HOA revitalization

You don't come to the internet with something like this - go to your association attorney and let him or her figure this out. The homeowners may not want a HOA, but it your community has any common areas, you'll have to figure out what happens to it. The may also be CCRs you'll need to consider - are they still enforceable?

Typically, if a corporation ceases to exist, it notifies the State corporation division by letter and tells them. The corporation has “ gone out of business” (really it doesn’t ; it just goes inactive. Eventually the state will declare it closed)

The assets are sold and proceeds split. Because you have a sum if money, close out the account with a party or split it up among Members. Be sure all outstanding bills are paid before.

The IRS should be told, too. But it sounds like you were too small to have dealings with them.

MRTA expires CC&Rs which is what leads to the whole "revitalization" scenario. Essentially there are no enforceable deed restrictions left. They have been extinguished.

I agree that the advice of a lawyer is required to see what needs to be done to "wrap up" the association. I think the owners who have continued to pay assessments after the CC&Rs were extinguished have a right to a refund. Assuming there's some money in association bank accounts, once the costs of dissolution are accounted for, I think the homeowners should get a pro-rated refund of those funds.

Are you sure, Mary, that there are no amenities that need to be wrapped up? No drainage system or retention/detention ponds? No private roads that need to be cared for, etc.? You may very well be correct and there are no such concerns, but I think there are always things overlooked and if there's no HOA empowered to collect assessments and disburse funds then it will be the individual responsibility of the homeowners.

Good luck. There's no time limit on a revitalization, I don't think. You could always try again. Maybe the homeowners have zero interest in doing that, which is fine as long as there are no hidden got'chas.

There are some excellent suggestions here as well as some not. The revitalization idea is a good one but it is an expensive and exhausting undertaking for a community that has no common property or interest. And probably not feasible in the near term if it has already been rejected but certainly something that can be revisited in the future. FL gives common interest groups the authority to revitalize covenants at any time. As Geno suggested, there is No time limit. The other suggestion is to probe a bit more about your common INTERESTS not just common property to make certain you have buttoned up all possible interests in your community welfare. This is something that a good scrutiny of your turnover documents should reveal so you are sure that your community has no burdens with regard to all parcels in your subdivision, right of ways, waterbodies, roads and stormwater management and drainage. If you have no common real estate, it would appear that there is no tax impact. I am wondering what your previous assessments were being used for and what matters the board took into consideration at its meetings. You might want to review the Minutes of the past year or so.

FS617 is very specific about how to dissolve a non profit corporation. It is always better to have legal help which I presume you had help with your revitalization effort. Yes? But, thoughtful and careful attention to the statute "road map" might work for you if you do not have appreciable assets to dispose.