multiple unrelated adults are living in a home

Susan,

A single family residence, as defined by US Legal.com, is the type of structure and does not equate to the occupancy of the unit. Therefore, I do not believe that the issue of how many people are living on the property is an HOA issue.

Some States have occupancy limits and some do not. Doing a quick look, I could not locate anything in the Florida statutes that might apply. Most of what I found was landlord/tenant laws and the Association would have no standing to enforce those as the complaint would have to come from the property owner. However, there are likely local zoning laws that may apply.

You might want to contact local (city/county) zoning office to see if there are occupancy limitations. If there are, you, as an individual, or those who are asking the Association for assistance can make a complaint. However, the Association should not become involved as this is not the Associations responsibility.

Hope this helps,

Tim

Susan,

I agree with Tim and Larry in that your Deed restriction states the structures are to be single-family homes. In this instance, I believe the restrictions are stating that the structures are to be used as a residence and not as a home office, or for other commercial purposes.

I do not not think this is an issue for the Association with regard to people living there being un-related to one another. In this day an age there are many couples that do not marry but are considered significant others (or spouses) for all intents and purposes. Same goes for children, maybe the family is a foster care or has adopted kids.

As far as enforcing the deed restriction, you can check to see that no business is being run from the residence and that it is being used for residential purpose. That is in keeping with the deed restriction. This way, you can report back to the complainer(s) that you did check and are enforcing that residential use only is going on. You can use this opportunity to explain to the person or people taking issue with this, that the deed restriction is for use, not family bloodlines.

short answer: one kitchen + common exterior entrance = one faminly home

the term 'one family' DOES NOT, repeat NOT, refer to the relationship between the occupants, it refers to the type of structure ~ check your zoning ordinances if you don't agree

a good 'work-around' is to limit occupancy to 2 per actual bedroom

the BOD should not act as the moral monitor of the world

? married family ?
? common law family ?
? brother + second cousin + aunt + aunt-in-law family ?
? old style Mormon family ?
? homosexual family ?
? fraternal family ?
etc

listen to your attorney

ditto

we must really really be bored...................................

Omg, a glare.

thank goodness, we have HOA's around to protect us and our property, and intervene in glaring situations.

Well a couple of years ago ICE found something like 22 adults sharing a three bedroom home in an upscale Cincinnati neighborhood. I think they all worked at the owners Chinese restaurant.

Yep, check your zoning. They may have a definition of what a "single family" home is. Most likely, it doesn't actually include who's related to whom, but just a number of people.

This is one of my hot-button issues. I rent out both of my spare rooms in my house because I am trying to cut down on expenses so that I can be debt-free by the end of 2014. One of my renters is a friend I have known for many, many years. I have a suspicion she may live in my spare room forever. The other is a girl who is saving for her own home. However, regardless, it's no one's business but my own. It's my personal property and I'm violating no laws, so as long as it doesn't bother me, it shouldn't matter to anyone else. We're not using any more neighborhood resources than anyone else here.