Florida 720 statue - contracts

We are a development with over 2100 homes comprised of 15 neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has a board and there is Master Board for the entire community.
We are about to enter a contract with a cable provider with a term of 10 years. My question is, do the local neighborhood boards have the authority to sign a multi - year contract. The Master Board recently made a decision not renew the contract with our current cable provider and left it up to the 15 boards to decide what to do with providing cable services to their residents. It is not in our covenants that the board has to provide these services. All other contract we have with vendors are one year deals.

Thank you for your response. We are having fiber optics installed so we don't have to worry too much about technology. The problem is can a very small cable company deliver what they promised. I understand a Service Level Agreement is being included in the contract that will allow us to back out of the contract if they cannot deliver the services at the expected levels. I don't have faith in this company and the prices are very low. You know what they say "If it's too good to be true, then it ain't". There are a number of complaints against them, they went bankrupt twice and changed their name twice. Since we are a 55 and older development, I'm afraid the various boards are thinking about the dollars and not the consequences.

Robert,

Here is what the HOA Act provides (it deals directly with you question):

//(2) If the governing documents provide for the cost of communications services as defined in s. 202.11, information services or Internet services obtained pursuant to a bulk contract shall be deemed an operating expense of the association. If the governing documents do not provide for such services, the board may contract for the services, and the cost shall be deemed an operating expense of the association but must be allocated on a per-parcel basis rather than a percentage basis, notwithstanding that the governing documents provide for other than an equal sharing of operating expenses. Any contract entered into before July 1, 2011, in which the cost of the service is not equally divided among all parcel owners may be changed by a majority of the voting interests present at a regular or special meeting of the association in order to allocate the cost equally among all parcels.

(a) Any contract entered into by the board may be canceled by a majority of the voting interests present at the next regular or special meeting of the association, whichever occurs first. Any member may make a motion to cancel such contract, but if no motion is made or if such motion fails to obtain the required vote, the contract shall be deemed ratified for the term expressed therein.

(b) Any contract entered into by the board must provide, and shall be deemed to provide if not expressly set forth therein, that a hearing-impaired or legally blind parcel owner who does not occupy the parcel with a non-hearing-impaired or sighted person, or a parcel owner who receives supplemental security income under Title XVI of the Social Security Act or food assistance as administered by the Department of Children and Families pursuant to s. 414.31, may discontinue the service without incurring disconnect fees, penalties, or subsequent service charges, and may not be required to pay any operating expenses charge related to such service for those parcels. If fewer than all parcel owners share the expenses of the communications services, information services, or Internet services, the expense must be shared by all participating parcel owners. The association may use the provisions of s. 720.3085 to enforce payment by the parcel owners receiving such services.//

Section 720.309(2), Fla. Stat.

Bottom-line: your Board can enter into such a contract (provided nothing in its OWN documents expressly prohibits it from doing so), but then the "majority of voting interests" can move and vote to cancel that contract at the next membership meeting of your neighborhood association.

A "majority of voting interests" is 50% plus one vote, so it is critical that all like-minded homeowners band together and organize a majority of all homeowners within your neighborhood if they wish to defeat this. Know this in advance: it's going to take a lot of work, and your group should be properly advised by legal counsel so that your work isn't wasted. Good luck!