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October 6, 2022:

New Roofs for Two Directors/Officers,
Political Mudslinging, and
Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up

Remember:  all cartoons and images are licensed.  I have the license; you don’t.  Copyright infringement is expensive.

Part I:  New Roofs for Two Directors/Officers

(This just might blow the roof off this place; pun intended.)

It’s interesting that both Jeff and Harvey (the HOA president and vice-president respectively) got new roofs apparently for free by bringing court actions against their respective property insurance carriers, through the roofing company that solicited their business, three years after Hurricane Irma, the weather event claimed as the cause of purported damages.

Harvey got close to $58,628 in settlement money payable to Massey Construction Group, Inc. plus another $11,000 for their lawyers’ fees for bringing the case on his behalf, and they used the same roofing company to file their court claims: Massey Construction Group, Inc. (erroneously spelled “Masey” in Jeff’s court case).  

I’m not at all suggesting anything was done improperly, but a review of those court filings and other similar court filings with the same roofing company does raise some serious questions in my mind.  Let me tell you why and then I will tell you about the specifics of Jeff’s and Harvey’s roof claims.

It is because a resident reported that that roofing company’s representative was seen soliciting business on HOA property with roof photographs and that representative purportedly told that resident that he just came from Jeff’s house and that Jeff (the HOA president) was getting a new roof and said, “you can get a new roof, too” according to that resident.

That resident reported that the roofing representative showed him the roof photos he had with him and allegedly said that he would use those photos for that residents’ roof as well.  That resident reported that he was so disgusted that he told the roofing representative to get the heck out of here. 

Yes, it’s hearsay for all you naysayers.  But with that information, we started to research, and the existence of so many court cases with this roofing company raised a red flag.

I counted 105 court cases with Massey Construction in Palm Beach County alone, and that only includes cases formally filed.  It includes the one misspelled “Masey” when the court clerk entered it incorrectly onto the docket (Jeff’s case); there are likely many others that were settled prior to filing any court case, which is typical, and this roofer also operates elsewhere in the state.

If these were damage claims from purported roof damage from Hurricane Irma which occurred on September 10, 2017, there was in fact no sustained hurricane in this area; per the National Weather Service’s Official Report, here is how it impacted Palm Beach County specifically:

“Palm Beach County: Sustained winds peaked in the 55-65 mph range over southern coastal areas and most of central Palm Beach County. Stronger sustained winds - in the 65-70 mph range - were observed along the immediate coastline north of West Palm Beach to Jupiter. Wind gusts reached Category 1 strength (80-90 mph) county-wide.”

In fact, Jeff’s alleged damages were “reportedly sustained as a result of Hurricane Irma’s winds and rains on or about September 10, 2017 (the “Loss”)” [Answer to Request for Admissions on file in his court case]. The official court Complaint filed on his behalf says his home “sustained direct physical damages as a result of Hurricane Irma.”

The Assignment of Benefits (Jeff to the roofer to go after Jeff’s property insurance company) was not executed until September 6, 2020, three years later.  That made the roofer the plaintiff in the action against Jeff’s insurance carrier.  (The documents are attached to the Complaint as Exhibits).

But at paragraph 9 of the Complaint, it says: “Shortly after the hurricane described in paragraph 8, Insured contracted with Plaintiff to provide necessary roofing and construction services at the Insured Property.”

That doesn’t jive with the attached exhibits to the Complaint which show the contract is also dated September 6, 2020, which is three years later, and the estimate is then dated September 8, 2020, and shows a “Replacement Cost Value” and “Net Claim” of “$76,919.77.”  So it was not “shortly after the hurricane,” but rather three years later.

Harvey’s court Complaint against his insurance carrier, also through an Assignment of Benefits to Massey Construction, at paragraph 10 therein states: “On or about September 10, 2017, while the Policy was in full force and effect, a covered loss occurred to The Property resulting from Hurricane Irma causing sudden and accidental damage to The Property (the “Loss”).”

His Assignment of Benefits to Massey is dated September 8, 2020, which is two days after Jeff’s.  The lawyer for Massey for Harvey’s claim was the same lawyer for a number of Massey court Complaints on behalf of homeowners. 

That lawyer later withdrew from representing Massey in a number of cases including Harvey’s.  His motion to withdraw in Harvey’s court case states that an “adversarial relationship” exists between his firm and Massey Construction.  That’s very interesting.  What, perhaps, did he learn that caused this sudden “adversarial relationship” that he described?

The contract with Harvey shows a “Replacement Cost Value” and “Net Claim” in the amount of “$78,097.66,” so his litigation settled for slightly less, but the claim amounts are eerily similar to Jeff’s and actually almost identical.  Both Jeff and Harvey signed identical Assignment of Benefit forms presented to them from Massey Construction (which are attached as Exhibit A to each of their respective Complaints).

Both Harvey’s and Jeff’s “Contractor Representative” for Massey was the same guy, whose name is handwritten on both agreements and appears to be “Jose Lajara.”

What are the odds of two homes having a difference in claim amounts of only $1,177.89, which is a difference of only 1 ½ %, three years later, with two days between the two contracts with the same roofer and same roofer representative?  And one of these homeowners is this HOA’s president and the other is its vice-president. 

Did either Jeff or Harvey contact their insurance carriers after the weather event in 2017 to make a claim then?  It doesn’t appear so, because these documents don’t come into existence until suddenly three years later, and I didn’t see any reference to any earlier claim by either of them. 

Many people and roofers believed that the statute of limitations was three years; these two claims were made four days (Jeff) and two days (Harvey) before the expiration of the believed statute of limitations (September 6, 2020 and September 8, 2020 respectively).

Some Florida lawyers through their legal blogs that I reviewed, as well as the statutes involved, suggest that it is actually five years in certain circumstances; the issue is a tad complex and implicates several Florida statutes not germane to this discussion (Florida Statutes 627.70132 and 95.11 for those of you who are curious).

Further, did anyone notice any tarps on either Jeff’s or Harvey’s roofs to prevent water or wind damage for the three intervening years?  There’s been plenty of rain in that three-year period. 

Jeff’s roof was replaced just this year and Harvey’s was last year, which was 5 and 4 years after that weather event.  That would be a lot of water damage without protection, and these were complete roof replacements, not just partial replacements.

Keep in mind that many insurance companies settle claims not because the claims are necessarily valid or provable, but because settling them is cheaper than taking them to trial, considering legal fees and costs.  They do so also to minimize their potential losses at trial because every litigator knows that going to trial is a crapshoot.

I noted a lot of different homeowners’ insurance companies in these cases being sued by the homeowners through Massey Construction, and they just don’t have the resources to fight every single one of these claims. 

Separately, the October 3, 2022 Palm Beach Post just came out with a front page article as to one of the reasons your property insurance premiums are going way up (because of roofing scams). 

So for all of you honest folks out there who have paid or will be paying $40,000 and up for a new roof, and your insurance premiums are also increasing if you can even find decent insurance, you are subsidizing the alleged scammers referenced in the newspaper article.

And most people who get new roofs will see their insurance premiums get a discount while the rest of you are seeing increases to your premiums.

Again, I’m specifically not equating that article with the new roofs Harvey and Jeff got.  I’m just reporting the facts, and the court cases are public record accessible to anyone.

Separately and unrelated but as an interesting point, under Florida Statute 817.234 which is entitled “False and fraudulent insurance claims,” under subsection 11, if a person commits such a crime, and the value of the property involved in a violation of this section is between $20,000 and $100,000, it is a second degree felony.  The penalty is a fine up to $10,000 and imprisonment up to 15 years.

As another unrelated but interesting observation, Florida Statute 720.306(b) disqualifies anyone from being a director of an HOA if they are convicted of a felony unless their civil rights have been restored within five years of the date they seek election. 

For those interested, here are the case numbers from the Palm Beach County Clerk’s official website, and you can read all the documents yourself as they are all posted for public consumption:

Jeff: Case No. 50-2021-CA-001543-xxxx-MB   

Harvey: Case No. 50-2020-CA-011651-xxxx-MB

Now on to the rest of my report.

Part II:  Political Mudslinging

What appears to be a false and manipulative email sent to the community must be addressed.  On Tuesday afternoon, October 4, 2022, the four officers (Jeff, Harvey, Pat, and Richard) sent out an email to the entire community, through the property manager’s office.

It included the following sentence: “There has been substantial misinformation circulated to the community.”

Assuming they are referring to director Arthur’s reports to the community, which we believe they most certainly are, and my reports, this statement made by them is false, manipulative, and an abuse of power, and the property manager should have refused the request to blast it to the community.

Everything reported by us is factual.  They are likely going apoplectic because Arthur is being honest, open, and transparent with the community as to what they are doing behind the scenes, and it appears to us that they are using your money to pay lawyers to cover for them because they clearly feel the threat to their power. 

In our opinion, they don’t want transparency; they want secrecy and complete control over the narrative regardless of its lack of veracity. 

This email from these four officers was also done to rally their troops: they encouraged people to come to the Board meeting so that their mob could circle the wagons around them.  That very small “crowd,” and I use that word hyperbolically, does not represent this community.    

Vote these directors out of their directorships at the next opportunity for each of them (Jeff and Harvey this coming March; Richard and Pat the following year).  And that’s what this is really about: they are petrified because they are vulnerable at their re-election time, and they know it. 

Jeff, the president, and Harvey, the vice-president, are so concerned with the upcoming March elections that they have decided to begin their campaigning now.  It sure looks like it to me.  This is pure political mudslinging.  They know full well that the community is fed up with them, so they have resorted to unethical measures to try and stem the vote-bleeding. 

Part III:  Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up

Most people will remember that classic show, To Tell The Truth, which started in 1956, and you can see reruns in various places.  They had three people claim to be the same person with an interesting or unusual occupation and the panelists questioned them to try and determine who was the real named person with the stated occupation.

At the end, the moderator said, “Will the real so-and-so please stand up.”  And the real person with that name and occupation stood up, revealing himself or herself.


That’s a photo of the rapper Marshall Mathers aka Eminem aka “The Real Slim Shady” (his alter-ego/character).  Now let’s talk again about the current HOA president.

In the latest issue of the HOA’s official magazine, the September/October 2022 News & Views, the HOA president aka Slim Shady felt compelled to write a hit piece on this website, your Editor, and a fellow equal Board member; he devoted half of his column to that endeavor. 

Now why would he do that?


[Cartoonstock.com]

The good news is that many people don’t attribute to him much credibility anyway.


[Cartoonstock.com]

For the record, I stand by everything written on this website and as always, I challenge anyone to provide evidence that any of the facts reported by me are not true.  To date, no one has successfully taken up that challenge with actual facts and actual evidence. 


In fact, if anyone has provided evidence time and time and time again, it’s clearly been me, providing an abundance of evidence all over this website. 


Slim Shady claimed that all the improvements he listed were done without an assessment; did he forget about the assessment that everyone paid in 2020 in the amount of $800 per home?  That was to replenish the reserves from which some of the items he listed were paid.  To state otherwise is completely misleading in my opinion.

The HOA president also went after another equal Board member, Arthur, who is also my husband, criticizing Arthur’s adherence to the law when Arthur refused to attend two illegal closed board meetings that took place contrary to Florida statute 720.303. 

The HOA president claimed that those meetings were not illegal because they were sanctioned by the HOA lawyer, which they were, and the lawyer was also present at those meetings.  Just because the HOA lawyer says “come on down” doesn’t transpose an otherwise illegal meeting into a legal meeting.

In his News & Views column, the HOA president admits that the rest of the Board voted in secret to move forward with a foreclosure at a third closed Board meeting which Arthur did attend. 

Arthur was the lone Board member who refused to vote because it was illegal, and he said so, and he also reports that at that moment the lawyer went berserk and started ranting about his credentials as a Florida attorney and HOA specialist. 

Arthur stated words to the effect that he didn’t care what was hanging on his wall and he’s not voting because this is illegal, and every vote has to be in front of the membership except for the choosing of officers.

The lawyer then said after the vote, per Arthur, that the Board would ratify it at the next Board meeting but in fact that never happened.

In fact, Arthur brought this up during the September 21, 2022 Board meeting, and still it wasn’t done, and either Jeff or Richard or both said they have to go back to the lawyer and discuss it with him, thus wasting even more of your money.

At the end of this report is a list of a number of issues for which the legal advice given by the lawyers in my opinion is either flat out wrong or given to protect certain directors at the expense of everyone else. 

I also address the lawyer’s obligations to the Association when these directors act in a manner that is contrary to or adverse to the membership.  Their loyalty per the Florida Bar Rules is to the Association, specifically not to those directors, and sometimes it appears to me that they have it backwards based on the examples detailed below.  More on that later.

In the meantime, we also have the recycling of more sludge (character assassination, misinformation, lies, viciousness) from committee chairs (entertainment, recreation, welcoming and caring, rules and regs), webmasters, and their minions, who are fanning this sludge out into some of the clubs (PAP, pickleball, tennis).

Some of these people regularly send out repetitive hit pieces on me and Arthur, the latest one shamefully sent to many Jewish residents on Yom Kippur, in total disregard for the most sacred holiday of the year.

All of these nasty and divisive people represent a minority of this community.  The proof of that is the failed recall petition for which a fairly large number of signatures were fraudulently obtained after residents were mercilessly badgered by some of these people in common areas, harassed to no end, and lied to by these people in positions of authority. 

Many of those residents who initially signed based on these individuals’ deceitful rhetoric and who then revoked their signatures when they discovered they were flat out lied to, and many of the rest of the residents who didn’t sign, are fed up with all of these nasty people. 

And because they were so seriously lied to, residents give no credibility to the purveyors of this dung hurled at them attacking me and Arthur. 

You either have ethical standards or you don’t; those who don’t tend to attach labels to the truth-tellers such as “crazy,” “whacko,” “sick,” “troubled,” “lonely,” “angry,” “troublemaker,” “abused,” “personality disorder,” “evil mind,” “disgruntled,” and other pejorative words to deflect from the truth that is being exposed.

And if they really felt that yours truly was so troubled and sick or abused, where is the neighborly love to reach out?  Since when is it ok to pile on like a mob against someone who you believe is mentally sick, mentally fragile, or has been abused?  Is that how you treat the mentally disabled or troubled or the abused?  No:  you either keep your mouth shut or you reach out and try to help in a kind way. 

So that’s clearly not what’s going on here.  There’s a clear agenda and it has nothing to do with me:  it has to do with politics and the corruption that they are trying to keep hidden which I regularly expose, and that’s why those labels are being attached to me. 

It is also noteworthy that with all these labels, none of them has ever refuted any fact reported by me and/or Arthur with any credible evidence or authorities whatsoever.  Instead, they make up false things about us and spread that dung around the community. 

There’s an excellent letter to the community in this same News & Views edition on page 22 that rightfully bemoans the “lack of civility” and “friction,” and which sadly acknowledges the “hate” and “bullying” going on at the pool and in the common areas. 

These nasty people demand that you agree with them and disavow me and Arthur under threat of ex-communication and they are making these despicable demands in and on the common areas.  They are making it uncomfortable for residents and members to use and enjoy the common areas for which they pay equally.

This is the kind of behavior that low class thugs engage in; is that what this community is going to be known for because of this minority of individuals destroying it for the rest of us?  What a shame.  Let’s reverse this course and elect people in March who represent the fine residents among us, which I have to believe is most of the community.

Now back to Slim Shady, the HOA president, and his column in the HOA’s magazine.  Using the official HOA magazine, News & Views, as a bully pulpit in this manner, by devoting half of his column to an attack piece on me and his fellow equal director, Arthur, my husband, is, in my opinion, an outrageous abuse of the HOA president’s position. 

Using the property manager’s office to send out a mass email to the community further spreading this hateful rhetoric is also an outrageous abuse of power.

As I said above, March elections are approaching, and this is pure political mudslinging.

This is inappropriate because no other potential candidates have the ability to promote themselves in this manner. 


To me it appears that he is using HOA resources to finance his personal political ambitions.  He is up for re-election this coming March.  He’s concerned because of the buzz around the community about members’ dissatisfaction with his leadership.  He should be.

The rest of this HOA president’s troubling conduct will be addressed in my 2023 Election Report if not sooner depending on his conduct moving forward. 

For a recap of some of his past questionable behavior, see the points stated by Director Arthur in my March 24, 2022 report of the Board’s organizational meeting (scroll down to after the Perception/Reality image) (link below).


Based on conduct that both Jeff and Harvey have engaged in as previously reported over the course of approximately the last two years, I think that it’s in the best interests of the community for Jeff and Harvey not to seek re-election when their terms expire in March.

Now let’s talk about the HOA lawyers.  The HOA lawyer in my opinion is at best uninformed, and I’m being generous in my stated opinion.  I do think a tad differently in my unstated opinion, but let’s just go with the word “uninformed” for purposes of this report.


Here are just some examples and my opinions as to why they are wrong with my supporting legal authorities:

1.  HOA lawyer said Board can vote in secret. No it can’t; see: Florida Statute 720.303(2)(a) and (2)(c)(3) (only for the choosing of officers);

2.  HOA lawyer said Board can meet in secret to discuss Board practices.  No it can’t; see: Florida Statute 720.303(2)(a) and (b);

3.  HOA lawyer said members can only bring a floor vote for bulk contracts.  No, they can do so for communication contracts such as the virtual guard motion: see Florida Statute 720.309(2)(a);

4.  HOA lawyer said Board can have sealed Minutes.  No it can’t; see: Florida Statute 720.303(3) and (4)(f);

5.  HOA lawyer said the president and secretary can control the agenda.  Wrong.

No authority was found for this bald assertion and to the contrary are the following: the statute (720.303) and our governing documents state that the “Board” as a whole makes decisions affecting the HOA:  see Covenants, Article I, #4, pages 1-1 and 1-2, Article of Incorporation VIII, page 2-3 and By-Laws, Section IV, subsection A, page 3-3 and Section VII, pages 3-8 and 3-9;

6.  HOA lawyer said a majority of the Board can determine if an item will even be on the agenda, essentially permitting a secret advance vote.  No it can’t; see: Florida Statute 720.303(2)(a) and (2)(c)(3);

7.  HOA lawyer said that the president and secretary can reassign agenda items initially put forth by one equal Board director and assign it to another, thus removing that equal board member’s voice, how it’s presented, and what exactly is presented and thus creating a hierarchy among what’s supposed to be equal directors.

No authority was found for this bald assertion and to the contrary are the following: the statute (720.303) and our governing documents state that the “Board” as a whole makes decisions affecting the HOA:  see Covenants, Article I, #4, pages 1-1 and 1-2, Article of Incorporation VIII, page 2-3 and By-Laws, Section IV, subsection A, page 3-3 and Section VII, pages 3-8 and 3-9;

8.  HOA lawyer said agenda items can be added without 48-hour notice to the community.  No they can’t; see:  Florida Statute 720.303(2)(a)(c) and (2)(b);

9.  HOA lawyer said mailboxes belong to the HOA because they’re “on the swale;” No, that’s completely wrong:  see Postal Regulations, Sections 632.11, 632.522, 632.523 and HOA governing documents:  Covenants, Article VIII, Section O, page 1-18 and By-Laws, General Rules, B.8., page 4-8.

By the way, per Florida Statute 720.301(8)(a) and (b), the “governing documents” include the covenants, articles of incorporation, and the by-laws.

Furthermore, the HOA lawyer, after claiming without authority that the mailboxes belonged to the HOA because they’re “on the swale,” then went on to admit that he was not familiar with the HOA’s governing documents.

This in and of itself is a stunning admission since this law firm has represented this HOA since 2009 and this firm on numerous occasions over the years has reviewed the issue and billed the HOA every single time.

10.  HOA lawyer said that Florida statute 720.305 (grievance hearing entitlement) didn’t apply to the Message Board/HOA website.  No, that’s wrong: Florida Statute 720.305 applies because suspensions are specifically mentioned therein and now, finally, the Board approved rules that clearly give you your statutory right to have those violations reviewed by the Grievance Committee, completely bucking his bad advice from January 8, 2020.

11.  HOA lawyer sent two absurd cease and desist letters, one under former HOA president Marion Weil and one under this HOA president, to me and my husband with regard to this website, which any first-year law student should know flies in the face of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  That was also a total waste of your money.

12.  HOA lawyer showed up at Board meetings without a Board vote, without notice to all Board members, and without the required 48 hours’ notice to the community. 

This is a vendor debt incurred by the HOA for which members have a right to input before the Board votes at an open meeting on whether or not to spend the member’s money on this or any vendor.  There was no notice and no vote on the money spent, and his presence contributed nothing of value in my opinion and actually wastefully cost the HOA money.

13.  The lawyers act, in my opinion and based on my observations, as if they represent the Board.  They do not.  In fact, they represent the HOA through the Board.  They specifically do not represent the Board.  There’s a very big difference.  Their client is the Association.

They actually have an obligation to contradict the Board or Board members when the Board or some Board members act against the interest of the owners or contrary to law.  The Florida Bar Rules mandate this: 

Florida Bar Rule 4-1.13(a): “A lawyer employed or retained by an organization represents the organization acting through its duly authorized constituents.” 

The client is the organization, which is the HOA; its “authorized constituents” are the Board.  That means the entire Board, not a select few members thereof.  In fact, even the lawyers’ retainer contract of which I have a copy (because all members are entitled to it) recognizes that the client is the Association (as opposed to the Board).

Florida Bar Rule 4.13(d):  this instructs on the lawyer’s obligation to “explain the identity of the client when the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the organization’s interests are adverse to those of the constituents with whom the lawyer is dealing.” 

This means that the lawyer has an obligation to remind wayward Board members (“the constituents with whom the lawyer is dealing”) that he represents the HOA, and specifically not them.

So as you can see, the law firm’s duty of loyalty is to the HOA, not the Board, and yet in my opinion, they repeatedly show fidelity to some Board members as if those Board members were their clients.  They are not.  It appears they “cover” for these few Board members with whom they deal: this is my opinion based on the facts as detailed above.

Mind you, most of these legal fees incurred were because these individuals on the Board sicced the lawyers on us or tried to shut down our lawful voices: none of it, absolutely none of it, was because either of us initially contacted the HOA lawyer, because we never did. 

In my opinion, all of that was a total waste of your money and was an abuse of power done for their own ego-based and power-hungry purposes.

Hopefully this place will have a new Board come March whose first order of business will be to terminate this law firm. 

I have contemplated taking the Florida Bar and the requirements for special certification for HOAs a lot, because this is so bad in my opinion that it should not be allowed to continue without additional serious authoritative pushback. 

I will say that in all likelihood my opinion will not change, and I will stand by everything in my reports because of my ability to read and understand statutes and my almost forty years’ experience as a litigator (California licensed attorney, still active) and my five years on the bench as a Judge Pro Tem. 

The only thing stopping me is that this is supposed to be my retirement. 

However, I’m spending so much time exposing this bad behavior that maybe I will, because what we have here is this self-serving sludge being flung at us at various times from the prior president, the current president, the current vice-president, the current treasurer, and the current secretary.

And that’s my report.  Now, will the real Slim Shady please stand up.

  Your faithful scribe,
  Vicki Roberts

P.S.  Don’t forget to check out my delightful little poem in the same September/October 2022 issue of News & Views; it’s on page 56 and is entitled, “HOA Living.”  😊

Hyperlinks to Happiness:

March 24, 2022 Organizational Meeting of the Board of Directors

(and then scroll down to after the Perception/Reality image)