Help stop elder abuse by greedy condo creeps

My name is Philippa Sklaar, and I’m fundraising for elderly residents who are being financially raped and subjected to health hazards in a condo association in Florida.

I am a survivor of abuse. I know all too well the feelings of powerlessness, helplessness, and hopelessness and what it’s like to be a victim. Thankfully, I left that life behind me many years ago, but it left me allergic to bullies and dishonesty.

When I became a resident of this condo association, I soon uncovered what can only be described as a criminal enterprise. This scheme is perpetrated on residents, who are mostly elderly and perfect prey for greedy administrators. Their feelings of victimization resonated with me, and I got to work. I do not work alone. We have an extraordinary team with backgrounds in forensic accounting, Sid Karmazyn CPA, entrepreneurs, and condo association specialists.

This association has 10,000 residents with an annual budget of $40M, with zero oversight. It is a thief’s paradise.

When we first asked the Management Committee for accountability and transparency, we had insults spewed at us. We were silenced in meetings and the harassment and intimidation began. In response, we started a FB site and the floodgates opened. Our membership grows daily; so far we have over 1300 members. For the first-time residents have a voice, feel emboldened to tell their stories of living with mold, leaks, intimidation, and abuse. We have amassed a fortune of evidence despite the Management Committee’s refusal to provide a single bank statement proving they are doing the great job they insist they are doing. We asked countless times, “show us the bank statements to prove your innocence." Their response was to double down on their lies, harassment, refusals, excuses, obfuscations, and to denigrate the messenger.

We were subjected to a vile email blast sent to 10,000 residents, filled with lies and violent rhetoric, where they gave out our address with the instruction to “stop them.’ We have people knocking and pinning threatening notes on our door, we even had a bag of poop delivered by UPS and most recently, Swastikas painted on the wall next to our back door. We have been threatened with a lawsuit by the Management Committee and their lawyer on retainer, for daring to ask questions. This lawyer is also the County Commissioner who paid $5000 into the president's campaign who is also a city commissioner. The links of this enterprise are endless.

• This lawyer is the registered agent for the insurance company who sold us a $10M insurance loan that they refused to provide or the loan documents for $10M.

• This supposed policy has charges of more than $10,000 per vehicle annually.

• This insurance company has their agent linked to a man who served 37 months in prison for fraud.

• The property manager has a girlfriend who works in the accounting department and is responsible for creating their meaningless monthly financial reports. She has the passwords to more than the 400 bank accounts they claim they have.

• The head of maintenance has his brother and son work for him and he’s in charge of their salaries and increases.

• Their preferred vendors sometimes charge more than 400% than outside vendors.

This is just a snapshot of what is going on.

When it comes to bids, that is also a cesspool. They do not provide the required two bids, hide bids, and do not disclose the correct amounts, checks as proof of payment are provided without signatures or ledgers, and there are no third-party documents to verify anything.

Why now?

We have asked the City for help numerous times. We received no assistance except more suspicion that this enterprise includes city officials. We filed a complaint with the Department of Business Professional Regulators who opened a case against them. A year later, we are still waiting for a result and each day that passes, elderly residents watch their money dwindle while many live with mold and water leaks. This was the turning point to start a Go Fund Me page. The situation demanded a sense of urgency. The only way to hold these greedy creepy condo board members to account is through a lawsuit. We want to collect a war chest to hold everyone who is involved accountable. We need your help. Donations of any denominations are welcome but if you can afford $100 or more, the faster we can serve these shameless people, the better.

How will the residents benefit from your donations?

1. We will start an action to remove the Board and refund all applicable over payments back to their rightful owners.

2. All members paid or volunteers and staff members who were complicit or enabled this enterprise will be held accountable.

3. Documents withheld will be made available.

4. Structural integrity issues will be corrected, and residents will no longer have to live with mold and leaks.

5. Monthly payments will be reduced accordingly. As an example, insurance budgets have been overstated resulting in bloated fees.

6. Door fees held back by the Management Committee will be repaid to owners,

There is currently a $3.1M allocated to unit owners which the Management Committee has held back.

7. All unapproved, unlicensed, overcharging vendors will be removed.

8. The monthly overly inflated administrative expenses will be brought down to a normal amount.

9. All maintenance deficiencies will be charged back to vendors, and anyone involved in this scheme will be held accountable.

10. Any excess cash if found in the banking system will be refunded to the unit owners

11. All new and current staff will be vetted resulting in qualified trustworthy people.

With your help we can make this happen. Together we can give the residents what they deserve. A mold, leak free home and peace of mind that their money is well looked after.

We won’t stop there. Our goal is to help clean up every Condo Association in Florida where corruption, fraud, theft, and malfeasance seems to be the norm.

Please help us protect our elderly residents, clean up the mess, hold these greedy condo creeps accountable and make the last years of the residents lives worth living.