There's a widespread perception in Florida that some of the housing stock that was cranked out during the boom years of 2000 through 2005 is plagued with defective details. That perception will be reinforced by the story of Orlando's Hamptons condominium development. Originally constructed as an apartment complex, the attached housing complex in Orlando's MetroWest community has been through a transfer of ownership, and is currently managed as a condominium. But as a story in the Orlando Sentinel explains, the condominium association's job these days involves managing a complicated set of insurance claims, lawsuits, and enforcement actions (see: "Orlando MetroWest condo complex faces millions in code-violation fines," by Mary Shanklin.
"The English-themed Hamptons community of 743 condominiums faces $4 million in code-enforcement fines for violations — the largest tab in the city, according to Orlando officials," the paper reported. "Behind the fountains and gated entry are electrical hazards resulting from exposed and broken conduit lines, ceilings split from water damage, a collapsed driveway, an eroding building foundation, excessive mold and mildew, and rotted porch railings, according to recently filed code violations."
"The problems have been so severe that Orange County Circuit Judge Lisa T. Munyon earlier this year categorized units at the Hamptons as 'unfit for human habitation' because of "catastrophic water intrusion damages,'" the paper reports. "Engineering reports showed 90 percent of the units showed some type of damage. In an ongoing case, the judge cited $70 million in needed repairs and ordered developers to pay the condo owners association $40 million."
Attorney James Prichard, who represents the condo association, told the paper the condos "are representative of condominiums and apartments built during the pre-recession period throughout Orlando, and Central Florida in general." Said Prichard: "I genuinely believe that every similar aged wood-frame apartment building or condominium conversion in Central Florida, clad with thin-coat stucco and single-pane aluminum windows, is probably as bad or worse than the Hamptons."
