Revitalization lawyer fees

If they are really old I think you're making a mistake not updating them. These are legal documents and need to be reliable and written to current standards to avoid potential law suites.

AnaD, as you may know, revitalization has a specific, extensive, legal meaning in Florida unlike nearly all other states in the United States. Florida HOA attorneys will know your meaning. Call around and see what the attorneys estimate the cost to be.

First of all, the posting rules on this website don't allow people to use actual names of communities or vendors, so please act accordingly. Hopefully this doesn't get seen by someone in your community who then tells the attorneys. That may end any chance you might have had of working with them.

You didn't say how much is too much for your colleagues, but I would remind all of you times and expenses have gone up considerably since 1978 and Since your talking about updating your documents, that's too important to do it half-assed just to save money. Remember, you get what you pay for and if this isn't done right the first time, you may wind up spending more money to fix it.

Once again, I say, don't be cheap. This doesn't mean you must pay through the nose. Perhaps getting the consult for $150 would be worth it in determining what you want to do vs. doing what you MUST. Maybe you should leave the CCRs as is for now and get what you need to be compliant with the state, then plan on doing more detailed work on the CCRs in the future

A revitalization is much more complicated than preserving your documents before MRTA takes effect.

You should carefully review Chapter 720 of the Florida Stautes and pay particular attention to paragraphs 720.403, 720.404, 720.405. 720.406, and 720.407. Those paragraphs spell out exactly what you have to do.

You'll need an "organizing committee" composed of at least 3 members of the association. These people do NOT have to be Directors on the board. I'd be wary of directors who want to do this on the cheap. Your association, if properties have had their covenants and deed restrictions extinguished by MRTA, likely has forfeited its right to collect assessments from those homeowners. I can't stress enough that you do not want to go cheap on this. It shouldn't cost an arm and a leg, but it may cost several hundred - if not thousand - dollars to do. There's a lot of mailings that need to be done and the cost of re-recording the propsed revitalized documents with your county.

There are technical requirements regarding what may and may not be in the new Declaration. I'd certainly want an attorney to be involved with those.

Also, please be aware that the state's Department of Economic Opportunity, which ultimately approves or rejects a revitalization plan, isn't very thorough. A couple of years ago a poster here shared his ordeal that culminated in the DEO approval of a revitaliztion that was thoroughly at odds with the statute. The DEO didn't closely review the revitalization documents and requirements, and he was stuck in a revitalized HOA that his home was never a part of in the first place.

This isn't a casual thing. Resist anyone on the board who wants to downplay this in an effort to save money.

It's too difficult to say because the cost varies by community. Get the consult and pay attention to Geno's advice. Good luck!

Ah, MRTA.

Well, first I would have to assess how aligned the community is wrt to revitalization. You don't say how many houses? Is there anyone against revitalization?

Are you certain you are already past 30 years from the date of the "root of title?"

There is at least one odd circumstance that relates to HOW the plat was drawn up and WHAT language was used - this is rare, but according to our attorney, there are some circumstances where revitalization is not necessary.

Next, I would assess whether or not those for/against revitalization would be for/against modifications to the CCRs ... sometimes one issue has a far different support group.

If a relatively large HOA with some groups not wanting to revitalize, I would expect several thousand dollars of attorney fees.

Should be pretty easy, then.

Me? I would find an HOA attorney who has completed several of these, make sure they know everyone supports - and follow the procedures in FS712 and FS720.

I would not change the CCRs, unless it was an absolute serious end of the world problem - do it quickly and keep it simple to avoid pushback, argument, etc.

Later, address the CCRs, if needed.

Sound advice. Heed it.