96-Year-Old Being Forced Out Over Storm Preps

Condo board tells elderly woman to upgrade condo or get foreclosed on

Sarah Eisenberg has lived through many storms in her 96 years, but the ominous forecast she faces these days comes from the association that runs her condominium.

Eisenberg said that she has been told that if she doesn't pay to upgrade to hurricane windows and doors, the association will foreclose on her Fort Lauderdale unit.

The cost is $6,500, a price tag too expensive for a senior citizen on a fixed income, Eisenberg said. She gets $1,500 per month from her Social Security check.

"They want $2,000 for a door," Eisenberg said. "In the White House there isn’t a door for $2,000."

The cooperative board said Wednesday that the notices Eisenberg has received are legal and comply with the Broward County code. The board president declined to comment further on the issue.

Eisenberg, a retired swimmer and teacher, has lived in the condo unit for 12 years and said she has hurricane shutters that have protected the unit against storms.

But last year, the coop began sending notices to the complex's residents that they needed to start upgrading. Letters recently sent to Eisenberg said she was nine months late on the renovations to her condo.

Some of the letters come off as threatening, she said.

One sent in April from the coop director said, "It is our hope you immediately enter into a contract as required, so that you may be spared the legal process that will ensue."

The coop took it a step further last month and notified Eisenberg they might place a lien against her property and "if necessary foreclose the lien, the letter said.

"They said that they sent me a notice that I am in violation. I pay my maintenance and I have never been in default," Eisenberg said. "My home is my life."

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