Only 17 residents remained in the 51-unit Cedar's Point building along Northwest 15th Street and 16th Avenue after the housing market went bust, and those living there were left to try to manage the building on their own.Read that last sentence again and note who it is from.
"Trash is one major problem. That trash goes all the way up to the fourth floor," said Miami Fire Rescue Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll. Garbage trucks and crews were able to clear the mess of garbage before the end of the day.
But the trash, which had piled up in a garbage chute of the edifice, was just the beginning of these homeowners' problems. "The elevator is shut down. The garbage was not picked up for like four to five months. The water was not paid, it's going to be turned off any minute now," said Toledo a day before the building was officially condemned. Even part of the building had no power whatsoever.
Carroll said the wiring in the building was rigged in a dangerous manner, not to mention there was no working fire alarm system. "They have wires that are exposed, meters that are not properly fitted and some that were even damaged and they had some that they were tying in power from other units, and that right there is definitely unsafe, and the main thing is that the fire alarm system is not working at all."
Empty units had their appliances stolen and homeless people broke in and began living in abandoned units, vandalizing the building. The homeowner's association could not afford to pay the management company with so few residents paying maintenance for the building.
City of Miami Commissioner Angel Gonzalez said he expects to see other communities suffer similar fates. "This is going to be happening all over Dade County pretty soon, with the foreclosures and people not being able to pay for their mortgages," he said.
City of Miami Commissioner Angel Gonzalez states "This is going to be happening all over Dade County pretty soon, with the foreclosures and people not being able to pay for their mortgages."
A hat tip to for this story goes to Dave who writes:
I wonder how many of these people will be forced to walk away from their mortgage even though they can afford to pay, but can't make up for all the other condo owners not paying monthly dues because of foreclosure. I wonder if anyone has calculated this out in their models?While we are in the mood to re-read last sentences, please consider the implications of Dave's last sentence once again.
I have a friend at another condo whose monthly association fee just went up 35% due to non payers and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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