CHARTER HAS BEEN EXPIRED FOR 5 YEARS!

When was the HOA built? Are you referring to being active with the state or are you referring to covenants and restrictions?

Five years? And the board is just dealing with this now???? (I hope you have a new board that's trying to fix things, if not, you may want start with sacking this one).

A big part of your answer may depend on whether you have common area that the association's responsible for, such as sidewalks and streets. If people want to dissolve the association, decisions will have to be made on what to do with it because someone will have to take care of it.

There shouldn't be an argument concerning "the rights of the board" vs. the "rights of the homeowners" - EVERYONE who owns a home in this community is part of the association and all of you will have to deal with the consequences of what you decide regarding its future.

Check your documents to see what they say and have a sit down with the attorney,, as this may become too involved for a website (besides, we don't have the paperwork and most people posting here aren't attorneys, so...) Your charter may be expired, but was the association ever established as a non-profit corporation and registered as such with the state? Are the Bylaws and CCRs required to be recorded somewhere and if so, was that ever done? The charter may have set up the association, but there may be other documents that have been recorded that make it a legitimate organization - and therefore permitted to collect assessments and care for the common area (as well as take legal action against the people who don't).

Thank you ,that second thread was particularly helpful

What do you mean by HOA charter? Are you referring to the charter for the incorporated homeowners association or the CC&R's under MRTA? If you are referring to the charter for the corporation, I may be able to offer up some general insight that may or may not apply in Florida.

In most states, a corporation must file some sort of annual report. These are easily overlooked and after a period of time the state will administratively dissolve the corporation if the reports are not filed. Filing delinquent reports and paying any outstanding fees will normally reinstate the corporation.

Typically, the corporation is permitted to continue as an entity during a period of administrative dissolution but only for limited purposes. It may, for example, pursue any efforts to collect money that was owed to it prior to dissolution. It may sell off or dispose of its property. It may not, however, continue business as usual while it is dissolved. That means it cannot collect assessments or engage in any efforts to collect those assessments that accrued during dissolution.

I do not have a clue as to what might happen if an HOA was dissolved for a long period and then reinstated. My first guess would be that any assessments that accrued during the period of dissolution would not be collectible or actionable. But that is just a general guess. An attorney specializing in Florida corporate law or HOA law should be able to provide a more definite answer.