Declarations Amended

Started by JaniceR4 • 5 replies • 1433 views

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JaniceR4 (Florida)
Posts: 5

Posted:

My HOA got the exact amount of signatures they needed to amend the declarations. However, I checked all of the authorization letters and about 4 of the letters were not signed by the homeowner. That would mean they are 4 signatures short to amend the declarations. The declarations says that only the owners recorded in the public records of our county are the ones who can authorize the change of the declarations. Since they didn't get all the real owners authorization, does that mean the new rules don't count?

PitA
Posts: 1,416

Posted:

Yes, but only if you CHALLENGE the vote.

If important enough you need to seek legal council NOW.

Many BODs do NOT have an accurate members list, merely 'do the best they can'.

Keeping an accurate actual owners list is a ROYAL PITA requiring HOURS of MONTHLY research with the county tax department and/or register of deeds.

? How would the BOD know if a home changes hands WITHIN a family w/o generating a request for a letter of estoppel ?

or is distributed to a surviving spouse ?

or is sold 'on the side' for cash and carry ?

Either,

live with the resulting new covenant and restrictions when actually recorded

or

challenge the vote, possibly leading to court intervention (for breach of contract).

You may try to bring this issue to the Directors' attention as they may not be aware of said facts, but may honestly believe the votes cast to be legitimate.

Try honey FIRST - but - act quickly

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Janice, disputes regarding amendments to the association documents are covered by chapter 720.311(2)(a) of the Florida statutes which calls for pre-suit mediation. If the mediation process ends without an agreement, then a civil suit can be filed in court.

The changes made by the amendment should not count. Unfortunately they will unless someone challenges them.

I suspect you'd probably want legal representation for the mediation process.

JaniceR4 (Florida)
Posts: 5

Posted:

I am honest with the HOA, they have not been honest with me on other occasions. One of the letters (among many others) looked altered. I asked my neighbor who signed the letter and told me that it was altered (date of the signature) and not by her. Altering documents is forgery if you ask me. I am contacting an attorney and if this matter goes to court I am all for it. Besides, it won't be the first time I took them to court for doing illegal activity.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

If you mean the document was redacted, which is the obscuring of sensitive/private information prior to release, that is standard practice for most companies. I can certainly see redacting names, but why they would redact the date doesn't really make sense.

To receive an non-redacted document, you will likely need to go through the courts.

If you mean that they actually changed the information, that would be a different issue. If it was done with an intent to deceive, then it certainly would be the definition of forgery.

JaniceR4 (Florida)
Posts: 5

Posted:

The HOA sent letters to all of the homeowners requesting to amend the declarations during the end of last year. They did get a lot of approvals but not enough. They tried again during the middle of summer to get the signatures of those who didn't respond. Adding the ones they got during the end of last year and the ones they got during summer, they would have enough but the ones they got at the end of last year were no longer valid. The signatures are only good for a certain amount of time. Thats why they would need to change the dates and not the signatures. I already contacted an attorney and sent her the documents to show where I believe the documents were altered. I am hoping that first the amendment would be considered invalid and second that if the letters were forged and it can be proven then criminal charges would be brought up. I'm glad I have an attorney, I didn't know what to do.

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