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GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276
Posted:
Our CC&Rs state,

"Any residence owner shall have the unrestricted right to lease their residence; provided, however, that the minimal lease period shall not be less than one (1) year of consecutive days. All leases shall be in writing and contain an acknowledgement by lessee to abide by the rules and regulations of the Association."

Our Articles of Incorporation state (under the "Powers" article),

"To establish a procedure for the Board of Directors to approve or disapprove all leases which owners would enter into in the leasing of their lots within [subdiv. name] and to establish restrictions and limitations for the leasing of residences."

We're in the midst of overhauling our Rules & Regulations and Policies & Procedures and one of the major goals is to tighten up the Rules on leasing. Note that the CC&Rs say "shall have the unrestricted right to lease" but them immediately lays out restrictions. The language in the Articles of Incorporation (which was recorded 3 mos before the CC&Rs) say the BoD can "approve or disapprove all leases", which is in contradiction to the "unlrestricted right to lease" called out in the CC&Rs. The response I get when I object to establishing a lease approval/disapproval procedure is that another section of the CC&Rs says,

"All residences shall be subject to the provisions of the Articles of Incorporation of the Association and the By-Laws thereof, and any amendments thereto and the terms thereof are expressly incorporated herein."

And that's supposed to elevate the wording in the Articles to the same level as the CC&Rs due to standard contract "inclusion by reference" doctrine.

I'm ready to walk away from the committee working on this because we have already had 4 multi-hour meetings in the last 6 weeks to discuss this one topic and I'm getting really frustrated because I think we're at the point where we're wasting our time. I'm not a lawyer, but if the rest of the committee want's to do something wacky then I feel, as a matter of some sort of conscience and duty, that I don't want my name associated with the thing at all, even if it's just Rules & Regulations.

Others on the committee have expressed great interest in amending the CC&Rs (later on this year) to prohibit all leasing. Trying to explain grandfathered status and hardship exemptions to them is like talking to a brick wall. Not a single one of the other 4 committee members seems to understand the issues.

I say we can promulgate additional requirements for an owner to submit additional information on his proposed tenants, including occupants and vehicles, a mandated clause that acknowledges the tenants have been provided with copies of our documents & rules and that they agree to abide by them. Any changes to occupancy or vehicles on the property without timely notice by the owner would incur some sort of penalty.

Any thoughts appreciated.
SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964
Posted:
Well, if they won't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to the homeowners - especially the ones you know will pitch 20 hissy fits if there's any talk of prohibiting all leasing. To do that, how about the committee sponsor some sort of town hall meeting on the subject, where people can discuss what they'd like to see. The committee doesn't have to comment on everything that's said (it would likely start more fussing) - instead listen to what people say and set a time limit so everyone has a turn. Hopefully everyone takes notes and you'll see some common themes coming up and then draft some proposals from there.

You could also send out a survey where you can list some of the ideas that have come out, along with their pros and cons. Ask people to respond IN WRITING with their comments and suggestions. You don't have to say who suggested what, but everyone should come up with at least one idea each for homeowners to chew on.

Personally I like your ideas - if nothing else, there should be a mandate that homeowners give tenants a copy of the community rules and write language in the lease that states repeat violations of the same will result in eviction. Some people will howl about the occupancy/vehicle information, but at the very least, the property manager should know who's living in the house and what cars they have in case questions or problems come up and you don't have to spend even more time guessing who to talk to. Good luck!

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius
AugustinD
Posts: 5,144
Posted:
1.
Nationwide, my understanding is that the CC&Rs trump the Articles of Incorporation. I disagree with the above arguments saying otherwise.

2.
As currently written, I think the one-year minimum lease requirement is legally enforceable. I think that the BoD cannot approve a, say, six-month lease without making the HOA vulnerable to litigation.

3.
I think implementing a prohibition on leasing is such a radical change from the original plan that again, the HOA would be vulnerable to litigation. (Plus a lot of members who rent their units are going to be up in arms. Would your HOA even have enough people voting for such a change that it would pass?)

You could shrug your shoulders and wait to have the HOA attorney review the proposed change and tell the other committee members they cannot prohibit leasing. Else you are up against the proverbial wall of ignorance on account of unpaid amateur volunteers. I do not believe in committees in general, anyway. They have no real legal power. Boards can choose to totally ignore committees and typically do, despite a lot of research hours that many committees put in.
GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By SheliaH on 05/17/2018 8:27 PM
Well, if they won't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to the homeowners - especially the ones you know will pitch 20 hissy fits if there's any talk of prohibiting all leasing.

Thanks, Shelia. We distributed a questionnaire in late 2016 that laid out some options for leasing restrictions. The 65 responses we recived (out of 100) were overwhelmingly in favor of a total prohibition on leasing.

At one of our meetings last week I said, "Suppose we have an owner in the military, he gets a 2-year assignment overseas, and he and his wife want to lease the home for a couple of years. Do we really want to deny them the ability to do that?" One curmudgeonly answer: "Sure, why not?"

So I printed out some articles and legal blogs I found online that talk about unreasonable restraints on alienation and the necessity of hardship exemptions. That went over like a lead balloon at the second meeting we had last week. I'd be in favor of a 20-hour course on CID law as a pre-requisite for serving on a board. Yeah, I know. Then we'd have no board members.
TimM11
Posts: 354
Posted:
Is your HOA working with an attorney on this? If not, you should be, though it sounds like their advice may not be heeded anyway.

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