Violations

We are in Florida. We have a homeowner that has received a violation for his commercial vehicle (his a toyota pickup with logos). We sent hearing notice, did not show. Two board members think we should contact his employer about him breaking the "law." I completely disagree and think it is way out of line.

Thoughts?

For starters, this isn't the employer's business, so tell your colleagues to shaddup about that. They also need to remember the homeowner's behavior is bumping up against community rules, which are not the same as breaking a city/county code, state law or federal law. Unless they can show something in THOSE statutes that support this notion the man's breaking the law, they need to take a few more seats.

As for the resident, try sending another letter, with slightly stronger language this time. It IS possible the letter got lost in the main, so consider sending this one via certified mail with a return receipt requested. Perhaps he did receiving it and is crafting a response and the letters got crossed in the mail. If you think he's telling you to naff of, review your rule enforcement policy to see what comes next and then do it.

(If you don't have one, why not? What's the point of having rules if you won't enforce them, and since letters don't always work, you need to know how far you will push before you start sending them).

Right now, it's not yet time to turn this over to the attorney, but while you're pondering what to do about this guy, some of you may want to look at this rule from a broader perspective. There have been some recent conversations on this website about commercial vehicles, so have a look at them to see how other communities are addressing this (or not). Perhaps it's time for you to consider if this rule needs to be tweaked or dropped altogether. Consider its history - maybe 10 years ago, homeowners thought it was a good idea, but more of today's residents have take home vehicles, so what exactly is the problem? As I said in a recent post, I'm more concerned about the ones that might damage our concrete (we have someone driving a semi cab right now that's not allowed, but we haven't yet figured out who owns it because it'll be parked for a few days and then disappear).

I realize some folks consider commercial vehicles make the community look tacky, but for my part, I don't have a big problem as long as it's well maintained (not dripping motor oil which also kills concrete), has current tags and isn't monopolizing parking spaces or creating blind spots.

I agree with you that contacting the employer would be out of line. It might even give the member cause to sue the association. I would not do this without reviewing with your association attorney.

Pursue your normal violation process and don't vary from it in individual circumstances.

Someone refresh my memory. In FL if one has fines levied against them, can their dues payments be applied to the fines thus making them delinquent in their dues?

Absolutely not.

Was there a fine levied? Was the hearing notice to appear in front of the Fining Committee? Did the committee uphold the fine?

All this is in the statute, FS 720 for an HOA and FS 718 for a condominium association. Having the owner appear at any other kind of "hearing" is counterproductive and a waste of time. Follow the statute! And for pete's sake do NOT contact anyone's employer. The rules and regulations of your association are NOT "the law".

Fines that accumulate in excess of $1,000 may become a lien in Florida, that's one thing that has changed substantially in Florida since 2006.