Complex’s leader hopes for assistance
Deerfield Beach complex still reeling after fire
Raj Prakash has a problem, and he’s hoping the city can help.
After a January fire damaged units at the Deerfield Palms complex and left nearly 20 residents displaced, the president of the complex’s condo association learned that it has no insurance.
“Four years ago, we had a master policy, but nobody was paying,” he said. “Eighty percent of the units were under bankruptcy.”
As a result, Prakash told Deerfield Beach commissioners the association needed a loan to fix the roof. Prakash said such a loan wouldn’t set a precedent, and the association’s credit was good. He had Mayor Jean Robb’s support. “We can’t leave those people stranded,” Robb said. “I am hoping [ he and] the city manager will get together to facilitate a loan.”
Nadine Jarmon, executive director of the Deerfield Beach Housing Authority, said Prakash had been invited to such a meeting earlier this month to help him resolve the dilemma.
The housing authority was ruled out as an avenue of assistance, Jarmon said, because the complex is a condominium and not government- subsidized housing. So far, ideas have ranged from asking theU. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for help or examining funding offered by a Property Assessed Clean Energy program.
But in the meantime, Prakash said he knows what direction to pursue — and it can be a costly one.
“NowI am going to private lenders, but you are paying as much as 15 percent interest,” he said.