Developer Turnover

Has anyone gone through the process where the Developer in Florida is required to start and HOA and upon 90% of the Lots are sold they turnover the common areas to the HOA? What if the Developer refuses? We have set an HOA with no authority because we have no common property since the developer refuses. We went to court and have spent non HOA money to fight since there is no money coming into the HOA. The developer is using monthly fees of residents to fight us. We have spent 1/3 what they have and are going deep into debt. Is there any active groups that have gone though this or a supporter of HOA that can help us with how to fight this. Any information will help us through our problem. Thank you.

When you say "common area", are you talking about the amenities? If the association streets are private, then they're common area as well.

If you are referring to amenities, it's very possible that the developer still owns the land on which these will be built. It's not unusual for a developer to wait until the late stages of development to deal with these things - or even decide not to build them at all if the developer is having financial difficulties.

During the Great Recession, many new communities ended up without clubhouses and whatnot because the developers went bankrupt. If the bankrupt party's assets were sold to a new developer, that new person had the right to change the original plans for the land. The communities mostly survived just fine, they just weren't exactly as buyers had envisioned when they bought their homes.

If something like this is what's going on, I'm not liking the chances of a lawsuit to change things. Lawsuits can do many things, but they can't repeal the laws of economics.

But I'm not a lawyer, so listen to yours.