Iron Horse

Iron Horse

I am the owner of a condominium unit at Iron Horse Condominium and have owned for about 17 or more years. I served on the board for about 8 years. Iron Horse has become a hostile place to live especially due to the actions and words of our board president and the board of directors, who are her cronies. Due to the president and the board, my place of joy and happiness with my children and grandchildren has been ruined. Every time you mention something to the president, which she does not believe in or disagrees, you get a fine. I have never gotten an actual bill for these fines due to the fact if you have any monies owed to the HOA, you are not a member in good standing and therefore are excluded from any condo voting. This is a clandestine way of keeping her position as president.

Being president has always been a volunteer position but acting through the board, hired a management company that she is employed with, and is receiving compensation in contradiction to our governing documents. This is even in light of a defective disclosure of a conflict of interest, which occurred after engagement of the management company and effective date of the agreement. When I confronted her with this, I never received a response but did receive severe warnings that I inappropriately contacted the management company which is her employer.

Other instances, include when we attempt to figure out why work done to our buildings has not passed inspection, we are advised we cannot communicate with the “association’s contractors.” Just another attempt to stifle speech and oppress homeowners. The board president took it too far, when she provided that we cannot speak to Winter Park officials about Iron Horse. Which she clearly has no authority to prevent.

Also, the garages of H and J were in horrid condition with holes and haven’t been painted in years. I showed her my garage. She even stated that she would have provided me with rollers and brushes. I painted my garage, as I take pride in the upkeep of our property. She then fined me since my garage was a semi gloss green and no matte. However, she initially complemented me on how nice my garage looked. She charged me for having to have my garage repainted but she was already finally having some employee repaint the garages. She also said I had to pay $100 cash to have my garage sensors lowered by 2 inches for safety measures. I could have easily done it myself. It is my opinion that this money never reached a condo account.

The president makes sure that the C and D buildings where she resides are perfect. She had new carpet installed and then shortly later had it cleaned. She charged the H and J buildings to pay for this as to their square footage and compliance with the 315 amendment. We have had zero maintenance in the H and J buildings. No cleaning, power washing, and replacing stairwells. The steps leading to the elevator had two railings. One was broken and now we have just one. Our windows were in horrible condition and a pane of glass actually fell to the ground almost hitting an employee. We personally paid $37K for new windows.

The most clear injustice, was the filing of multiple infractions/fines and selective enforcement of restrictive covenants, all of which were filed a couple days after an attorney representing my wife and I filed a records request pursuant to CCIOA. The president and board’s actions need to be addressed. There are multiple lawsuits in grand county, due to the president and board’s arbitrary, capricious and retaliatory conduct. The above is just touching all the injustices placed upon a group of owners at the Iron Horse. We are extremely grateful for the task force and hope serious regulatory and legislative changes can be made through this process, to curtail further oppression and injustices.

Dr Harry Cooper