Thirty residents active in their homeowners’ associations attended Wellington’s first HOA Symposium last week, taking advantage of an opportunity to ask legal, financial, procedural and maintenance questions of local experts serving HOAs throughout Palm Beach County.
Members of every Wellington homeowners’ association were invited to the two-hour symposium, which was sponsored in partnership with Korte & Wortman, P.A.
Scott J. Wortman, Esq., a board-certified real estate attorney who specializes in representing HOAs and condominium associations, discussed important legal strategies in maximizing collection procedures and navigating the various issues associated with the mortgage foreclosure crisis.
“Associations throughout the country are facing major issues of unpaid obligations,” Wortman said. “It’s obviously critical for HOAs to have a fine-tuned collection procedure.”
Other panelists were Brian Tight and Paula Rappold of Campbell Property Management, and Seth Bernstein and Eric Wolkoff of Gerstle, Rosen & Goldberg, P.A., Certified Public Accountants. The residents also asked questions about security and code enforcement from Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office community policing deputies and Wellington Code Enforcement Manager Steve Koch.
“We realize many of our associations are struggling because of foreclosures and other economic issues,” said Meridith Tuckwood of Wellington’s Safe Neighborhoods Office, who arranged the symposium. “Our goal is to give the HOAs as much information and support as possible so they can successfully manage their communities. This not only helps them but Wellington as a whole.”
Using a discussion format, residents asked questions about taking title to properties for non-payment, tax liability for collecting rental income, patrols, parking, governing document amendments, and even what do to about squatters in homes.
Wellington plans to hold the seminar about once each quarter, Tuckwood said.
“We had a very engaged group of participants, and hopefully more members of the HOAs will come out to the next one,” she said.
Above: Symposium panelists Scott Wortman, Brian Tight, Seth Bernstein, Eric Wolkoff and Paula Rappold.
