Lower maintenance fees among reasons to be thankful

International Village has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Thanks to a cost-conscious Board of Directors and honest new management team committed to avoiding wasteful spending, the association has saved approximately half a million dollars so far this year without cutting back on services.

Not only has this been accomplished in the midst of a 40-year certification, but the really good news is that these savings have put enough money in the bank to allow us to resume the renovations of our residential buildings after a nearly three-year delay without resorting to a special assessment! And to top it off, the association still has enough money left over to give some of it back to unit owners in the form of a modest maintenance fee reduction in 2015!  Because of the significant investment that will be involved in completing the long-overdue building renovations (which are now underway in the Orleans building), the maintenance fee reduction won't be as big as we would like, but this is undoubtedly the first time in International Village history that you the unit owners will actually see your maintenance fees go DOWN instead of up, and that’s definitely something to be thankful for!

The maintenance fee reduction will be discussed at our upcoming budget meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse. The 2015 budget package has been mailed to all unit owners, and it is very important that you open it as soon as you receive it because it requires your immediate action. If you want the REDUCTION in maintenance fees that we are proposing, you must vote “Yes” to waive reserves and send in your proxy in time for it to be received by the association before Dec. 9. You can either bring it in person to the office, mail it, fax it to 954-486-5677 or scan and email it to admin@intlvillage.com with the subject line “Proxy.” If you have any questions, feel free to let me know. 

In another positive development, I’m happy to report that AMG, the association’s former management company, has formally dropped the lawsuit it filed after its contract was terminated by the association in April. As I explained previously, the lawsuit had no merit as AMG was fired for good reason, and I hope this predictable outcome will serve to discourage others who may be inclined to abuse the legal system in a vindictive attempt to harass or inflict financial harm on the association, this board, or its members. Fortunately, the association’s insurance carriers covered our legal fees in this case as their policy required, while AMG apparently came to the realization that it was throwing money away in pursuit of a meritless lawsuit.

On a less positive note, it has been brought to our attention that Alliance CAS, the collections company that the Board of Directors fired in September for lack of performance, last week sent letters to an unknown number of owners whose accounts are in arrears. In these letters, Alliance falsely claims to represent the association and instructs owners to pay any unpaid balances to Alliance. PLEASE NOTE these letters WERE NOT authorized by the association and you MUST NOT send any payments to Alliance as their contract has been TERMINATED.  If you received one of these letters, or if your account was previously placed with Alliance as a result of a delinquent balance which remains unpaid, you must make your checks payable to International Village Association Inc. and mail them to:

Campbell Property Management

8010 N. University Dr.

Tamarac FL 33321 

Thank you, and have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

John Labriola

International Village Treasurer