All-Florida Problems

Not a month goes by that I don’t get asked about whether or not I’m still willing to fight on with this issue. It is a seemingly minor issue in and of itself. But in the grand scheme of things, it is just one more company that is willing to use it’s power to abuse others for its own profit.

Consider the following:

It has been nearly 3.5 years since All-Florida Properties decided to mishandle what should have been a simple matter of courtesy (combined with a long-history of Florida law). Upon that mishandling, they moved left and right to wiggle around their own missteps, never owning up to the problem, offering to fix it, or taking responsibility for the financial burden they placed on others.

To date, they remain a proud member of the Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce because, as I’ve demonstrated, the Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce doesn’t place any degree of effort into resolving disputes, despite their rather public proclamation otherwise. Therefore, the Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce is a culpable and active cooperative in abetting All-Florida Properties to maintain the public appearance of a well-operated company when, in fact, there may be many others who have been equally enjoined from fair and equal property management under the law.

This website has now been up for just about three years and only recently did All-Florida Properties finally get their own website. Although it’s a horrible eyesore and looks as unprofessional as one of those old Geocities pages, I’m guessing they slapped it up because when you Google “All-Florida Properties Palm Bay”, this website was listed number one. Now, it is number two, having been replaced (finally!) by All-Florida Properties own website.

The new All-Florida Properties website is, quite frankly, a joke. And I’m trying to be nice and not be judgmental as us web designers tend to be. I’m speaking here about content. There is none on their site. It is largely a compendium of forms to get information from you - the would-be renter or buyer. There are no staff bio’s (of course). There is no proud history of the company. There is no effort at all, in fact, made to convince you they are a worthwhile company. And to no one surprise. In other words, it is a website technically, but not a professional reflection that any company would actually pay for. At least, I hope they didn’t pay for it. For their sake.

The idea of a lawsuit against them has grown rather sour to me. At least I think so for now. Time is ticking on the statute of limitations, first of all. But moreover, what good would a lawsuit do? Get me back my money, at best, plus a meager 10 percent interest and court costs? No, I’d rather keep on with this website and cost them tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. At this point, they are going to have to pay me much more than they stole from me to remove the website - and I’m not even sure about that. At best, I might be convinced to remove some of the material, but I think, as a general rule, that Brevard area citizens ought to, at least, be aware of my experience, and take that into account before deciding to do business with All-Florida Properties. This ought to also go for those who might turn their home over to be managed by them as well.

Think I’m the only one? I doubt it. I’d like as many others out there who have been wronged by this company to feel free to post your comments here to let others know. Here’s a recent email I received a victim of another unscrupulous landlord. It is quite tragic.:

Did you ever resolve your dispute with All-Florida?

I’m asking because I’m embroiled in a battle with a former landwhored over my security deposit. It was $750. I did everything to the best of my ability to make sure my place was not only as good as it was when I moved in, but better. I’m at 25 days with no response from the last day of my lease. She has until the 9th to mail me a letter stating how much and why she’s keeping out of my security. I offered her walk throughs on more than one occasion. I’ve been posting a blog about the hell I’ve been going through on the above myspace page if you’re interested.

I wasn’t able to keep the calm demeanor that you were, so if you’re offended by FOUL language and thoughts of brutality- then you might want to skip it. I used the blog to vent my outrage and bile to keep that sheer anger from building up in me.

This woman has ruined my dream of opening a community gallery in the Village of the Arts and her keeping this money has caused financial grief to my family. I moved in with my parents to help them financially. My dad is a disabled veteran- a quadriplegic and my folks live on a fixed income, all of which the landwhored is quite aware. This makes her extra despicable in my eyes.

She also stole electricity from me during my entire tenancy, but since I couldn’t come up with the money to hire a licensed electrician to point out that the circuit breaker had an extra circuit for her workshop/garage, FPL wouldn’t step in.

Its been a heck of an ordeal. I was just wondering if YOU got any where, maybe I would too.

That’s the kind of thing we have to stop. I’m a pretty tough guy and I let a lot of stuff roll off my back. I’m also the kind of guy to fight to the bitter end over principle. But I got to thinking, if a company like All-Florida Properties will do that to someone like me, knowing full well that I’m not going to take it sitting down, imagine how many single mom’s and young people they will take advantage of when they can use their “power” combined with the other parties lack of knowledge or lack of financial resources to easily take money. It makes it especially easy when they already have our money and just simply refuse to give it back.

For now, the website stays. If you’ve come across it and it has helped you, leave a public comment below, won’t you? Else feel free to contact me privately.

Wow! It has been two additional weeks and still no response from the Palm Bay Chamber. This is very bizarre. What kind of chamber is this? I finally got a hold of someone on the phone that told me Kathleen has been very busy because of the upcoming Big Squeeze event. What? My complaint has been lodged since November 2006. The Big Squeeze is held this year on March 29. Sounds like a song and dance to me. Now, they are really beginning to make me wonder if there is any real value to a Palm Bay Chamber membership at all. As a last resort, I sent today the following email.

Kathleen,

My emails have not been bouncing back. I think it is safe to assume you are receiving them. I would appreciate the courtesy of a written reply regarding the status of my complaint against All-Florida Properties.

While I realize the Palm Bay Chamber is low on resources, it does advertise this process for the purpose of keeping quality members only in its ranks. So far, I have had to initiate every step of this process. It doesn’t seem like the Chamber is taking seriously its commitment to preserve the professional nature of its affiliations when responses to matters such as these are extremely delayed.

To reiterate, I have had no written response from the Chamber regarding my complaint against All-Florida Properties since I submitted it on November 4, 2006. Thus, as of today, my complaint is two-and-a-half months old. I was told by you on the phone to expect a resolution within 30 days. You also asked me to contact you “in case I didn’t hear back”, which not surprisingly, is exactly what happened. I even allowed additional time because your office claimed that you could not read or receive emails back in November due to technical glitches.

On January 3, 2007, I sent a request to you to respond to me. So far, I have received nothing - either by email or U.S. Mail.

My next step will be to write to the board of the Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce asking for an explanation.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Salberg
PO Box 714
Melbourne, FL 32902-0714

Well, I’ve called and left a number of messages and stopped by, but so far, I haven’t received a response from the Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce. When I first sent the email, I didn’t hear back for a week. When I called to follow up, they said their email was broken and nobody could get email except the front desk lady. So I forwarded it to her. When I still didn’t hear back, I called again. This time they said that they think everyone’s email is broken. For two weeks? I’m starting to wonder exactly how serious of an organization this is. Since then, I’ve called a half-dozen times in the past month and left messages, but Kathleen Bishop just simply doesn’t call back, nor is any explanation of her lack of response given by the staff. Today I sent the following email and reattached the original email.

Kathleen,

It has been a significant amount of time. Please advise me as to the status of this issue.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Salberg

I filed the following complaint against All-Florida Properties today with the Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce, where they have been a member for many . Here is the text of my message. I had gone to the Chamber directly, thinking there would be a form to fill out, but they told me that they prefer just a written statement and to send it via email to Kathleen Bishop, the president of the Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce. Here is what I sent her.

Hi Kathleen,

I stopped by to file a complaint regarding your chamber member, All-Florida Properties. I have had a long standing dispute that they have been completely unwilling to resolve by doing the right thing and refunding my $740, not to mention the now $200 I have spent on certified letters, travel expenses, and research.

I was told that I should just send you this as a free-form letter, but rather than write a lengthy letter (that might be kind of hard to follow), I thought I’d direct you to the website I created that outlines the general complaint I have had with All-Florida Properties.

http://www.allfloridaproblems.com

In essence, I rented from All-Florida through 2004 when the home I was renting was severly damaged by the two hurricanes that came through Brevard. All-Florida, along with the landlord, was unable to fix or repair the hom in a reasonable time and I exercised my right under Florida law to terminate the lease. All-Florida then prepared a list of trumped up damage charges in order to withhold my $740 deposit.

After much letter-writing and basically, threats, I was able to finally get them, in writing, to remove any negative reference to my rental history, and to retract their fictitious claims of damage that I committed.

However, they later sent me notice that they had sent my $740 back to the owner and that I would have to get back the money from her, despite the fact that she has all but disappeared. And of course, I can’t even verify they even did that - which they had no right to do. That was my money that they, a licensed real estate firm, admitted was due to me. But they supposedly neglectfully mailed it to the wrong person - referring to an inaccurate law to justify their error.

Now, nearly two years later, several letters later, and the creation of my public website, they ignore my attempts to retrieve my money. I no longer have any interest in being polite and waiting.

So, as one of my first steps to bring this to closure, I wanted to pursue a complaint with the chamber, which they hold out as a mark of their professionalism and community support, which naturally, I find to be somewhat fraudulent considering what I’ve seen of their behavior over the past two years.

I have said all along that the return of my money, plus a reasonable amount for my expenses in pursuing the return of my own money (roughly $200), and I would be glad to put this aside and move on with my life. I have been nothing but reasonable about it.

While I maintain options (such as filing a complaint with the Melbourne Area Board of Realtors, the State of Florida’s Real Estate Licensing Divisions, and of course, a Small Court Claim), I have been trying to do the right thing and give them an opportunity to turn back from their prior errors. I am not trying to run them out of town or overly embarrass them, and I feel that (should they do the right thing and correct their error) I would have no choice to assume they are earnestly attempting to run a professional office and wish to maintain whatever standing they have built in our community of Palm Bay. Naturally, the opposite behavior they have steadfastly exhibited has convinced me they may not care.

I trust that the Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce is committed to keeping only the most excellent businesses as members and want to raise a standard that sets an example for all of us. I run a business in Palm Bay that I recently started last year, so I look forward to working with you to resolve this matter in the most professional and expiditious way possible so that both the Chamber and All-Florida Properties can have a prosperous year in 2007.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Yours Warmly,

Lawrence Salberg

The last correspondence I received from All-Florida Properties stated that they (finally!) returned my deposit in full - to the owner of the dwelling! They referenced an arcane statute that they claim allows them to do this. Why would they do this? The speculation will drive you mad so don’t bother.

First, I’ve yet to determine whether or not this is even true. The owner, a hispanic woman with a very common name, Gladys Suarez, has disappeared and won’t return calls or letters. I’ve sort of come to the opinion that it really doesn’t matter if it is true anymore. I’m not going to spend my time and money chasing some person all over Florida for money she may not even have.

All-Florida Properties erred when they released my money to this woman. If I had wanted to rent from a private landlord, I would have. Instead, after nearly six months of causing me grief, they finally admit their errors, give me a letter stating that I owe them nothing for damages, that I had a good rental record with their company, and that… uh, they gave my money away. Some might argue that it wasn’t theirs to give, but they seem to do what is best for their convenience. I guess they figured I’d just throw my hands up and just forget about it.

Quite frankly, even if I was making over $100,000/year, I wouldn’t let a company like this get away with the shenanigans they’ve pulled. They have cost me untold hours of misery, nearly a thousand dollars now, and I have a very strong feeling I’m not the only one that they have done this to. They are, quite simply, a little bit too good at being bad for me to think it is all just a freak mishap.

So, I warned them and warned them. They don’t return calls or letters as you can plainly see. So, now the website is up and running. This time, I have submitted it to all the search engines (it was a private site for only friends and family before).

Currently, I’m considering when to pursue a small claims court proceeding against them. As anyone knows who has fought any kind of corporation, they have money and time on their side. They hope to drag it out and make you miss work, get fired, pull your hair out, etc. While I’d love to file a few papers and be in and out of court in a week, the reality is that they will try and suck yet another year of my life out of me. So, I’ve been setting things up to allow myself the time and liberty to pursue this. I’m also pursuing an interesting avenue that will allow me to be later compensated for every hour they cause me to spend in pursuit of my money, so that for every hour (more) they waste of mine, I’ll be able to be compensated by court order later - when they lose. Hopefully, that will allow the case to proceed more quickly, but if not, at least I’ll be reimbursed rather well for my time - enough that I sure won’t complain - although I’ll feel sorry for the employee or two that they’ll have to lay off in order to pay the total bill.

In the meantime, I have the website up and running (finally). I feel bad that I wasn’t able to get it up sooner, but having had other things going in life (don’t we all?), it got delayed a few times. I’m sorry to anyone that might have been otherwise forewarned if they had found this site sooner.

This is my most recent letter which was returned unopened. Ms. Suarez’s son now stays in our old home at 1309 Cromey and refuses to assist in divulging the location of his mother who may be out of the country. Her medical license expired some time ago (she previously worked as a nurse in a South Florida hospital). Although the Brevard County Property Appraiser still shows this as the mailing address of the owner, letters are being returned. Needless to say, All-Florida Properties has not responded at all.

Lawrence W. Salberg, Jr.
P.O. Box 714
Melbourne, FL 32902-0714

February 13, 2006

VIA CERTIFIED U.S. MAIL – RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Article#70042510000345619425

Ms. Gladys Suarez
5118 Adams St
Hollywood, FL 33021

Subject: Demand for repayment of Security Deposit

Ms. Suarez,

This letter is meant to convey my sincere concern over my security deposit of $740.00. It is also to formally demand the security deposit back. This is my final letter to you.

You have seriously financially injured me by your actions of last year. When I rented 1309 Cromey Road from All-Florida Properties, I could never imagine that they or you would put me and my family through such nonsense.

All-Florida Properties, after significant letter-writing and expenditure of my time, finally wrote me a letter acknowledging that my account with them was in good standing. Further, as you know, they refunded the security deposit to you. They also told me that you were the one who initiated all the actions against me and my family. I don’t know if that is true, and I no longer care.

Between yourself and All-Florida Properties, my security deposit has not been returned to me for nearly 18 months. Should I not receive my deposit back, I will be filing a claim against both you and All-Florida Properties in court. I fully believe they, as the property manager, erred in refunding you my money. However, I will let a court decide who is to pay me and how much.

If I do not receive my $740 security deposit refund within 14 days from the date of this letter, I will be suing both you and All-Florida Properties in small claims court.

Sincerely,

Lawrence W. Salberg, Jr.

This is now my fifth letter (and probably not my last) to All-Florida Properties. Of course, it only gives just a hint of things to come. But, most likely, it will also be ignored. I’m looking forward to January 24 and February 1. I really wonder what All-Florida Properties is going to offer to a judge as an excuse as to why they never responded to my letters.

January 7, 2005

All-Florida Properties, Inc.
1071 Port Malabar Blvd, Suite 202
Palm Bay, FL 32907

RE: 1309 Cromey Road, Palm Bay

CC: Gladys Suarez, Homeowner

VIA CERTIFIED-MAIL (Article #70042510000345619326) RETURN RECEIPT

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am in receipt of your “form” dated November 24, 2004, in which you claim to have released my security deposit to the homeowner, Gladys Suarez.

I fully expect my $740.00 to be returned by either you or Ms. Suarez.

I fully expect a dated “Statement of Account” on your company letterhead stating that I no longer owe All-Florida Properties, Inc. any money (showing a zero balance).

I fully expect a “Statement of Payments” or “Letter of Reference” or similar document demonstrating the timeliness of my payment history with All-Florida Properties.

Here are the current actions I am taking:

I have filed a formal complaint Department of Business and Professional Regulation against Ms. Heather Anne Losee and All-Florida Properties, Inc.

I am filing a formal complaint this week against All-Florida Properties with the Better Business Council of the Melbourne / Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce.

I have posted my experience with All-Florida Properties on the internet. On January 24, 2005, I will submit this website to approximately 35 internet search engines. I will consider removing this website when the above expectations are met.

I have obtained the proper forms from the Brevard County Clerk of Courts to file a lawsuit against All-Florida Properties. These will be filed on February 1, 2005, unless the above numbered expectations are met.

Sincerely,

Lawrence W. Salberg, Jr.

Note: This letter is not intended to be a complete statement by us of all claims against All-Florida Properties, Inc., nor is it to be construed as a waiver of our rights.

In response to my dispute of the charges in my November 10 letter, did All-Florida Properties write back and explain any of the confusion? Did they and employee Heather Losee defend their ridiculous claims? No, no. They instead sent this beautiful form, with the blanks filled in by handwriting and sent via regular U.S. Mail, supposedly returning my security deposity to the homeowner in Miami and not even mentioning an outstanding balance for their indefensible charges.

An Adobe Acrobat PDF file of this letter can be viewed here (490 Kb). If you don’t have Acrobat, go here.

SECURITY DEPOSIT DISBURSEMENT LETTER

Date: 11/24/04
To: Lawrence & Susan Salberg
Address: PO Box 714, Melb, FL 32902-0714

Re: 1309 Cromey Rd NE

Owner(s) Name: Gladys Suarez
Address: 5118 Adams Street, Hollywood, FL 33021

From: H. A. Losee - ALL FLORIDA PROPERTIES, INC.
Property Manager

Please be advised that we are in receipt of your written objection to the claim made upon your security deposit for the rental property referenced above. As per Florida Statute 83.49, we are disbursing the security deposit to the owners of the property. If you wish to pursue your objection to the claim, you need to deal directly with the property owners, name and address above.

F.S.83.49,
…(d) Compliance with this subsection by an individual or business entity authorized to conduct business in this state, including Florida-licensed real estate brokers and salespersons, shall constitute compliance with all other relevant Florida Statutes pertaining to security deposits held pursuant to a rental agreement or other landlord-tenant relationship. Enforcement personnel shall look solely to this subsection to determine compliance. This subsection prevails over any conflicting provisions in chapter 475 and in other sections of the Florida statutes, and shall operate to permit licensed real estate brokers to disburse security deposits and deposit money without having to comply with the notice and settlement procedures contained in s.475.25(1 )(d)…

I sent concurrently with my letter to All-Florida Properties on November 10, 2004 this letter to the four owners of All-Florida Properties, Inc. to make them aware of the horrendous bungling I had been experiencing to date, culminating in Heather Losee’s false damages claims against me and my family. Once again, I did not received a single response from any of the four individuals, Raymond Maiorani, Michael Maiorani, Robin Driskill, and Attorney Charles Nash (although I have signed return receipts from them).

November 10, 2004

Mr. Michael Maiorani
Mr. Raymond Maiorani
Ms. Robin Driskill
Atty Charles Nash

RE: Employee Heather Losee

VIA CERTIFIED-MAIL RETURN RECEIPT

Dear Mr. Maiorani, et.al.:

We are concerned that nobody at All-Florida Properties is reading or understanding what we have been trying to say regarding the hurricane damages, and our subsequent forced move-out. Please find attached copies of letters I have previously mailed to All-Florida Properties regarding the home we rented at 1309 Cromey Rd, Palm Bay.

Unfortunately, due to a prior negative experience with employee Heather Losee when she worked for Underill Realty, we believe she may be allowing her personal feelings to dictate her actions. She may still be bitter over losing several issues with us. Specifically, her letter to us dated October 27, 2004, outlining claims to our security deposit is wrought with very similar fictional charges that she attempted against us when we left our prior property.

We bring this to your attention for two reasons. First, we are hoping that cooler heads will prevail. We believe our situation is more than reasonable and understandable by someone who would take a moment to investigate the truth of the situation (rather than just simply react). Secondly, this letter constitutes my formal notice to you, as a principal of All-Florida Properties, that we will pursue in court any further claims against our security deposit including any additional charges for which we are being billed, as well as our time and reasonable expenses.

At this time, we are under the impression that the reason for the method and manner in which we have been treated is isolated to a single employee and overall general confusion.

Sincerely,

Lawrence W. Salberg, Jr. & Susan Nicole Salberg

Note: This letter is not intended to be a complete statement by us of all claims against All-Florida Properties, Inc., nor is it to be construed as a waiver of our rights.

This was my fourth letter in response to All-Florida Properties’ wild claims that I owed them $1,500+ for “damages”. Frankly, this one was a tough one to write and keep any sort of composure. Their letter was so fraught full of errors and inaccuracies (aside from the fact that it was the first “sign of life” that anybody at All-Florida Properties even knew how to type) that it almost seemed more appropriate to send them their own “letter” ripped into shreds. However, I managed, after a few days of banging my head on the wall, to pen this response.

November 10, 2004

All-Florida Properties, Inc.
1071 Port Malabar Blvd, Suite 202
Palm Bay, FL 32907

RE: Final Disposition of Lease for 1309 Cromey Road, Palm Bay

CC: Gladys Suarez, Homeowner

VIA CERTIFIED-MAIL (Article #70033110000471283073) RETURN RECEIPT

Dear Sir or Madam:

We are in receipt of your Notice, dated October 27, 2004, in which you make a claim for damages on our security deposit of $740.00 and include an invoice.

We agree with your notation that the hall bathroom’s towel rack is in need of repair. No specific charge was listed next to this item, but we will concede $20 toward the repair of this item. It just needs to be glued back on; the other piece is located in the hall closet.

We dispute all other damages noted on your invoice.

Furthermore, your company has failed to respond to any of our three prior letters (dated September 10, September 30, and October 12, 2004). These letters outlined in detail the damages due to the hurricanes, the safety issues we were facing, and the potential code violations which caused the hurricane damage to be significantly greater than what it should have been.

These three letters were simply ignored by your company. We did not receive telephone calls or in-person visits from All-Florida Properties with instructions on how to proceed in handling the damages.

As I previously stated, I would have preferred, under normal circumstances, to leave the property in slightly better condition. Unfortunately, All-Florida Properties’ failure to assist in any way with emergency repairs left us with little choice but to quickly leave. It had become apparent that the hurricane damage would simply be left to stand (as had the broken chandelier for two years) and that All-Florida Properties was neither concerned nor capable of properly managing our rental home.

In fact, from the date I first stopped by your office ( September 8, 2004) to the date that Ms. Losee called us advising me to get out of the home ( October 6, 2004), we had not a single contact from All-Florida Properties. Seemingly, it is acceptable business practice for nearly a month to go by without contact from All-Florida Properties, a licensed real estate broker. This was made all the more unusual by two hurricanes damaging the property and three certified letters (not to mention phone calls) from the tenant.

Attached, find a description of your invoice charges and our specific dispute with each one.

As we stated previously, if you maintain your position, we will pursue in court your claims against our security deposit, including the fictional charges for which you have attempted to bill us.

Additionally, in the next 15 days, we will be forwarding you an itemized list of damages to our personal property due expressly to All-Florida Properties’ delays, subterfuge, and general mismanagement.

Please govern yourself accordingly.

Sincerely,

Lawrence W. Salberg, Jr. & Susan Nicole Salberg

Note: This letter is not intended to be a complete statement by us of all claims against All-Florida Properties, Inc., nor is it to be construed as a waiver of our rights.

• Carpet Cleaning $135.00: This charge is completely baseless. The main living area was cleaned just one month ago when we bought a new carpet steam cleaner. However, the great majority of damage to this carpet is from continual leaks to the home from the hurricanes that All-Florida Property neither repaired nor inspected.
• Interior Cleaning $250.00: This charge is completely baseless. There is nothing left to clean in the home that has anything to do with us. Any mess remaining is a direct result of the hurricane or the contractors Alabama Roofing Company who were in the home illegally by entering through the side broken window prior to us officially terminating the lease.
• Full Interior Paint $895.00: This charge is completely baseless. There may be a few errant crayon marks (which are easily removed with Magic Eraser) which we did not have time to remove due to health reasons. However, due to All-Florida’s delays of nearly a month, the home not only grew mildew and mold on the walls, but the drywall absorbed the smell of that as well. Do not try and charge us for your responsibilities. We warned All-Florida Properties that the costs to repair this property were escalating each day. You chose to ignore us. The homes paint, prior to the hurricanes, was adequate and undamaged.
• Drywall patches $115.00: This charge is completely baseless. The only “holes” that we left were tiny nail holes where pictures were hung. Any additional holes may have been caused by your contractors. Again, normally, we would have even covered over those when we left, as we always have, except for the delays that All-Florida Properties created which allowed the home to become unsafe.
• Cut grass $30.00: This charge is completely baseless. The grass was not only mowed prior to our departure, but the lawn was mostly cleaned of your debris – at our time and expense – in order to do so. Additionally, we moved out on October 12, 2004; your invoice for damages is dated October 27, 2004. Approximately one week ago, I had a third party estimate to me that the lawn had roughly three weeks of growth on it. Additionally, as of November 4, 2004, the lawn had yet to be mowed. Again, All-Florida Properties’ delays are causing the homeowner to foot the bill for an ever-increasing charge for mowing once a contractor is hired to mow it. We, however, left the lawn in perfectly acceptable condition, having roughly 9-10 days of growth on it.
• Broken Window in Kitchen / Family Room $150.00: This charge is completely baseless. Quite simply, there is no such window. A simple look at the opening would determine this as there is no frame – just finished panel wood. The other two exterior windows were broken by the hurricane. I believe the “window” that you are referring to is nothing more than a pass-through between the kitchen and the Florida Room where the initial damage occurred. The board nailed to cover that “window” was to keep the air-conditioning in the home from going outside, since the other two broken windows were in the family room. The board itself is the property of the homeowner.