"Voluntary" HOA in Florida

Hi All,

I am a new Board member of a 189 home (single family PUD) in Florida, developed circa 1995. The neighborhood is moderately priced and residents are, on average, 65-85 years or age. The only common areas are an island with a single sign, the verges on both sides of the road where the sign is, and a 1/20th acre "park" with three picnic benches. The island and verges are maintained by basic mowing, trimming and landscaping. The park is kept clean and left somewhat natural with some grass being mowed.

There are a couple of issues - I would appreciate your thoughts!

1. CC&Rs
- are very clear that membership in the Association is voluntary - which supposedly was pretty common in Florida during that time frame. The CC&Rs are also clear - "The covenants and restrictions of this Declaration shall run with and bind the land for a term of twenty (20) years from the date this Declaration is recorded, after which time they shall be extended automatically for successive period of ten (10) years."
- while the Board has been trying to maintain the level of effort on CC&R enforcement, it has been slowed by loss of Board members due to death, and significant health issues
- approximately 42% of the community pays the dues that are assessed each year - the other 58% freeloads

What I have recommended re the CC&Rs:
- increase membership with personal contact, good communications, welcome to the neighborhood visits (sadly, there is a high turnover rate), invitations to attend Board meetings, social events, and by following, as closely a possible, all governing documents
- (accurately, I hope) that while it is a voluntary association, the covenants are in effect and the Board (via the Architectural Control Committee) should evenly and consistently enforce them - keeping contact friendly, consistently using a process for initial and follow-up notification of violations, and suing for compliance only as a last resort. I even considered, given the confusion, asking the Board to sue me, in order to establish a precedent
- the current dues are less than $100 a year with 42% of the neighborhood paying; I strongly recommended that the Board lower the dues to match the budget needs as membership increases

2. ByLaws (an unusual circumstance, somewhat related to inattention, but mainly to aging and death of members of the Association)
- the ByLaws being carried around by the current President are dated 1998, but as I research the neighborhood's records, I found nothing recorded (not unusual) - there are no stamps, names, signatures, etc, of any kind -simply the date on the last page
- I contacted the original developer who was still in business - they provided the turnover documents, which included the ORIGINAL ByLaws, dated 1995, which are quite different from the 1998 version - the original ByLaws allowed the Board of Directors to modify these ByLaws (without the vote of the community)
- ALL administrative records were completely lost several years ago when the then-president died unexpectedly and the records were discarded when his house was cleaned out - ALL minutes of ALL meetings from 1995-2016 are lost
- so, there are no records of any kind to substantiate the legal existence of the 1998 ByLaws
- the 1998 ByLaws have components that are clearly illegal under Florida law (ex: only Board members can attend Board meetings)

What I have recommended re the ByLaws:
- the current Board form a committee to research how the 1998 ByLaws came into being
- if they cannot find any records to substantiate their legal existence, that the Board rewrite the originals to closely resemble the 1998 version, fixing only those things that were incorrectly included
- the current Board use the original ByLaws as basis for voting on the new ones

Would appreciate your thoughts, especially if you have some experience in these sorts of circumstances!

Thanks!

Douglas,

Yeah, no kidding - another extenuating factor includes the broad lack of ability to communicate via email - even with the Board members - working this one hard, as even the mailings for dues is painful cost.

Yes - Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions very clear that they go with the land - says so on all the deeds. This is where a lot of the property owners get confused, though - they try and connect "membership" with the CC&Rs. I believe I am accurate in this regard, but more than willing to listen to input!

George,

As others have said, another name for the CC&Rs would be deed restrictions. Simpler to easements attached to the deed, the CC&Rs say what can and can not be done with the property.

Bylaws, as you are finding out, typically are not filed. Condominiums might have them filed with the CC&Rs. Some States may have an initial set filed with the corporation commission when the corporation was formed. However, it's typical that they are not filed anywhere except within the corporate records.

We went through a period of lost records as well. We were able to recover/recreate some records by soliciting past board members for any records they might have. A restatement of Bylaws would be a good idea. This is where the Board simply rewrites the Bylaws and certify them to be true and accurate to the best of their knowledge.

You may want to consider publishing all the governing documents (including resolutions) in a book that is provided to all. We have such a book, approx 200 pages, which costs us about $35 per book when printing 10 at a time. Costs can be down to $20 when printing in quantity.

Thanks, Geno,

Went back and read several articles re MRTA as well as several threads on HOAT, including Gwen's thoughts.

It seems to me the smart thing, given a suitable Board makeup, is to simply abide by the MRTA requirements and act to preserve them - Florida statute requirements of a 2/3 Board vote is reasonable.

HOWEVER, our Association being voluntary, makes it a bit fuzzier - we aren't exactly covered by Chapter 720, but two property management company "experts" believe certain components of governance fall into Chapter 617 and certain components in Chapter 720 - they said it wasn't their first ball game regarding this issue. No legal counsel yet, and we do have some time - neighborhood first Phase signed on 1 April 1993 - so, I'm thinking to be safe, NLT 1 Jan 2023.

Reference the Bylaws - yeah, agree - unless we find documents showing there was a vote - we will restate new Bylaws by following the direction in the first Bylaws which allows the Board to develop and pass. We would then record to lock them down.

Reference attendance at BoD meetings - since we are always trying to get more membership, it seems reasonable to communicate as effectively as possible in order to convince anyone of the need for them to be a member of their own neighborhood - sunshine always helps - makes some meetings more contentious than others, but yields a lot more trust.

If anyone has ANY thoughts on this, would be great to share ...we will end up getting legal assistance on the filing, but would prefer not to burn through non-existent money right now.

Please keep providing your experience and knowledge!!!!

Hi,

My understanding is that modification of the CCRs requires 100% approval by property owners.

Bylaws modifications sometimes require a certain percentage of owners, as well.

Thanks Tim I was just wanting to aid someone at a time of need .Will keep it all in mind.