FF Santa Barbara

jwlk0727 · Jul 22, 2006

Betty:
I totally agree with you. Something is wrong. If you know of any way that we can start legal action against Fairfield, I'd be happy to participate. Of course, unfortunately, I believe that the Board is made up of Fairfield employees. So, going to them will not be productive. Jean

marsha77 · Jul 23, 2006

I also was down at Ocean Palms, just got back this afternoon. We went over to the Santa Barbara, I agree, there is nothing going on over there at all - completely dead!

Marsha

X-ring · Jul 25, 2006

marsha77 said:
I also was down at Ocean Palms, just got back this afternoon.

Hi Marsha,

Can you answer the question re the tennis courts that was posted at
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26402 ?

TIA

pranas · Aug 5, 2006

I live a few blocks from the Santa Barbara and it is still boarded-up. No activity that I can see.

jwlk0727 · Aug 6, 2006

I sent a letter to FF and got no reply. I e-mailed them, and got this reply:
[Please include the following line in all replies.
Tracking number: UT20060728_0000000143

Hello,

Thank you for your email. We have no further information other then what
you have already mentioned in your email. Please contact your Property
Owners Association for updates and information on maintenance fees
expenditures.

Kind Regards,

Fairfield Internet Team

Does anyone know how to contact the HOA? FF says that it does not. Jean Walker

KenK · Aug 7, 2006

Forget Fairfield. Your case is now with the state. If the management company will not provide HOA info, and they will not give the owners the info they need, try here first:

http://www.myflorida.com/condos/index.htm

You are an owner of a Florida Condominum. You pay more taxes on the units than the typical Florida resident....because you are considered a non- resident (or its not your primary Fl residence).

Tell them the management company refuses to share info on why the units are still closed, and why there is no info on an HOA contact. As them if the HOA is independant of the management company.

If they can't help. they will tell you where to go (for help). Fairfield already told you where to go.

It might be helpful if more than one owner writes in.

Also, this info might be useful and more focused in a Fairfield section.

Has anyone asked on the FF Yahoo e groups?

KenK · Aug 7, 2006

You may email the Ombudsman at:
ombudsman@dbpr.state.fl.us

Tallahassee Office
Office of the Condominium Ombudsman
1940 N. Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
850.922.7671

Ft. Lauderdale Office
Office of the Condominium Ombudsman
1400 W. Commercial Boulevard
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309
954.202.3234

bruin1 · Aug 8, 2006

Santa Barbara Resort

As suggested by Ken K in the above post I sent a email regarding the Santa Barbara to Ombudsman. I will let evewryone know what I hear!
Mary Ann

bruin1 · Aug 8, 2006

Santa Barbara

I also called owner relations at Fairfield. They gave me a name of Chris Forbes who is a manger for the Pompano Beach area, his # in case anyone else want to call is 954-233-7501.
Mary Ann

andy · Aug 12, 2006

I contacted the Ombudsman and the information they have is from 2004 and the Fairfield manager has been replaced along with the board of directors (all FF employees)

pranas · Aug 18, 2006

Santa Barbara

I drove past the resort several times this week. The sign and hallway lights have been turned on. Since they are not turned off during the day, I don't know if anyone is actualy there. Did see a car parked in front of the entrance but it doesn't look like the renovations have started.

andy · Aug 22, 2006

The sign on the building and the hallway lights have been on since last year and the car in front of the building belongs to the watchman.

jphillips131 · Sep 21, 2006

Do you think it is time for the Santa Barbara owners to look into the legality of this situation? Would that help to get Fairfield moving forward on the repairs to this resort?

Fairfield isn't a small company. I can't understand why the repairs to this resort are being stalled for so long. I'm beginning to think it may never open again. Something is terribly amis

Fairfield is being sued by Bluebeard's Castle in St. Thomas. Here is the link to their website so everyone can read up on what's happening. This is posted on their website.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS: complaints vs. Fairfield

These are the current complaints against Fairfield Resorts. As most are aware, Fairfield has refused to arbitrate or mediate thus the lawsuits must move forward. Sadly, Fairfield believes that the current owners that serve the Boards do not want to settle. This is completely wrong and the owners that serve the Boards that were elected with owner votes (not Fairfield votes) are more than willing to discuss matters. Read for yourself the complaints and take note.

http://www.bluebeards-castle.com/BBC_HOA_ammended_complaint.PDF

http://www.bluebeards-castle.com/BBC_HOA_complaint.PDF

Don · Sep 22, 2006

andy said:
Just received a phone call from RCI telling me that Santa Barbara will not open until January, 2008. By this time the resort should be like brand new.

I know I'm a little late in quoting the first entry as the thread has moved on to other aspects of the subject, but I want to say not to put too much stock in RCI's dates. After Hurricane Charley (2004), they had a 2010 opening date for Fisherman's Village. It took a little over a year to open, and even now there is still some staging in the mall area.

jwlk0727 · Sep 24, 2006

jphillips131 said:
Do you think it is time for the Santa Barbara owners to look into the legality of this situation? Would that help to get Fairfield moving forward on the repairs to this resort?

Fairfield isn't a small company. I can't understand why the repairs to this resort are being stalled for so long. I'm beginning to think it may never open again. Something is terribly amis

JP:
I read the original filing by Bluebeard's (on their website) with great interest, and I believe that the Santa Barbara owners have the same issue: breach of fiduciary responsibility by FF. The question is how to organize the owners to begin legal action (class action?). FF won't give out information regarding how to contact the HOA, so I doubt that it would relinquish a list of owners' names. Any ideas? Jean

KenK · Sep 24, 2006

Could this help?:

http://www.myflorida.com/dbpr/lsc/timeshare/index.shtml

jphillips131 · Sep 25, 2006

Jean - I would suggest that you try to contact the BOD President of Bluebeard's Castle and see if he may be able to give you some suggestions. There is 4 associations at Bluebeard's and all four original had FF employees on the board. Now only 1 association has 2 FF employees. Go to this website and you can find all of the BOD numbers and addresses. I would try to contact Hilltop I and II President. It looks like he is the one that keeps the lawsuit information updated on thier website. Best of Luck!

http://www.bluebeards.net/

soon2b6 · Oct 3, 2006

We're owners at Santa Barbara and just returned from PB. Absolutely NO action on the property for the whole week!

We are very interested in seeing some substative change in the board at both Santan Barbara.

Last year when we got the "special assessment" for bad debt I attempted to get clear responses from the board as to why we needed an additional $1.1 million to service bad debt - especially after we've had a line item in the budget of $200,000 to address this issue.

Guess what happened - NOTHING! I never got an answer! I left numerous calls and never had follow up.

At that time I attempted to raise owners interest w/ very little success.

It's DEFINITELY time for a wholesale change in the board!!! All FF employees & no owners! You've heard it before - something about the fox guarding the . . .

I can hardly wait to see what the special assessment is this time for hurricane damage & lost revenue. I just got my special assessment from Sea Gardens to the tune of $550.

Hold on to your hats & get ready to dig deep - it's a long ride!

soon2b6 · Oct 11, 2006

Santa Barbara - Special Assessment

Here's the latest from a recent conversation with the SB resort manager.

The resort is slated to reopen July 2007.
Construction/renovation has recently commenced.
The resort will basically be completely renovated/updated top-to-bottom.
The estimated figure for repair/renovation is $8 million.
They are awaiting a settlement/agreement b/t FF & Lloyds of London (insurer) as to to what the insurance settlement amount will be.
Part of the dispute comes from a "like-for-like" replacement policy.
The windows/glass in the resort were not classified as hurricane-proof.
According to code, when replaced they must be hurricane proof.
Obviously the resort is responsible for the difference between what was original & the required hurricane-proof glass.
Owners can expect a letter in Jan 07 providing an update on their progress & what the special assessment will be.
At this point, they are estimating it to be b/t $800 & $1100 depending upon unit size.
They appear to be willing to allow owners to make the special assessment in 2 payments: one in March and the other in June/July.
Annual maintanence fees will be reduced this year by about 60% b/c of the fact the resort has not been operational for the last year.

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates & progress.

Mark

bogey21 · Oct 11, 2006

Would it be a good idea to buy a Week on Ebay for next to nothing. That way the cost of the Special Assessment and the marked down MF would essentially be my purchase price?

GEORGE

Cat · Oct 11, 2006

...And that, kiddies, is why we have due diligence! There are currently 4 units at the Santa Barbara for sale on eBay, and conveniently, not one of them advises that there has been damage of catastrophic proportion, rendering the resort closed for the last year, that the resort won't open for almost another year still (although I haven't seen any action going on there at all yet) and that there will be a nice, big special assessment.

Unless someone could absolutely guarantee me that the coming special assessment won't be more than $1100, and that this is the only special assessment there will be, I'd be very scared to take this one on. Notice the huge maintenance fees they have here, too.

I suppose that you could say it's a cheap way to buy into Fairfield, but until there have been some actual numbers and completion dates laid out, I'd be a little too timid to bet on this one.

soon2b6 · Oct 12, 2006

Cat:

I would probably have to agree with your assessment - no pun intended.

What confounds me to an even greater degree is where has FF (the owner & manager of this property) been with all their corporate & capital power getting this thing up & running in a reasonable time frame?

I can understand the vast nature of the devistation to the resort. But this isn't the only resort that experience devistation.

I can understand the hesitancy of a contractor to agree to a contract when their is a funding question, But other resorts had the same dynamic.

I can even understand the challenge to get materials & laborers given the widespread damage in the region. But other lesser resorts seemed to get things done in rather short order.

But when the owner - FF - with their corporate & capital power can't seem to respond in at least an equal measure to other resorts it begs some larger questions for both owners & potential owners.

Questions that have yet to be answered and who knows if they will ever be answered.

Soon2b6

Cat · Oct 12, 2006

Soon, those are fabulous questions! There definitely were shortages of both materials and labor. I know firsthand how hard it was to get repairs done, but ours were finally just completed. Like you said, I have seen business after business get themselves patched up in the last year. Why is this one project that has just sat with no action whatsoever?

Sure looks like back burner stuff to me. That's not a resort where I'd ever want to own.

jwlk0727 · Oct 12, 2006

Do the math

soon2b6 said:
The estimated figure for repair/renovation is $8 million.....
At this point, they are estimating it to be b/t $800 & $1100 depending upon unit size.

Mark

Let's do the math. Assuming 4800 units per year at an average of $1000, that's $4.8M!!! If the repairs are $8M, this means that the owners are paying 60% of the damages. What kind of insurance is this? Was I as an owner ever informed that complex was basically self-insured? No. I think this calls for a claim against the Fairfield Directors & Officers policy for breach of fiduciary responsibility and possibly fraudulent misrepresentation. Jean :annoyed:

soon2b6 · Oct 14, 2006

Doing the math!

Jean:

Same problem I had with the math in 2004 when we got a special assessment for "bad debt". If one took the time to do the math then: $250/interval = approx. $1.1MM.

To add insult to injury we already have a line item in the budget for $200,000 a year for bad debt.

Again the question arises: Who's managing our resort & what kind of management philosophy are they operating under.

I attempted to get reasonable answers from FF (they're the ones who own & manage this resort - NOT the owners) in 2004 w/ absolutely no response.

I also attempted to see if other owners were aware of "the math". I think I had 3 responses - each said we weren't assessed a special assessment. They subsequently changed their tune when they had to pay the bill & I faxed the letter indicating the BOD decision.

Suffice it to say, I'm sure glad these folks aren't doing the math/management of my personal finances.

Of course if I didn't have to answer questions & could just go back to the "bank" and file a special assessment anytime I wanted to I guess I could let things go & not be responsible too.

No, second thoughts, I choose to have more integrity in my life than that.

There sure appears to be something seriously questionable about the way things are done at SB. What do they say? - There appears to be a pattern developing here!

Mark

FF Santa Barbara

jwlk0727

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