ORLANDO, Fla. — More than 200 homeowners at a condo complex in Orange County that suffered major damage during Hurricane Ian, got a legal victory after weeks of work. 

More than a year after Ian caused major flooding damage, homeowners at Dockside Condominiums at Ventura say they’re still waiting on damage to be fixed. And they say they’re paying a hefty price in the process.

What You Need To Know

  • More than a year after Ian caused major flooding damage, homeowners at Dockside Condominiums at Ventura say they’re still waiting on damage to be fixed

  • On Nov. 29, an arbitrator with the State Department of Business and Professional Regulation issued a ruling that sided with condo owners, allowing them to remove the current HOA board

  • The ruling came after the previous board approved damage assessments that are now requiring some homeowners to pay as much as $1,000 a month, in addition to their original HOA fees

  • Condo owners challenged the assessments and took action to repeal the previous board; they claim that board didn’t have the condo owners’ best interests in mind and didn’t follow legal procedures of governing

On Nov. 29, an arbitrator with the State Department of Business and Professional Regulation issued a ruling that sided with condo owners, allowing them to remove the current HOA board. The ruling came after the previous board approved damage assessments that are now requiring some homeowners to pay as much as $1,000 a month, on top of their original HOA fees.

Joe Parker’s condo is still gutted from the floor to halfway up the wall, which is how high the water from Hurricane Ian flooded the condos at Dockside. Each unit on the first floor was inundated with several feet of floodwater.

“It’s tough to — I don’t even come in here a lot, because every time I come here it’s aggravation, it’s like, 'Oh my gosh,'” he said.

On top of his mortgage and normal HOA fees, Parker is now paying an additional assessment of about $1,000 a month after the condo association’s HOA board approved an $18 million loan to fix damage.

“Now your budget’s out the window — for what I’m paying now, I could be in a five-bedroom, $500,000 house,” Parker said.

Parker and other condo owners challenged the assessments, and took action to repeal the previous board. They claim the board didn’t have the condo owners’ best interests in mind and didn’t follow legal procedures of governing.

“Now they are trying to challenge the DBPR final ruling. Why, what is the interest?" said condo owner Juan Marmol. "Why are they trying to hold on to that power so bad?” 

Along with Parker, Marmol is one of the board members appointed in the DBPR ruling.

He said Access Management, which manages the condo community, isn’t recognizing the new board members or responding to their requests for paperwork. 

Marmol said the collection of assessments on condo owners should pause until the new board can review the previous board’s actions. But he said so far, that’s not happening.

“The day we got that order from the DBPR — that same day — they started to get more aggressive that day with collecting,” Marmol said. “They are sending two, three, four emails per day requesting the homeowners through email, even though that is prohibited.” 

Marmol says the condo association’s HOA bylaws state any official communication to condo owners from the board is required to be by mail or on the community’s announcement board. He said emails aren’t allowed as notifications. 

Parker is now also paying for rent at a condo on the second floor at Dockside, which is his home for now.

“Nightmare money pit, wake me up please,” he said.

Parker said he had to step up and fight for his neighbors, many of whom are on fixed incomes.

“I just can’t watch it go on anymore, because you do talk to people and you hear their heartache and it’s like come on, we need to do something,” he said.

Spectrum News reached out to Access Management and the attorney who’s representing the previous HOA board, but neither immediately responded.