SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – An “HOA-hating” man has been sentenced to prison time after he set a Longwood condominium complex on fire back in 2023, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
In a release, SAO officials said that the man — Marc Hermann, 56 — had doused his condo unit with gasoline before igniting it.
[Watch the video below to see footage from the 2023 fire.]
“Residents of neighboring units described hearing an explosion that shook their building and then dodging flaming debris as they fled their homes,” the release reads. “One man jumped from a second-floor balcony to escape the fire.”
A News 6 investigation at the time revealed that Hermann had owned the condo for 25 years, though he became embroiled in a legal battle with his HOA after they accused him of not paying his fees, thus placing a lien on his property.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
After years of back-and-forth between Hermann and the HOA — during which time he claimed that the HOA’s accounting was mistaken — his condo unit was ultimately foreclosed upon and sold at auction by the HOA in 2022.
A paramedic who treated Hermann after the initial explosion reportedly said that Hermann admitted to setting the fire “in an act of revenge against the homeowners’ association in charge of his property.”
“An accelerant-detecting K9 dog alerted to two different spots in the home and to the shirt Hermann was wearing,” the release reads. “Hermann had owed about $28,800 in unpaid dues and related fees to the association.”
Aside from Hermann’s own condo unit, the fire destroyed three other families’ homes, prosecutors reported.
“The financial costs have been phenomenal. We have had to rent an apartment for over two years as our condo has been rebuilt, and the costs have depleted our savings...” one such victim statement reads. “Marc Hermann showed so little regard for the lives of us who were home when he decided to burn down the condo.”
Karen Williams, who lived with her daughter at the time, was inside her condo downstairs when the fire started.
“It was a lazy Saturday morning. I was just going to go make something to eat,” said Williams. “[I] heard some noise, peeked out the door, and there were flames shooting out of the building as high as you can see.”
Williams invited our News 6 team to see all the work that’s been done since her unit was destroyed. For the last two years she’s been struggling with insurance claims, code enforcement, and finding a rental to stay in.
“I had to get an apartment which is not easy because they want rental histories. I’ve owned my own home for over 12 years. We’ve been in a rental property for over two years now and insurance barely covered a year of that,” said Williams.
Williams said she has learned more than she ever wanted to know by going through this process.
“It’s the little things, you know, that I tell everyone like ALE (Additional Living Expenses) coverage,” said Williams. “It’s something that insurance companies snip, but it’s some of the most important because that covers your rent when you’re not in your home.”
Williams said she had to hire a lawyer independently to help get her personal insurance company to pay for part of the renovation.
“It’s the first time in my life that I was angry that I was a homeowner,” said Williams. “If I was a renter, I’d be settled into my life. It would have been days, and I would have been settled back into my life, but now it’s just like ‘is it going to be done? Oh, we’re waiting on inspection.’ You know, it’s just been that for months.”
Williams also shared her reaction to Hermann’s sentence.
“He tried to kill four people and basically got a year a piece with good time and stuff,” said Williams. “This guy is going to be out on the streets before we know it.”
Williams described the whole situation as “unbelievable.”
“Even now when I meet somebody and I’m telling them the story they’re like, ‘This can’t be real.’ You know, they can’t believe that I had to struggle to find a place to live while he was finding three meals and a bed from day one.”
Earlier this month, Hermann was found guilty of arson, and prosecutors announced on Monday that he’d been sentenced to 12 years in prison, followed by 15 years’ probation.
While SAO officials said that Hermann received credit for over two years served while awaiting trial, the judge also ordered him to do the following:
- Pay restitution to neighbors whose homes were destroyed or damaged in the fire
- Get a job within 60 days of release from prison for the purposes of paying restitution
- Undergo a mental health evaluation and any recommended treatment
- Perform 100 community service hours, preferably at a nonprofit fire-safety facility
