Trust Me I'm Lying:

Thanks to our Board, Christmas has come early for illegal overnight renters at the Roney Palace, again....

Roney Palace residents got to wake up today to an email about higher fees. The Board blames SLMA. But don’t be distracted by their finger pointing. The Board has a clear untapped revenue stream to offset those increases and more. We would have 1 million dollars in surplus in 2025 alone by simply charging for guest cards as per the written rules. Instead they decided that supporting illegal rentals was more aligned with their interests so they opted to drastically reduce the price of guest cards. They say it will bring us increased revenue - more lies. It will bring $100K as per usual not the 1 million we all deserve. They are touting their success as refinancing a $500,000 loan. We could have paid this off with the income from guest cards from March to date had they not given everyone 20 free guest cards for their illegal guests. This Board is a joke but the joke is on us. They and their illegal rental cronies are feeling pretty smug right now having successfully screwed us all over.

I’m here to check in….

Get used to hearing that phrase. Illegal rentals are officially here to stay. The Roney Board, composed of dream team Andres Lizerralde, Lynn Nunes and Daniel Kowarski, has officially fulfilled their dream: Stimulating the illegal rental economy. A special shout-out to our Association Counsel, Jose Torres, and GM, Ann Keenan, for helping make this vision a reality. Props to the crew.

In spite of opposition on the recent Thanksgiving Board call, the Board unanimously voted to reduce guest card fees to $50 per card. Interestingly, no illegal renters were on the call but the Board and Association counsel successfully argued for their side. And surprise they prevailed. I spent more on my croissant and coffee at Plnthouse this morning. Chalk up a win for illegal rentals.

I imagine it won’t be long before the illegal opportunists are hawking guest cards on the street for a nice profit. Or maybe I am just being naive and that was part of the plan all along. The illegal renter contingent are, after all, actively suing the Association as we speak for free guest cards in perpetuity. So tempting. Greed is good.

Now while our collective costs are going up, we won’t be getting the 1 million dollars in revenue from shutting down the illegal rental guest card scheme that had gone undetected for years. The Board didn’t think it was worth it to upset a few illegal renters. Something about fairness. We will however, as a consolation prize, get the privilege of paying for live flowers on the table in lobby. This from a Board that has zero taste. Hey, its is the least they could do. We feel heard. Givers.

In yet another display of their twisted logic, the Board heard unit owners’ complaints about illegal renters over-taxing the staff not as a clarion call to curb illegal rentals, but as a opportunity to hire a bellman to handle their luggage. Classic Board. So now we will paying for that salary as well.

The highlight of the farcical Board meeting, though, had to be the palpable ‘trust me I’m lying’ moment when each Board member was recorded attesting that they do not engage in or facilitate illegal rentals. Lynn in particular has said he has had nothing to do with his investment units, he uses a management company, blah, blah, blah. Now while he is obviously responsible for the actions of his management company, duh, here he is requesting cards on his units. This stuff just writes itself.

It is not that the illegal renters are actually that numerous, it is simply that the Board is connected with them. Andres Lizerralde has never spoken to me but he speaks to ‘the other side’ all the time. I would not be surprised if the Board is sharing privileged legal information about the case with them, if they were instructing our attorney to ease up on fighting against the illegal renters lawsuit or if they will waive the rights to recoup attorneys fees from the illegal renters should we prevail. This Board is in deep. And do they hold the keys to the kingdom? Yes. Until they don’t.