Promenade residents could soon have to pay a $2,000 per-unit assessment to fix various structural problems and to sue the developer.
By JEFF TESTERMAN
Published October 27, 2004
TAMPA - When the Promenade townhomes went on the market four years ago, young professionals saw a lot to like.
Surrounded by tall pines and conservation areas, the 120 townhomes were tucked in a secluded corner of New Tampa. They featured garages, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, low monthly maintenance fees and a community pool - all for prices ranging from about $109,000 to $139,000.
Now, however, some Promenade buyers say their affordable piece of suburbia has had a series of problems. They say a number of the townhomes have suffered buckling stucco, window leaks and other structural problems.
Armed with an engineering report, the homeowners association blames Rottlund Homes of Florida, the developer of the townhomes. Rottlund made a few fixes but has balked at making wholesale repairs, according to Promenade Homeowners Association president Christopher Terrigino.
Neither Rottlund president Michael A. Willenbacher nor Rottlund attorney Robert Nathan Hightower returned calls for comment Tuesday.
Now, the owners of the 120 Promenade units in the West Meadows section of New Tampa face a possible $2,000 per-unit assessment to make repairs and, potentially, years of litigation to seek damages from the townhome developer.
At a standing-room-only meeting at the Wingate Inn Monday night, homeowners were told they will receive proxies in the next few weeks to vote on levying the $2,000 assessment and to decide about filing a lawsuit against Rottlund Homes.
"Unfortunately, the problems you are having are not unique, and the developer's response is not unique, either," Herbert O. Brock Jr., an attorney hired by the homeowners group, told the crowd.
Brock is with Becker & Poliakoff, a Fort Myers law firm that specializes in representing homeowners groups. Brock told the Promenade owners that the chances of prevailing in a lawsuit against Rottlund are good, but he also warned that litigation might take two years or longer and said there was no guarantee that money used to wage a suit would ever be fully recouped.
The proposed $2,000 assessment would be uniformly levied on all 120 units - even those free of problems - because they are considered common elements of the development, like the pool.
Some at Monday's meeting said they might be forced to take out a bank loan to pay the $2,000. But the one-time assessment is not the only revenue-raising method on the table. The homeowners association could also take out a five-year bank loan, Terrigino said, and pay it off with monthly maintenance fees that would rise to $180 from the current $109.
The Promenade group has already begun repairs that require up to a month per building to remove stucco, replace wiring, re-caulk windows, install flashing and coat with waterproof paint. But cash is needed to finish the jobs - and to initiate a lawsuit - because the young homeowners association's reserves are thin.
Its battle with Rottlund began last year. When construction problems cropped up, the homeowners group commissioned an engineering report, sent a demand letter to Rottlund, then sat down with Rottlund this summer for mediation. The builder wouldn't budge, Terrigino said.
"We were outgunned," said Terrigino, who accused Rottlund of failing to negotiate in good faith.
With Brock's firm assisting, the Promenade Homeowners Association will go back to mediation one more time. If talks with Rottlund again prove futile, the homeowners expect to file a lawsuit.
At Monday night's meeting, one homeowner complained that PVC pipe was used in her plumbing where copper should have been used. A second told of a roof leaking for two years, even after a tar patch by Rottlund. A third said she had finally fixed a leak in her garage herself because "the drywall was caving in."
Some at Monday's meeting wondered why the city of Tampa, whose inspectors approved the work, shouldn't be named as a defendant in any lawsuit.
"Those of you with water intrusion, you just didn't get what you paid for because of workmanship that doesn't meet code," Brock said. But municipalities enjoy immunity against most civil actions in Florida, he said.
A straw vote at Monday night's meeting showed homeowners almost evenly divided between favoring a one-time assessment of $2,000 and increasing monthly maintenance fees to about $180 with the understanding the monthly fees could later be lowered.
Brock cautioned that an unpaid assessment could result in foreclosure action against a homeowner. He also suggested that a lawsuit over construction defects would likely "suppress" property values.
But Realtor Mehdi Belhassan told the homeowners group Monday night that, even with the requirement of repairs and a possible assessment being disclosed, he is seeing brisk sales and rising values at Promenade because of its location and the relative affordability of the townhomes.
