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Homeowner fined thousands by HOA

Homeowner fined thousands by HOA

  • Posted: Feb 04, 2018
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Homeowner fined thousands by HOA

By  and Catherine Chestnutt
The power of Homeowners Associations. They can tell you what color you can paint your house, where to park, even what you can have in your yard. They can also put a lien on your home or even more severe, foreclose on it.
Debra Blue learned the power of her HOA the hard way, but she didn’t just take what the HOA demanded, she fought back. It started when Debra got a letter from her HOA letting her know she did not follow her HOA covenants when it came to the plum color she just painted her shutters.
According to her HOA covenants, she was supposed to get prior approval of the color choice. “It was a complete shock to me, but I immediately apologized, and they asked me to go through the ARC approval process, and I did that within two days,” Debra said.
However, things didn’t go so well for Debra. Her HOA’s Architectural Committee denied the color change and asked her to pick another color.

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LEGISLATIVE CHANGES Are you up to date in your Condo or HOA?

LEGISLATIVE CHANGES Are you up to date in your Condo or HOA?

  • Posted: Jan 22, 2018
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2017 LEGISLATIVE CHANGES

The 2017 Legislative Session was fairly active with respect to issues involving Community Associations. The following is a brief outline of some of the significant changes that became effective July 1, 2017.

Estoppel Certificates: Senate Bill 398: Applies to Condominium, Cooperative & Homeowners’ Associations.

Content and cost limits for estoppel certificates were issues attempted to be addressed several times in the past few years, but this year, SB 398 passed and substantially changed the content and procedure for responding to requests for information when a unit or property within the community is transferring, as well as setting up specific costs for the information. An “estoppel certificate” is defined to be a signed document establishing certain specific facts related to a particular transaction. In the past the estoppel certificate typically consisted of a basic statement of account, notifying the buyer/lender whether the account was current and identifying upcoming or ongoing financial obligations. The new law has the following affects: (a) reduces the time period for responding to a request for an estoppel certificate from 15 days to 10 business days, and if not delivered within 10 business days no fee can be charged for the estoppel; (b) the association’s website, if it exists, must contain the name and street address or e-mail address of the person to whom requests for estoppel certificates are to be sent; and, estoppel certificates must be delivered by hand, mail or e-mail on the date the estoppel is issued.

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APPELLATE COURT LIMITS ASSOCIATION ABILITY TO STOP OWNER POSTING OF NEGATIVE OPINIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

APPELLATE COURT LIMITS ASSOCIATION ABILITY TO STOP OWNER POSTING OF NEGATIVE OPINIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

  • Posted: Jan 22, 2018
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APPELLATE COURT LIMITS ASSOCIATION ABILITY TO STOP OWNER POSTING OF NEGATIVE OPINIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Many community associations throughout Florida have experienced an owner who opposes the board and is vocally negative toward the efforts of the association representatives. With the development of social media and the internet, many have also experienced these disgruntled owners posting their opinions on the internet through blogs, website and the like. Quite often these owners are not expressing accurate information regarding the association and boards look for help from their attorneys to stop what they consider to be abusive and harassing conduct. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal has recently issued a ruling that identifies some limits that court action can take in dealing with such disputes and leaving questions regarding other actions that can be taken unanswered.

 

Read more on Legal Issues: 

REMBAUM’S ASSOCIATION ROUNDUP

 http://www.kbrlegal.com/rembaums-association-roundup/

 

In Fox. V. Hampton at Metro West Condominium Association, Inc., Case No. 5D16-1822 (July 21, 2017), the Appellate Court was presented the situation in which the Condominium Association had initially brought a legal action against the unit owner to obtain an injunction to stop the owner from what they claimed to be conduct that was harassing, intimidating and otherwise threatening to other owners, and for his on-going publishing of negative claims about the Association and/or the Board on the internet. No trial was held as the parties entered into a settlement agreement that was ultimately incorporated into a final judgment under which Fox agreed to stop certain actions. Soon thereafter, however, the conduct began again and the Association filed a motion for contempt and enforcement of the agreement, claiming that Fox had willfully and intentionally violated the terms of the agreement.

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