Who as dealt with a CDD?

It would take pages and pages to outline our issues but in a nutshell......

We are a single family home HOA that was just turned over about 2 years ago.

The area was developed under a CDD for water and infrastructure. We have multiple ponds.

Title of the ponds was transferred from the developer to the HOA just before turnover. Acceptance was made by a developer employee who was acting as HOA President. Turnover was conditional on an inspection that seemingly never occurred.

We now have drainage and culvert issues along the shores of the ponds.

The CDD says not our problem. They claim they are only responsible for the pumps.

We have found out that the ponds were out of compliance at the time of turnover as no inspections, as required by law, were completed since 2012.

The developer did a terrible job at turnover as the HOA management company was owned by the developer. As a result we were never informed that we should have insisted on an inspection at turnover or that periodic inspections were required of the ponds by the water authority. We have also had major landscaping issues.

We are looking at two possible paths of action. Ask the Developer for support since they are building another subdivision right next to us. The second is to file suit to repair the ponds.

Has anyone successfully sued a CDD?

Thanks

CDD is a Community Development District.

States vary so much on construction defect actions against developers that, yes, consult with a qualified HOA or contract law attorney.

You could still be within the statute of limitations. But only an attorney can tell you the steps to take which might at first just be a demand letter of sorts.

Yes, our HOA received a good-enough settlement from our developer and his vendors for big constructions defects in our high rise twin towers. Our attorney specialized in construction defects with experience with high rises. You might try to find one who specialize in your types of defect if such specialties exist.

Either way, you'll need an attorney who specializes in these matters.

Excellent link from Max on CDDs. Some general observations from Max's link and the issues you raised. My reading of your post might not be 100%, but maybe these comments could be helpful.

CDDs can be set up to own facilities. Your CDD wasn't. This makes it much harder to win a claim of any sort against the CDD. As Max's article states, CDDs are government agencies that can often rely on sovereign immunity against claims. That's a very hard hurdle to overcome.

In a perfect world, you might have a conflict of interest claim against the developer. But developers intentionally make it harder by starting and shutting down corporations to limit and compartmentalize liability. Piercing the corporate veil is possible, but the burden would be on you to prove that necessity, and judge's are reluctant to take those steps. More time. More cost. More delay.

If the MC that the developer owns serves multiple HOAs, that entity could be a target for a lawsuit. It's an ongoing enterprise and the reputation of the developer's MC is important to him.

Your best bet may be the potential havoc you could create without much cost to discourage buyers of the nearby development by the same developer. There are potential risks for your HOA if you took that path.

For any of these options, consulting with an experienced lawyer is essential. Emotions must be hot, and you probably could use someone who can step back and advise you on your best choices.

One of the most significant CDD lawsuits in FL involved Soliviata HOA v Poinciana CDD. Not sure what the outcome was, but from the descriptions of the current relationship by the parties to those lawsuits (I think there were 3 lawsuits), the level of complexity can be formidable.

http://www.solivitahoa.com/std.php?lID=1000472

http://poincianacdd.org/cdd-info

And take years.

You ought to maybe google on those HOA names NpS gave and read some of the commentary about the lawsuit(s?) in which the HOA(s) is (are) involved. It's inspiring.

HOA Declarations often are around 100 pages or more long. I expect you'll get familiar with the CDD agreement's sections and be able to leaf through it quickly to find what you want. God willing you have a digital copy that is searchable. Either way your reviewing the agreement is excellent preparation for a meeting with an attorney. The more prep, the less money spent on the attorney, at least for the first meeting.

Two cents and nothing more.