Miami Beach looks to hire a condo ombudsman

A call to find city funds to hire a condominium ombudsperson has been referred to Miami Beach’s Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee.

“In order to properly implement the Condominium Assistance Charter Amendment,” the resolution that city commissioners referred says, “the city should create a position for a professional with relevant experience assisting condominium and/or co-op owners in navigating city processes and working with other governmental agencies to facilitate the resolution of condominium-related issues.”

Sponsoring Commissioner Tanya K. Bhatt was joined by co-sponsors Alex J. Fernandez, Laura Dominguez, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez and David Suarez.
The votes are there, said Mayor Steven Meiner. He agreed a condominium ombudsman would help and said he understands the state has funds for the position.

“I actually recently had two different discussions, including one in person in Tallahassee with senior staff from the governor’s office asking them to fill this position,” the mayor said. “If they did that, I think that could alleviate the need for us to do it. That would be the request. The other thing is that we have not budgeted this position, so my request would be if we can refer this to FERC [the finance committee] meeting … in the interim, we could try to get that position appointed since there is funding from the state, and if not, we’ll move forward … because I think it is an important position, and I would probably even support it, but that would be my request.”

Commissioner Fernandez said he wants to make sure whoever is chosen is a Florida certified condominium attorney as there are many types of attorneys.

“In this position, if we use the taxpayers’ dollars to fund a position like this, it should be for someone specifically certified in condominium law, and that’s the only thing I just want to put on the record.”

Mr. Fernandez cited the city’s unique needs.

“The state has a number of positions and so does the county, but oftentimes our needs are so unique, and certainly in an area like Miami Beach,” Mr. Fernandez said. “I think the majority of our … residents live in condominiums. The State of Florida certainly does have a budgeted ombudsman. I think it’s a position that pays very little that covers the entire state of Florida. For a dense community like ours, that has so many condominiums, I do see the advantage of having a properly staffed position like this.”

Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez echoed her colleagues as she agreed the ombudsman should be a Florida condominium attorney.

There should be both a city and state ombudsman, she said. “I think the city needs one, and I think that they can work with our state ombudsman. If I tell you how many constituents, how many associations, come to my office all the time with different problems. Because it is under state law, there’s very little that we can do as a city.”

Commissioner Dominguez agreed the city needs its own “ombudsman and should look to ensure that it’s funded. It’s great for the ombudsman to work in tandem with whoever the state appoints, but with the density that we have in South of Fifth and West Avenue, part of the Venetian and going up through North Beach and condo corridor, it’s really a critical need and it’s something that I definitely heard when I was campaigning and continued to hear now being a commissioner.”

Some condos are being bought out by developers taking advantage of owners at their weakest moment, said Commissioner Fernandez. Those condo owners need advocates, he said. A scenario that could potentially be seen is condominiums being bought out and turned into hotels, and “we need to do everything possible that we can to protect our condominium residents so that they’re not displaced by the legal challenges, especially in the post Champlain [Towers] era, when we’re seeing all these new laws and complexities that condominium associations need to deal with and stricter restrictions that are unique in Miami-Dade County from the rest of the state of Florida that a state ombudsman might not be familiar with.”

After further discussion, Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez made a motion to pass and refer the item. However, Mayor Meiner’s initial motion took precedence.

“The motion and the second is to refer the entire item, and not adopt the resolution today, to refer it to FERC,” said city attorney Rafael A. Paz. “If that does not pass, then the motion and the second is to adopt the resolution as drafted along with a referral to FERC to identify the funding and address that.”

Despite the initial motion passing, discussion lingered of amending the item for the position to be a Florida certified condominium attorney. However, it had already been passed as is to the finance committee.