LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009
Posts: 1,009
Posted:
We had a meeting with our attorney yesterday to make sure we had all areas of the new rules (Florida HB 1203) that mostly went into effect on July 1. The most interesting part of the meeting was thatour attorney believes this bill was the first step in the legislature taking away almost all control from HOAs to make rules for their communities. She believes more bills will be passed next year also. I have been to two webinars and had this private meeting and I'm still not sure I understand all the implications.
As of now:
1. We can no longer make or enforce any rules for parking of vehicles in driveways. Since they didn't define "personal vehicle" or "work vehicle" and only referred to commercial vehicles (defined in another statute as being over 26,000 lbs. or 3 axles), we can't prohibit any cars, trucks, RVs, or trailers. The only exception is the "vehicle" has to fit in the driveway and can't overhang the sidewalk. It doesn't matter what shape they are in or whether they are clearly commercial.
2. It is questionable if we can make or enforce any existing rules on street parking. In communities with public streets, you can't enforce any overnight parking or other parking rules. We have private streets that are very narrow. We have always prohibited overnight parking because it's difficult for first responder vehicles to navigate the roads at night with cars parked on the street. Our attorney has suggested we pay the county to do a zoning survey and make a determination about street parking in our community based on the width of the roads.
3. We can no longer really enforce any rules with fines or suspension of use of common areas. Our attorney believes the legislature is going to force HOAs to go immediately to dispute resolution or lawsuits. The fining process has been changed so the owner can cure the violation at any time until 30 days after the fine has been set. Or they can cure any time right before the fining hearing, then violate again immediately after. If an owner really wanted to, they could tie up the association every month with the same violation by just curing it right before the meeting and then doing it again. The fine can't be put on the owner's account until 30 days after the "receive" the notice of the fine, so delivery of the notice becomes very important.
4. Architectural rules have to be very, very specific. Every color and style allowed has to be specifically called out. There has to be a list of approved colors with names. We can't ask for a contractor's license but we can ask for the contractor's insurance.
If you are wondering why bother to have an HOA when you can't enforce any rules, I'm beginning to wonder that too.
As of now:
1. We can no longer make or enforce any rules for parking of vehicles in driveways. Since they didn't define "personal vehicle" or "work vehicle" and only referred to commercial vehicles (defined in another statute as being over 26,000 lbs. or 3 axles), we can't prohibit any cars, trucks, RVs, or trailers. The only exception is the "vehicle" has to fit in the driveway and can't overhang the sidewalk. It doesn't matter what shape they are in or whether they are clearly commercial.
2. It is questionable if we can make or enforce any existing rules on street parking. In communities with public streets, you can't enforce any overnight parking or other parking rules. We have private streets that are very narrow. We have always prohibited overnight parking because it's difficult for first responder vehicles to navigate the roads at night with cars parked on the street. Our attorney has suggested we pay the county to do a zoning survey and make a determination about street parking in our community based on the width of the roads.
3. We can no longer really enforce any rules with fines or suspension of use of common areas. Our attorney believes the legislature is going to force HOAs to go immediately to dispute resolution or lawsuits. The fining process has been changed so the owner can cure the violation at any time until 30 days after the fine has been set. Or they can cure any time right before the fining hearing, then violate again immediately after. If an owner really wanted to, they could tie up the association every month with the same violation by just curing it right before the meeting and then doing it again. The fine can't be put on the owner's account until 30 days after the "receive" the notice of the fine, so delivery of the notice becomes very important.
4. Architectural rules have to be very, very specific. Every color and style allowed has to be specifically called out. There has to be a list of approved colors with names. We can't ask for a contractor's license but we can ask for the contractor's insurance.
If you are wondering why bother to have an HOA when you can't enforce any rules, I'm beginning to wonder that too.