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I'm horrified at the news about the building in Miami


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Holding out hope. The property managers may have a lot to answer for; reportage has it that consultants observed significant damage three years ago. Can't imagine every condo owner and tenant was made aware...

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But to the point of collapsing? I mean, when a building is in bad state for lack of maintenance normally tiles fall, balconies are dangerous... But in this case it's the whole building. 

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1 hour ago, pithy said:

Holding out hope. The property managers may have a lot to answer for; reportage has it that consultants observed significant damage three years ago. Can't imagine every condo owner and tenant was made aware...

Those 'Property Managers' (& highly likely other skunks) were ALL aware every single day of the 3 yrs the horrific shape that building was in. They're possibly the last people/snakes on earth you'd wanna be right now. And u know every one of them are alive, safe, happy, healthy and (still) could give two shits abt the tenants. What they're likely trying to flee the country over is what's coming w/ (at least) lawsuits  

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:imsad:

Grandson of couple missing in Florida building collapse getting calls from their landline

By Jesse O’Neill

June 27, 2021 | 12:17am | Updated

Notkin.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=1236&h

Jake Samuelson has received at least 16 staticky calls from the landline of his grandparents Arnie and Myriam Notkin, who are among the missing residents of Champlain Towers South.

A man whose grandparents are unaccounted for following the Florida building collapse says he has been getting bombarded with eerie and mysterious calls from the landline inside their sunken condo, according to a report.

Jake Samuelson told local outlet WBLG that he has received at least 16 calls from the number of his missing grandparents, Arnie and Myriam Notkin.

When he answered the phone, he heard nothing but static each time, the report said.

“We are trying to rationalize what is happening here, we are trying to get answers,” Samuelson told the TV station.

He said the first call came on Thursday night, hours after the early-morning disaster that has left at least five people dead and dozens unaccounted for.

“We were all sitting there in the living room, my whole family, Diane, my mother, and we were just shocked,” Samuelson told the outlet. “We kind of thought nothing of it because we answered, and it was static.”

His grandparents, both in their 80s, live in apartment 302 in the Champlain Towers South, and their landline phone usually sits right next to their bed, according to the report.

On Friday, Samuelson said his family received 15 more unexplained calls from the number, the station reported.

The family is now waiting to hear from detectives about the bizarre and gut-wrenching calls, Samuelson added.

His grandfather Arnie, 87, is known as a beloved physical education teacher and Myriam, 81, is a banker and real estate agent, the outlet said.

North Miami Beach Commissioner Fortuna Smukler, who grew up with the Notkins’ three daughters, told the Miami Herald that she began losing hope when she learned that the couple lived in apartment No. 302.

“At this point it would be a miracle … we’re hoping for a miracle,” she said.

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26 minutes ago, Ciccone's Cheeks said:

Those 'Property Managers' (& highly likely other skunks) were ALL aware every single day of the 3 yrs the horrific shape that building was in. They're possibly the last people/snakes on earth you'd wanna be right now. And u know every one of them are alive, safe, happy, healthy and (still) could give two shits abt the tenants. What they're likely trying to flee the country over is what's coming w/ (at least) lawsuits  

Oh, doubtlessly. Seems like they just weren't willing to give up their piece of the pie for long enough to have repairs made. @karbatal, the damage involved concrete: slabs, beams, walls, columns - all structural. I'm still aghast, can't remember seeing anything quite like it, but it's gotta be the explanation: https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2021/06/27/before-florida-condo-collapse-9-million-in-repairs-were-needed/

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Maybe I'm used to the European constructions. Even after decades of complete abandonment they're still standing. I've read that houses in USA are not build like in Europe, but I thought at least buildings were better..

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Terrible tragedy. 

The major problem with these appartments building is the owners never want to see their condo fees raised. They want to pay the minimum. But when there is major renovation needed, they have a big problem because they don't have the money in bank to pay. Owners have to pay a special contribution and they're not happy. 

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38 minutes ago, runa said:

Terrible tragedy. 

The major problem with these appartments building is the owners never want to see their condo fees raised. They want to pay the minimum. But when there is major renovation needed, they have a big problem because they don't have the money in bank to pay. Owners have to pay a special contribution and they're not happy. 

I guess there should be mandatory renovations. Inspections every five years or something? It's like that in Spain. 

What I don't understand is why the owners don't realise that if the renovations are done the price goes up..Some years ago we installed a lift in my building and we changed the heating system. As we didn't need the big heater in the basement, we built store rooms for each flat. Every owner had to pay 25.000 euro but we had some subsides and the government paid half of it. Now our flats have increased in value! 

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5 hours ago, karbatal said:

And that building was in front of Miami Beach! Surely it was expensive to live there? 

Very expensive and the worst thing is the maintenance fees are outrageously high for condos in Miami in general but especially in Miami Beach. You could be looking at anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 a year in condo fees depending on the building and the size of the condo....and that would not cover creating a reserve account for future repairs, which is what leads to big special assessments. Apparently the condo owners in this building had already been assessed $8-10k each for roof repairs and were likely looking at an over $100k special assessment for building repairs that had already been identified as necessary.

Properties on the ocean front, built on reclaimed land surely should have to have structural reviews and recertifications done sooner than 40years after construction, which is the current requirement. Will FL change that now???

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7 hours ago, swimtoshore said:

Very expensive and the worst thing is the maintenance fees are outrageously high for condos in Miami in general but especially in Miami Beach. You could be looking at anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 a year in condo fees depending on the building and the size of the condo....and that would not cover creating a reserve account for future repairs, which is what leads to big special assessments. Apparently the condo owners in this building had already been assessed $8-10k each for roof repairs and were likely looking at an over $100k special assessment for building repairs that had already been identified as necessary.

Properties on the ocean front, built on reclaimed land surely should have to have structural reviews and recertifications done sooner than 40years after construction, which is the current requirement. Will FL change that now???

Thank you for such a good post. I had no idea about those super high fees!

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38 minutes ago, karbatal said:

Thank you for such a good post. I had no idea about those super high fees!

yeah it is crazy.

About 10 years ago my partner and I were looking at buying a house or condo in Miami as a second home so my partner could be closer to his family (Miami/Havana), but the ridiculously high condo fees put us off buying a condo and the threat of hurricanes put us off buying a house (they had a terrible hurricane season around that time and the cost of insurance went through the roof).

Since then of course, there have been hardly any hurricanes that have even come close to Miami and property prices have more than doubled.....

But I couldn't live in FL these days with Ron DeSantis as Governor - YIKES

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I read a comment that said this is literally climate change in action. There's reports that it's affecting that area of Miami quite badly.

They were repairing the roof so all I can assume is that they thought any issues would be cosmetic but the idea of the building collapsing would seem impossible. 

But just awful for all those involved.

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