FL HOA, President Misrepresents Ownership Status, Obtained Improper Occupancy

There's a possibility our current president John misrepresented his occupancy status when our former board granted approval and allowed him to move into a home owned by his partner's brother and wife.

John continues to circumvent HOA rules and obtain special waivers and legal opinions to justify modifications to the exterior of the home he occupies, with questionable ownership rights. With elections approaching and unhappy (complacent) members validating credentials more closely Note: Our docs do allow outsiders to serve on the board. What options exist other than initiating Recall Procedure or praying John won't play nice with new persons on the board and simply quit.

John presently states that he recently obtained ownership via a "quit claim deed", and says it does not need to be filed with the county to be legal and valid. We doubt that is possible and likely since most loans are securitized and rarely transferrable to a different borrower without jumping through lots of hoops.

Q1) Are QC deeds legitimate if NOT recorded?

Public records reflect a different legal homeowner, subject to a mortgage that cannot be transferred without BIG Bank approval, plus a "Second Home Rider" addendum restricting ownership only to the legal borrowers - NOT JOHN. FYI -the legal owners have not occupied the home.

Q2) IF the former board granted current President John with an illegal or improper right to occupy - whose occupancy may have been obtained fraudulently- might that be grounds to force an eviction since we have a 3 year owner occupancy restriction before renting? He's been living here now for 2 1/2 years

We live in a FLORIDA HOA

Don't know about Florida but in Arizona a quit claim deed cannot lawfully be used to convey real property. The purpose of the quit claim deed is to allow one or more of multiple owners to surrender his/her/their interests to another owner of record. Despite this, quit claim deeds intended to convey real property are routinely recorded as the buyer is often too stupid to know better. As near as I can tell, it is virtually impossible to obtain title insurance or mortgages on property that was conveyed with a quit claim deed. A party who acquired title by means of a quit claim deed will find that he needs to file a quiet title action in the superior court to obtain a clean title.

In answer to Q1: Quit claim deeds are dubious to begin with and even more questionable if not recorded. In this case, "John" is not the owner of record and you need go no further; he is not an owner, not a member, and not eligible to serve on your board. If John wishes to prove his ownership he may do so at the courthouse in front of a judge.

Q2: Under what authority does your board grant a "right to occupy?" I am not at all familiar with this. If you have a provision in your declarations that requires an owner to occupy his home for a minimum of three years before renting the home and that condition was not met, is there a remedy set forth in your declarations? If not, you will likely have to seek an injunction from the courts to remove John. (Technically, the action would be against the owner of record who is apparently not John.) But you will also have to explain to the court why this situation has been allowed to go unchallenged for 2-1/2 years.

They're used a lot in Florida, mostly between family members. In my county they all seem to be recorded. I've also seen them filed from individuals to living revocable trusts (in trust for the same individual). Maybe that's to be expected with people getting up there in years.

QC deeds legally allowed in AZ. See ARS 33-402.1. Can't get title insurance, but can convey property.