Switching from Condo to Home Owners Association

Started by KimF4 • 11 replies • 1499 views

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KimF4 (Illinois)
Posts: 6

Posted:

I am in a condo association with less than 10 homes and considering going to a home owners association. Would it require amending the condo bylaws in IL to go to a Home owners and filing the amended copy? Any other filings? Also I have a friend that is in a home owners association that everyone is a member of the association with no fees, they pay their own insurance premiums, but if they choose to use the lawn and snow removal service it cost $30.00 per month. Has anyone had experiences with home owners associations?

Thank you

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,060

Posted:

Kim,

I expect that you are talking about moving to a single family home within an HOA.

What services an Association provides will be within their governing documents.
These services vary from Association to Association (just as costs vary from Association to Association).

There are many on here who are knowledgeable in HOAs and there are many who are knowledgeable in COAs.

If you think that you can change your Condo Association to a Homeowners Association, that simply isn't the case.
This is because of the way the property was created and deeded.
If you desire to look into this possibility you, the Association and all neighbors will need to seek the advice of an attorney.

IslamM (Florida)
Posts: 67

Posted:

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOA AND CONDO LAW – IT’S LIKE NIGHT AND DAY!
By Jan Bergemann
Published November 2, 2012

To be very honest, I am at a total loss when I look at the HOA Act the Florida legislature created with FS 720. Sometimes I wonder why they created this statute at all, considering that the provisions contained in this statute have no teeth -- and it is widely known that even the best laws are useless without any proper enforcement tools.

The history of FS 720 clearly shows that enforcement of its provisions is only possible for homeowners who have lots of spare change in their pockets.

The biggest “joke” in the statutes is one sentence. Many good families lost their homes and life savings because the following sentence headlines the whole Florida HOA Act:

FS 720.302(2) The Legislature recognizes that it is not in the best interest of homeowners' associations or the individual association members thereof to create or impose a bureau or other agency of state government to regulate the affairs of homeowners' associations.

In all honesty, the only ones served by this sentence are specialized attorneys and their bank accounts – to the detriment of the homeowners living in these community associations.

While the FLORIDA CONDO ACT (FS718) has many detailed provisions that can be partially and easily enforced by a regulatory agency (Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes), approximately 2.5 million homeowners living and/or owning property in these homeowners’ associations are treated like unwanted stepchildren by the Florida legislature.

With the existing, unenforceable statutes in place, it’s a financially risky proposition for retirees and investors to buy property within these communities. Homeowners are left to fight for themselves with no help to enforce the existing laws.

Simple matters, such as elections, record requests or financial issues, turn into expensive lawsuits that can quickly become monsters eating up families’ life savings. Many homeowners run around with blinders, ignoring permanent violations of Florida statutes, because they don’t want to risk spending their last dime on legal bills.

The proper legislation that would make life in homeowners’ associations much easier – and less expensive – is in place, but onlyfor condominium associations.

The provisions contained in FS 720 are stacked against the homeowners, especially since in many associations budget shortfalls caused by unpaid dues and/or foreclosures are causing heavy financials burdens on the owners still paying their dues.

High legal bills are creating an even bigger hardship on the owners still paying the ever-increasing assessments, caused by the fact that the provisions contained in the HOA Act FS 720 provide no easy solutions for simple disputes.

The question that baffles everyone: Why is the Florida legislature unwilling to enact simple laws that would stop most of these shenanigans we are all reading about daily in the media? The established wording from the condo statutes could easily be used for the HOA statutes. Case law and the Florida Administrative Code is in place. Nobody has to reinvent the wheel.

But who fights these bills that would simplify life in HOAs in Florida? The only feasible explanation: The service providers, especially the attorneys that claim to lobby for the associations. They are the only ones who benefit from these useless HOA statutes.

It is definitely easier to fleece the owners if the laws are confusing and can be interpreted any way anybody wants. With the statutes for HOAs it is very easy to create mini-dictatorships and fill their own pockets – if some determined folks so desire. Is that what the folks who “invented” homeowners’ associations had in mind when they created these communities

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

I’m not sure what IslamM’s point was – condos and HOAs are similar, but different in many ways, and some are run better than others. HOA fees cover different things, some are voluntary, some have hundreds of homes - you need to think about what you want out of a HOA community, starting with whether you even want to live in one. If you don't like to be told what color you can paint your house or if you can own a pit bull, HOA living may not be for you. As you’ve found out from your 10 condo community (I’m assuming you started that conversation elsewhere on this site), the success of the association depends on the homeowners – the ones who elect the board and the board members who serve (the skill set and motivations of everyone can and does vary).

Unfortunately, you don’t always find out the bad stuff until after you move in, and there ae so many HOAs around, you may not be able to avoid living in one if you fall in love with a house. So regardless of where you live, it’s vital that you ask for and review a copy of the Bylaws and CCRs, the current budget and the last 12 months’ or so of Board meeting minutes to get a sense of the community’s issues BEFORE YOU BUY. Ask about anything you don’t understand, starting with the seller (be very nervous if they’re totally clueless or try to evade everything or gloss things over). Walk around the neighborhood and talk to a few other residents as well.

Think about your budget – assessments go up, not down, as things age and inflation kicks in, so you need to be able to handle those increases (which reminds me, also check if there has been or if there’s talk of a special assessment). You WILL NOT be able to withhold fees because you're ticked off at the board or are compelled to comply with a rule you think is ridiculous. Board members can be voted out or recalled and rules can be amended or tossed, depending on the will of the homeowners - it's just a matter of rallying them to do the work...

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

BobD4 (up north)
Posts: 1,002

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By KimF4 on 07/05/2016 12:44 PM
I am in a condo association with less than 10 homes and considering going to a home owners association. . . . Has anyone had experiences with home owners associations ?

KimF4 : Can operating costs be lowered - or some other benefit ? - if we convert from X to Y ? When most such questioners discover how complex & expensive it is often to do so upfront, the questions often end. Or they redirect to improving governance at what they have already.

Formal CONDOMINIUM legislative platform : For such "termination" your jurisdiction's law may specifically require substantial percentage of consents registered unit by unit. It may trigger compensation to all owners & interest holders on title. That may include some Declarant you dislike, who won't magically go away uncompensated.

If your jurisdiction is like mine, whatever consumer protections & due process legislated into place has been directed only or almost totally to the formal community models.

Are they genuinely improvements - for example - to NOT be technically required to fully fund a Reserve Fund nor have a cap on price of estoppelling certificates ? Or even to no longer even be obliged to issue such ?

The grass ain't necessarily greener even in loose co-ops ( of proprietary leases ) nor even the barest co-ownerships of common lands without a HOA corporation platform neither . . . .

IslamM (Florida)
Posts: 67

Posted:

In Florida you are better off as a Condo, HOA in Florida are a nightmare plus Condos are easier to manage without the legal spiders you find with HOA in Florida. So if I am a Condo anywhere in USA I really would not spent the money to change.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

In SC there are rules, regulations, laws concerning condos called the SC Horizontal Property Act. It also defines a condo as a multi floor, multi unit building ala an apartment building. This was mainly a result of conversions of apartment buildings to condos especially at beach resorts such as Myrtle Beach

There is no such control over non-multi floor associations such as standalone homes, townhouse, duplex, etc. HOA's. There have been attempts to regulate such but mainly efforts have died in Senate Committees. The main advocates of such are associations still controlled by Declarants. Few associations controlled by owners have requested such.

I believe FL also draws a difference between different type associations.

RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 3,868

Posted:

Kim

A typical distinction between condos and homeowner association is that condos are stacked units or side by side townhouses, whereas single family homes are generally regarded as homeowner associations. That is not always the case. But as other might have pointed out, much is dependent on how the project was deeded and how the language of the Articles of Incorporation were drawn up.

Changing from one to the other might be possible, but I believe unrealistic. There are obstacles you would face. ALL mortgagee would have to be notified and maybe all would have to vote yes. Much of the decision has to be done by reviewing the actual legal responsibilities of both the association and the homeowners. This may or may not change how the association and its homeowners are insured.

Bottom-line, there are MANY roadblocks that you must maneuver around.

I have a situation similar to what you are dealing with. It is a 7 unit single family detached complex that has improper HOA documents attached to their deeds. The insurance agent said the homeowners and association would be financially better off if their CCRs were amended and a couple maintenance items re-distributed from the HOA to the homeowners. Turns out the attorney, whose boilerplate documents were used, didn't do their due diligence in submitting their documents to the developer.

KimF4 (Illinois)
Posts: 6

Posted:

Thank you for your information. I appreciate your assistance.

KimF4 (Illinois)
Posts: 6

Posted:

Thank you for your comments. We consist of 1 condo building with 2 units in it and 5 single family homes and the developer called this a condominium association, but failed to take the proper steps of filing everything for a condominium association. My home is deeded as a single family home on a lot in a subdivision, not an unit which is considered a condominium in IL. I own the lot my house is on. I was built first, then when the condo building was built the developer amended the plat only for that building, but did not amend for the other 4 single homes built later. We have approx 10 empty lots left. The board seems to pick and choose from the bylaws what they would like to follow. We had people in another subdivision driving on our empty lots to get to their homes and the board allowed this. They even parked on our empty lots when a party was held at their house, again no action taken by the board. Our treasurer's reports do not balance. The ending balance one month will be different from the starting balance of the next month. The treasurer refuses to itemize income on the report, when I asked for it to be done which is required and stated in the IL condo act, I was told it was none of my business. This month we are $1,250 short from last month's balance. This is just a few of the many problems our condo association has. Our bylaws do not fit the area we are in because they were copied from another complex. I hired an attorney and my board ignored every communication from him. I was running up expensive attorney bills with absolutely no response from the board. Whether it is a condo or home owners association, I would recommend to someone never move into one. I have had second thoughts about it many nights and now considering what my other options are, if things do not change soon.

NpS (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 4,216

Posted:

Not sure if you've said yet:

What services is your Condo required to provide and what common elements is your Condo required to maintain?

Sikubali jukumu. Read all posts at your own risk.

IslamM (Florida)
Posts: 67

Posted:

KimF4

I agree with you if you can avoid having to spend your money to protect your home or investment from abusive and sometimes ignorant Boards. Is almost a lost battle not worth the stress, upset and ultimately if you don't have the support or involvement of other owners (always the case)you won't win without spending lots of $$$ and that even when you are in the right. Good luck!

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