Retroactive Covenant Restriction

I hold a 2 month rental agreement for Jan 2023 (6 months out) in Florida. Agreement was signed in February 2023. HOA just pasted a revision restricting the rental period in the development to a min of 6 months effective August 2023. The Owner advised that he is returning my deposit. Do I still have legal rights to to exercise my lease agreement as it was enacted prior to the covenant revision by the HOA?

M. Lee

Check to see if your city or county has a landlord/tenant mediation office.

Florida statute section FS 718.303 says inter alia:

Each unit owner, tenant and other invitee, and association is governed by, and must comply with the provisions of, this chapter, the declaration, the documents creating the association, and the association bylaws which are expressly incorporated into any lease of a unit.

In my opinion, this means you are stuck abiding by the covenants just as the owner is. A few legal theories might exist for you to fight this, but I do not like your chances. More importantly the cost and time of lawyering up argue for simply looking for a new rental unit.

Your contract is subject to state statute, which means it is subject to the HOA's covenants. The courts would say that you signed the contract with eyes wide open, meaning, according to the courts, you knew that amendments might occur that affect your lease. A deal's a deal.

You could write the HOA a letter expressly citing FS 718.303 and point out that the contract was made before the amendment was passed. Simultaneously you would have to beg the owner to see things as you do. Though if I were the landlord, I think I would not want to deal with this and would be prioritizing getting a six-month minimum lease signed. Meaning I do not like your chances of prevailing here, even with a lawyer.

I agree this is a fair question.

For the landlord, a bigger question is whether the amendment is even valid.

The tenant here can at least ask the HOA to "grandfather" him for this one rental period.

Else I tend to think he or she is stuck lawyering up, and the cost of the lawyer might exceed the cost of say, signing a six month lease.

My mistake, I thought he was already a tenant, sorry.

We don’t know if there’s a provision in the lease that says that it can be canceled if there was a change in the HOA requirements so the landlord simply can’t give possession.

MacL wrote: " HOA just pasted a revision restricting the rental period in the development to a min of 6 month..." What governing document does this "revision" revise? The declaration? If so, has it been recorded with that county yet? Have you read the actual wording of the "revision?"

In the resort-like area where our high rise is--coastal Calif.-- an owner could make nearly as much with a 2-month rental as with a 6-month rental. Would your owner make much more in a 6 month lease than he does with your 2 months? Think about the possibility of signing a 6-month lease with this owner, but paying your typical 2-month lease amount. Do a little research to see what typical 6-mo. lease amount might be. Or, if you can afford it, offer him more.

Having lived in Miami, but not as a landlord, given the summer's wet heat, he might have trouble finding someone who wants 6 months from Feb. to Aug. '24.

I know my above may sound odd, but there might be a way you can work with the landlord on a solution that is good for you both.

i'm n ot a lawyer, but any contracts you hold with a certain expiration date should remain effective until that date arrives. Any new contracts
will need to be written for the new time limits.