September/October 2012 FMOThe Official Publication of the Federationnews of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida, Inc. See Details Inside FMO News Win a Cruise to the Bahamas!! 1 Volume 49, Number 1 FMO NEWS Official publication of the Fed er a tion of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida EDITORIAL Publisher The Federation of Manufactured Home Owners, Inc. Editor Sara Monaco ADVERTISING SALES Joyce Stanton Account Executive (727) 530-7539 The FMO News (ISSN 0274-9882; USPS 356-320) is pub- lished bi-monthly by the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Flor i da, Inc., 4020 Portsmouth Road, Largo, FL 33771-3318; phone: (727) 530-7539. FMO Website: www.fmo.org. Periodicals Postage Paid at Largo, FL, and at ad di tion al mail ing of fic es. POSTMASTER: Please send change of address notices BROWARD/DADE COUNTY POLK/HILLSBOROUGH/PASCO to FMO News, P.O. Box 5350, Largo, FL 33779-5350. Opin ions ex pressed in articles are not nec es sar- Dillon Insurance Agency, Inc. Jack’s Insurance Agency, Inc. i ly those of the FMO or its publisher. Mem ber- 6884 Taft Street, Hollywood, FL 33024 4710 New Tampa Highway ship in the Federation of Manufactured Home Own ers (954) 961-0503 Lakeland, FL 33815-3256 of Flor i da, Inc., is $20 (U.S.) an nu al ly or $50 (U.S.) for a three-year membership and includes the FMO News N. Broward (954) 973-7443 (863) 688-9271 or (863) 686-5034 sub scrip tion (one copy per home). Forty cents of every Dade (305) 261-7963 or 800-732-0328 membership is al lo cat ed to the pub lish ing of the FMO Toll-free (866)-961-0503 Fax: 863-683-8698 News. Back is sues of the FMO News can be obtained for $1.88 per issue, if available, by writing to the above email: [email protected] address. ©2012 Federation of Manufactured Home Own ers of Florida, Inc. PALM BEACH/MARTIN/ST LUCIE/ HIGHLANDS/OKEECHOBEE/POLK POLK/PINELLAS/HILLSBOROUGH/ The Federation of Manufactured Home Owners (FMO) PASCO/MANATEE/SARASOTA/LEE/ News is the official publication of the Federation of COUNTY Manufactured Home Owners of Flor i da, Inc.—a state- Gallo Insurance Agency, Inc. CHARLOTTE/HIGHLAND/ORANGE/ wide or ga ni za tion—and is in no way affiliated with or 4360 Northlake Blvd. S #214 subsidized by any mobile home manufac turer, deal er, OKEECHOBEE/PALM BEACH/LAKE/ park or in dus try association. Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410 MARTIN/MARION/BREVARD COUNTY (561) 694-6666 or 888-591-8666 Smith & Thomas Insurance Agency, Inc. Ac cep tance of ad ver tis ing by the FMO News does not consti- www.galloagency.com 100 S. Kentucky Ave., Lakeland, FL 33801 tute an en dorse ment by the FMO. A Preferred Pro vid er logo signifies a special FMO benefit the orga ni za tion has (863) 688-1141 www.smithandthomasinsurance.guideone.com con tract ed with the com pa ny. NORTH FT. MYERS/LEE COUNTY Tom Mere Insurance Agency, Inc. FEDERATION OF MANUFACTURED HOME OWNERS OF FLORIDA 1555 N. Tamiami Trail COVERAGE AVAILABLE STATEWIDE 4020 Portsmouth Rd., Largo, FL 33771 North Ft. Myers, FL 33903 Bankers Alliance Insurance Group (239) 995-1333 10655 S. US Hwy 1 Phone: (727) 530-7539 Port Saint Lucie, FL 34952 Fax: (727) 535-9427 (800) 568-5163 or (772) 337-9787 PINELLAS/PASCO/HILLSBOROUGH Website: www.fmo.org or apply online at: MANATEE/SARASOTA/POLK/ www.baigonline.com/mh FMO Administrative Staff CHARLOTTE/LEE/COLLER COUNTY Coverage Available Statewide (except in Dade & Monroe) Executive Director FMO News Sara Monaco Art/Production Director AUTO INSURANCE QUOTES AVAILABLE [email protected] Jennifer Tobin Security Life and Casualty Call one of these [email protected] 3750-5th Avenue N., St. Petersburg, FL 33713 Administrative Assistant Pinellas/Pasco/Hillsborough Account Executive experienced Jane Clapp Joyce Stanton (727) 327-7616 [email protected] [email protected] Manatee (941) 746-2836 agencies! Member Services Sarasota (941) 365-1684 Supplies Manager All Other Counties (800) 247-7133 [email protected] Beth Pankow www.slcinsurefl.com [email protected] FMO 2 News September/October 2012 BOARD FMO STATE BOARD PRESIDENT CHARLES GALLAGHER room 4020 Portsmouth Rd. SPECIal ANNOUNCEMENT Largo, FL 33771 E-mail: [email protected] by George Dunn VICE-PRESIDENT State Board Vice President GEORGE DUNN (813) 774-9918 E-mail: [email protected] DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE STATE ASSEMBLY ROY BREWER (772) 340-2587 In place of the ‘Board Room’ article by President Charlie Gallagher, usually E-mail: [email protected] found on this page, we are forced to present this special announcement. FRED COLE, JR. At an in-person meeting of the Board of Directors at the Clarion Hotel in (352) 236-5602 Clearwater on April 4th of this year, invited guests included FMO Lobbyist, E-mail: [email protected] Nancy Black Stewart for a legislative update and Fred Cole, Chairman of the JESSE JAMES Financial Committee, for a special report. Ms Stewart left the meeting at (727) 232-1334 approximately 1:00 PM before Mr. Cole addressed the Board. E-mail: [email protected] After reviewing the available financial data for 2012, Fred realized that the RICHARD TWORT FMO needed to find some way to lower expenses for the remainder of the year, (386) 760-7140 E-mail: [email protected] and suggested delaying the biennial State Assembly until 2013. Although we th knew that the January 50 Anniversary Celebration in Lakeland was going DIRECTORS OF SECTIONS to be a substantial expense, we were not prepared for the legal costs attached to defending a DBPR decision that was beneficial to every homeowner living Section I in a manufactured home park in Florida. At the present time these costs are OLIVER MARSTELLER (813) 645-1224 approximately $40,000 and rising, due to a similar case that is still under appeal. E-mail: [email protected] After much discussion amongst the Board members, a motion was made, Section II JACK BERG seconded and passed to approve delaying the Assembly until November/ (941) 776-3732 December 2013. As a result of this vote, the current officers will maintain their E-mail: [email protected] present positions until the election is held at that time. Section III Although this was a difficult decision to make, we feel that this postponement, JOHN SALVUCCI and an increasing membership, will combine to continue our status as the only (407) 390-1147 statewide organization that is looking out for the welfare of every homeowner E-mail: [email protected] living in a manufactured/mobile home park in Florida. Section IV TBA Thank you, and please return here next issue to find the ‘Board Room’ by Section V President Gallagher. JErry KIMM (863) 386-9844 E-mail: [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS Section VI Board Room .............................................................................................3 TBA Capitol Beat ......................................................................................... 5-8 Citizen's Insurance Committee ...................................................................9 Section VII Team DBPR ............................................................................................10 JAMES NEWMAN (772)696-5000 Membership Contest ......................................................................... 16-17 E-mail: [email protected] Legal Ease ..............................................................................................18 Section IX Tie-down Program Update ........................................................................23 EUGENE BROOKS HOA Honor Roll .......................................................................................25 (727) 841-9875 9 X 10 Club ............................................................................................26 E-mail: [email protected] FMO News September/October 2011 3 DISTRICT CONTACTS SECTION I - DISTRICTS 2, 10 SECTION II - DISTRICTS 5, 7, 8 District 2 (Pinellas County) District 5 (Manatee) Carol Aldrow - President Earl Dennis - President Phone: (727) 734-5305 Phone: (941) 524-0738 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] District 10 (Hillsborough) District 7 (Charlotte, Lee, Collier, Hendry) Thomas Gibbons - President John Bowman - President Phone: (813) 719-2976 Phone: (708) 214-8142 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] District 8 (Sarasota) SECTION III - DISTRICTS 14, 16 William Greenaway - President District 14 Phone: (941) 923-9788 (Volusia, Flagler, Duval, St. Johns, Santa Rosa) E-mail: [email protected] John Hoyt - President Phone: (386) 322-7184 E-mail: [email protected] SECTION IV - DISTRICTS 12, 12A District 12 (Broward, Dade, Monroe) (Formerly District 15) Richard Thomas - President Michael Adam - V.P. Phone: (954) 415-7836 Phone: (850) 939-7760 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] District 16 (Seminole, Orange, Osceola) District 12A (Martin, Palm Beach) Frederick Berry - President8 TBA Phone: (407) 572-4591 E-mail: [email protected] SECTION VI - DISTRICTS 3, 13 SECTION V - DISTRICTS 1, 6 District 3 (Lake) John Petrella - President District 1 (Polk) Phone (352) 669-6936 Alex Lai - President E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (863) 242-6127 E-mail: [email protected] District 13 (Marion, Alachua, Putnam) Robert Bull - President District 6 (De Soto, Glades, Hardee, High lands) Phone (352) 237-0877 Wayne Vincent - President E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (863) 382-9033 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: E-mail: [email protected] SECTION IX - DISTRICTS 11, 17 SECTION VII - DISTRICTS 4, 9 District 11 (Pasco – West of US 41, Hernando) District 4 (Indian River, St. Lucie, Okeechobee,