Criminal complaints filed in condo catastrophe

Posted by Deborah Goonan

Commentary: Bob Norman is one of Florida’s top notch investigative reporters on HOA, Condo, and Co-op issues in South Florida. Unfortunately, there are plenty of problems to keep him busy. The latest allegations involve the apparent theft or misappropriation of $800,000 from Jade Winds Condominium in Miami Beach. This is a report you don’t want to miss. 

Author: Bob Norman, Reporter, bnorman@Local10.com
Published On: Aug 06 2015 11:53:41 PM EDT

Updated On: Aug 07 2015 12:16:00 AM EDT

When you walk into Peter and Debbie Orlowsky’s home, it seems a perfectly fine condo, until you look outside and see the balcony to nowhere. It’s just a slab of concrete jutting from the building with no railing six stories above the parking lot.
NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. –
When you walk into Peter and Debbie Orlowsky’s home, it seems a perfectly fine condo, until you look outside and see the balcony to nowhere. It’s just a slab of concrete jutting from the building with no railing six stories above the parking lot.

It’s one of dozens of condos at Jade Winds in North Miami Beach that have unusable sealed-off balconies for years, and it’s just the beginning. The place seems to be going to seed, with large cracks in some buildings, a general state of disrepair, and the historic office tower that has been the pride and joy of the community empty and condemned from neglect and failure to pay rent. Recently, the condo association filed for bankruptcy in federal court claiming more than $1.5 million in debt.

“They ran it down to the ground,” said Debbie Orlowsky. “It’s all full of mold because they didn’t pay the rent there. We’re bankrupt. I don’t know what we’re going to do. There’s people here with children, and there’s families. There’s 916 apartments here and they didn’t care. They had no heart, no soul.”

Click below for Channel 10 News Video and transcript:

http://m.local10.com/news/criminal-complaints-filed-in-condo-catastrophe/34588568