Florida statute on revival of Assn. documents

Board of Directors assessed homeowners for cost of revival of covenants. Not all homeowners paid the assessment but enough was collected to pay for the revival. Inasmuch as the documents had been expired for a number of years and this "special" assessment was made during the time we were aware of their expiration, can the board collect from those homeowners who did not pay? The rationale appears to be that all need to shoulder the expense because the entire community benefits from the revival, especially of the deed restrictions.

Thanks Melissa. The question came about because some members question the legality to collect by lien when the assessment was made during the time our documents were expired. Does anyone know if this makes a difference?

I would not agree with Melissa's opinion. She writes that "the documents expired but not you all being a HOA." That is wrong. The documents expired meaning your property no longer has ANY restrictions on it.

The law that forces covenants and restrictions to expire, The Marketable Record and Title act, is not something that can be ignored.

Think about it logically. The HOA is given authority to enforce the covenants and restrictions through the covenants and restrictions. When the covenants expire they cease to exist. That means that the HOA essentially becomes a club with no authority. There is a process for revitalization but the HOA cannot charge you while they are technically not in existence.

If a covenant existed requiring membership, that covenant expires and you are no longer forced into membership.

If a covenant existed allowing fines, fees, and assessments, that covenant expired and your property cannot become subject to paying the HOA money.

Not only is this the law, there is also case law that supports this.

So what does that mean?

If your neighborhood wanted to reinstate the covenants, they cannot charge you for those fees while they lacked any legal authority to do so. This would be like Microsoft charging you money to update your copy of Windows before the new version is released (or before you even decide whether or not you like your version or not).

Essentially they outline that reinstating the covenants have some requirements - that the voting interest remains the same and that any assessments provided in the documents must be the same proportional assessments in the original documents.

This would not have the effect of making assessments during the period of expiration enforceable, or legal.