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Condo commando
By JOHN BALZ, Times Staff Writer
PEBBLE CREEK -- I consider myself an insider when it comes to the subject of community living, writes John "Jack" Felber of Pebble Creek Village in his unpublished manuscript on the subject. A manager of condominiums and a member of homeowner association boards for almost 20 years, Felber's drafted Condominium Capers as part reference resource, part soap opera, filled with the nuts and bolts of how neighborhood associations are supposed to work and the horror stories of what happens when they don't. "I thought it would be fun to show what goes around in these communities because so many people just slam their doors as if they were by themselves in the country," said Felber, 57 and now retired. "But they aren't." As the title suggests, most of Felber's recorded tales date from his condominium days in Naples where he managed the Hideaway Villas. He sent the book to a Florida publisher last year but it passed. Felber fills the 185 pages with the odd characters that make associations memorable. Meet the board treasurer who kept a young woman on the association payroll in order to admire her cleavage. There's the retired dentist who wanted to circumvent the Florida Sunshine Law by holding a private meeting the day before the public meeting, to allow the board members to reach a unified decision. Once, while on duty fixing a leak, an owner fired a gun at Felber thinking he was a burglar. Another accused Felber and her ex-husband of taking pictures while she was in her underwear. In the book, he calls her "nuts." While investigating a mysterious pattern of urination in the condominium's elevators, Felber suspected a dog. It turned out to be a female newspaper carrier. Felber also addresses the more common problems associations face: developers who won't relinquish control of the board, renters who won't leave the property, kids, pets, and association accountants who don't finish their work. He doesn't mention Pebble Creek Village, where he has lived for the past four years, But said the association there is "looser" than the condominium association he managed in Naples. He boils his knowledge down to eight principles of associations, including the fact that every board is stingy and every property manager loves to spend. Currently the president of Fairway Villas, a 22-home community in Pebble Creek Village, Felber says his advice is for owners, potential owners, renters, developers and contractors. For information about the book, call 813-907-5928. -- John Balz can be reached at (813) 269-5313 or at balz@sptimes.com .
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From the Times |
