Selective Enforcement, Laches?

An original owner in our small (19 Homes) Florida HOA was sold a lot by the developer, next to his home, just to park an RV on. The RV was a violation per the Covenants, however it was thought for some 5 years that a special contract had been made between the developer and the violating homeowner. When it was found no such contract existed the board tried to get the home owner to move the RV. After three years the home owner put his home up for sale and sold the RV. However, the original home owner told the new owner he could keep a boat on this lot, even though the boat was also violating the covenants. His reasoning was that the RV had stayed there several years and he had not been forced by the board to move the RV, so the violating boat would be no problem to the new owner. After all the board had not acted properly in years past so would be unable to act now. The board has acted properly and has enforced several other boat and RV violations during this time. Is the present board faced with Selective Enforcement, Laches, or any other enforcement problem?

KenD: It is the new owner's responsibility to understand the governing docs by which they must abide. Further, it was not the previous owner's authority to dictate to the new owner what would be allowed.

It is the Board's responsibility, however, to govern following the official dictates of the docs, and if that includes RV/boat violations, then they must be carried out. I would be interested in what the now 'empty' lot will be used for though. This seems to be a unique situation, thanks to the developer.
Developer's and previous owners' promises do not supersede official document restrictions. Hopefully, the Board will be able to 'nicely' point out the restrictions from the docs and make the new owner understand that the responsibility was with him to ask questions of those in authority before purchase.

KenD,

I agree with SusanW1 post. The current board must still enforce equally regardless of what the new HO was told. Although it will be difficult (as previously stated) to enforce such covenants “IF” the previous HO sold the property under false pretences! Never the less those in violation should comply immediately.

We have all been there done that.
Best of luck and keep us posted

Chuck W.

Developers do it all of the time. They screw it up for the association and then give it to us at turnover. Then it is up to the new Board to unscrew it. There is no such thing as "grandfathering" in the State of Florida. You live by the laws of the association.

My association went to court because the Developer allowed 2 members to go strictly against his own covenant which was so poorly written that the Judge had to split the decision between the members and the Association. And $65,000 later, we were trying to figure out how to pay for this and still how to enforce a bad decision.

But new owners, despite what the previous owner told him, has to follow the covenants. I don't care if the King or the Preseident said otherwise, it is the rule of the association that no parking of campers , boats or whatever it is, it cannot be parked on the side of the house.