the age of the Florida population, residents have a bias toward short term solutions. Put to a vote, the homeowners will aways vote to pay $10,000 to “caulk” the building (a 3-5 year repair) versus $150,000 for a major stucco replacement and sealing job (a 15-20 year repair). When you are 80 years old, the 3 year repair is sufficient. Even if the board pays for the $150,000 repair there are plenty of unscrupulous contractors who will do a poor job that needs attention in 3-5 years.
Smart move on your part.