Architectural Approvals in Violation to ByLaws

Started by MariaB8 • 5 replies • 325 views

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MariaB8 (Florida)
Posts: 5

Posted:

THere are some Homeowners in our community that have made improvements to their homes that violate the Rules and Regulations of the HOA. They argue that the approvals were given at the time of a previous Property Manager of which sis not transition the old records to the present Board.
Can the HOA trump the previous approvals and point the HO to the longstanding R&R's? Any feedback or suggestions would be much appreciated.

AugustinD
Posts: 3,698

Posted:

MariaB8,

-- Is this a condominium, subject to FS 718? Or is it a non-condo HOA, subject to FS 720? Or something else?

-- Nationwide, new boards often find that old boards (or their agents) approved things that in fact are in violation of the covenants (or rules and regulations based on the covenants). This issue comes up a lot here. My thoughts:

-- What exactly do your governing documents (Declaration and Rules and Regs) say about the procedure for approving architectural changes?

-- A condo/HOA board may delegate certain tasks to the property manager. Whether past boards could have delegated this to the manager depends on what the Declaration and Rules and Regs say, in part. As others noted in the other thread, it would be highly unusual for the manager to have this responsibility, as the governing documents often specify that this responsibility belongs to a committee of volunteers.

-- I suggest the Board begin by askin all owners whom the board thinks are in violation to provide proof of approval. Then see what the owners provide.

Thank you for starting a new thread.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

Didn't you already ask this question another conversation about your property manager? I believe you got the answer there (1) the hoa,not the property manager, is responsible for reviewing and approving exterior change requests (2) if these homeowners don't have anything in writing regarding approval, they're in violation. read your documents - they should already address this.

If you haven't discussed any of this with your association attorney, you should - immediately. Start with blasting the association records out of the former manager and If there are any former board members remaining from thatvtime, you'll need to have a meeting with them so they can explain how this happened.

Then you'll have to discuss whether you want to demand everyone bring their homes into compliance, which should probably consider how long ago these changes were made and how much effort and money it will take to fight this in court (because you can be assured some of these homeowners will want to go there). If the changes were relatively minor, it may make sense to grandfather those homeowners in, warning them they must bring it back into compliance before it's sold or transferred - otherwise the new owner will be held responsible (that'll help the house sell, I'm sure).

for major changes, you could Go After them now, such as repainting the house or removing a shed, but will all that be worth spending lots of money in legal expenses? Discuss all this with your attorney and decide what's best. Then make sure all homeowners are aware of proper procedure - Your my forward, there will be no excuses for non compliance. Make sure your new property is also aware.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

MariaB8 (Florida)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By AugustinD on 08/27/2021 10:03 AM
MariaB8,

-- Is this a condominium, subject to FS 718? Or is it a non-condo HOA, subject to FS 720? Or something else?

-- Nationwide, new boards often find that old boards (or their agents) approved things that in fact are in violation of the covenants (or rules and regulations based on the covenants). This issue comes up a lot here. My thoughts:

-- What exactly do your governing documents (Declaration and Rules and Regs) say about the procedure for approving architectural changes?

-- A condo/HOA board may delegate certain tasks to the property manager. Whether past boards could have delegated this to the manager depends on what the Declaration and Rules and Regs say, in part. As others noted in the other thread, it would be highly unusual for the manager to have this responsibility, as the governing documents often specify that this responsibility belongs to a committee of volunteers.

-- I suggest the Board begin by askin all owners whom the board thinks are in violation to provide proof of approval. Then see what the owners provide.

Thank you for starting a new thread.

Hi Thanks for your reply.
This is a single home community so not a condominium. I have been a homeowner for the past 16 years and one of the original in the community. Our original PM was hired by the builder and we changed companies after the builder gave the residents control of the HOA. I know that there was a disruption in continuity and there were no previous records from them. I will see about asking for the Homeowner to provide their records. Thanks again

AugustinD
Posts: 3,698

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MariaB8 on 08/27/2021 10:17 AM
Our original PM was hired by the builder and we changed companies after the builder gave the residents control of the HOA.

Be aware that the builder/declarant has a lot of legal leeway when it comes to approving architectural applications. Why? My understanding is that the courts say that, a Declarant has a right to sell homes and make some adjustments to the covenants/architectural requirements to achieve the sale of homes. The adjustments cannot be too off the map. Compared to a post-Declarant board's legal powers to approve or disapprove architectural applications, it's really a whole other ball game.

MariaB8 (Florida)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Hi SheilaH:
Someone asked me to start a new thread with my last question.

Thank you for your valuable information and suggestions.

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