Posted on 06/05/2024 12:09:23 PM PDT by chickenlips
Florida residents with oppressive and obsessive HOAs, your day of freedom may be at hand.
Homeowner associations (HOAs) were created to maintain standards, uniformity and a sense of community while collecting dues to pay for common areas, services and general neighborhood improvements. But they also tend to attract people with strong opinions about what their neighbors can do.
It seems that everyone who has lived in an HOA has a horror story about petty or arbitrary fines that keep increasing, harassment, inflexible and overly restrictive rules regarding the appearance of homes and lawns, the lack of budget transparency, or just the ongoing grind of living under the watchful eyes of HOA busybodies with tape measures and a lot of free time who care deeply about where you park.
A new bill, signed Friday by Gov, Ron DeSantis, may change all that when it takes effect July 1. Or at least make life a little more manageable.
HB 1203, Homeowners' Association, was just one of several HOA bills introduced in this year's legislative session but it may be the most sweeping one, amounting to essentially a Homeowner's Bill of Rights. Under state law, HOAs will be restricted from some of the most complained-about rules and fines and required to be more transparent. This law comes just after another one forcing HOAs to allow homeowners to harden their homes against hurricanes.
Here's what changed.
(Excerpt) Read more at news-journalonline.com ...
“kitty-corner”
I always used catty-corner but see it is now a close second.
Catty is closer to the middle English catre.
“It seems to me that people that live in HOAs bind themselves to their own hurt. I really don’t want another layer of government.”
Interesting that people willingly pay more to live in HOA communities ...
Well in the case of denying the installation of storm shutters for hurricane protection, it’s because they were doing stupid shit against community safety and public policy, which often makes a contract unenforceable anyway.
This is just a way to keep HOA cases from clogging up the courts.
Lived in two subdivisions with HOAs. Never had a single problem and really had no contact with them except for notices of HOA meetings, and the yearly bills, which were $500/yr in one (swimming pool and tennis courts) and $150/year in another (grass trimmed at the entrance, and some street signs put up).
I would like a law that required EVERY bylaw or rule on an HOA, of any kind, to be approved not just by a majority of residents in the HOA who vote on a measure, but by an absolute majority of all the residents in the HOA, and upon initiation of the law, to require those approvals on all the existing bylaws and rules when the law is adopted.
And further, than any 10% or more of HOA residents who later petition to have am existing bylaw or rule put up for a vote, MUST be granted an HOA wide vote in which an absolute majority of HOA residents must vote to keep the bylaw or rule, or it is rescinded and a 2nd vote must be held to consider a replacement bylaw or rule, again which must obtain a majority of HOA residents to put the new bylaw or rule in place.
THAT should clean out much the HOA leeway that allows for ruling cliques and petty dictators.
I believe in real democracy, not controlling cliques and petty dictators, even in an HOA.
I won’t be told what to do. Couldn’t live in those hellholes.
UNLESS AND UNTIL you have suffered financially, mentally, physically and Spiritually at the hands of HOA dictators, you should just shu’up! say...YOU aren’t one of “Them”....right?
Don’t kid yourself. HOAs were created as a tool to deal with desegregation. It’s really that simple.
Nobody is forced to live in an HOA community. If you don’t like them then don’t live in one.
HOA’s just blow. No thanks.
That is mostly true. But there are cities/communities within Florida who pattern their governance after HOAs.
You get what you bought into with an HOA or Condo Assn, without question.
But this is a shot across the bow for many municipalities within the State, to be sure.
Knowingly harboring dangerous animals on HOA common grounds. Could cost the board and the neighborhood millions in a negligence suit. Oh, and how about the potential for conspiracy to murder of a child under the.depraved indifference theory.
Not quite the option you think it is, actually since many counties, states and municipalities have forced all development to be done planned community development to move the cost of city services for new citizens from the city to the developer and his clients.
The HOA fees are less than $100 — a YEAR.
Homes in this subdivision are selling for at least 30% more than the ones on the other side of town where real estate listings include prominent bragging that there’s “No HOA!” there.
He was one of my favorites as well. Why my stepfather was dying, I read That’s books to him. It seemed to help with the pain he was experiencing prior to his death
Good. Somebody is finally challenging the Karens.
In the last two cases that I worked on, the HOA had two different attorneys over the course of five years. By the time the second case ended, both attorneys representing the HOA were out of business and one of them ended up paying a settlement to my client — the DEFENDANT.
“I believe in real democracy, not controlling cliques and petty dictators, even in an HOA.”
**************
Not defending HOA hegemony, but voting on issues can become problematic as most residents seems uninterested in participating in any decisions in my experience. Its often hard to get quorums for meetings.
My HOA said I had to do a bunch of stuff never before expected, based on the contracted “keep the property up.”
The property looked good and professionally done, but changing out to stuff no one else had and this property never had, was about a desire for what the president wanted everyone home to have.
It would be like saying all home owners suddenly had to have EVs and a charger on the front part of the driveway, under the same “keep the property up” clause.
That same board had just funneled many hundreds of thousands of dollars (from new HOA loans) to friends to redo perfectly fine entrances no one had ever complained about. He and his flunkies were voted out, next election.
It seems ludicrous to have to have a law to stop arbitrary abuse, but it’s valid.
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