amendment change

Our community is a 55+ single housing. What oue docs read now is anyone can but a home but not live in it unless one person is 55. With alot of home on the market, we have investors coming in buying and renting them. This is not good. As a board we want the new docs to read you have to 55+ to BUY in here. Period! I think the whole community will be better off. How do we go about doing this? and do we have to bring it to the people? Alot of the original owners thought this is the way it always was.I live in Florida and want to do this the correct way. Can the Board make a decision to change the docs???

Do i understand correctly? Currently, an 18 year old can BUY a home in your community, but can't live there unless there is a 55+ year old in residence as well.

And you want to change the rule to you must be 55+ to BUY? (period!)

What good will that do? If you change the rules, then a 55 year old could BUY the house, then rent it to a dozen 20 year olds, and be legal under your rules.

I think it's the "(Period!)" that is throwing me... do you want to make it so the age to buy is your only rule (PERIOD!) or do you want to add to it and require that the buyer be 55 AND the Resident be 55 as well?

One more general question for the legal beagles here... If a bank forecloses on a home in a 55+ neighborhood, does the bank have to be 55 years old to own the property? Or does the loan officer have to be 55? How does it work with age restrictions and bank repossessions?

Alternately, how would it work with ANY reposession? Say, for example, a mechanic's lien on a home. If the contractor was 30, would the lien be worthless then?

Brian again you are being "silly" about a bank being 55, now get real. Yes the bank can only sell to 55+ that we already checked out.

Laverne, what i was asking about was clarification on some of your terms:

You said "change the rule", but what I think you meant was "add to the rule". You want to KEEP the rule that you must be 55+ to live there, not CHANGE it be that you have to be 55+ to buy there. Then you want to ADD a rule that you have to be 55+ to buy.

that's what was throwing me.. but now i understand.

But an honest question: if a bank owns a home, does the bank get to vote in annual elections?

Susan,
Normally , you cannot discriminate against certain things but the Fed Govt has allowed the 55+ housing to remain as such if the governing documents allow for it. A 55+ commuity CAN have up to 20% under 55 residents if they chose to before they would lose their Federal designation but they are not required to have any percent if they so choose .In this case, Laverne's community is a designated 55+ community and they can amend to not allow anyone under 55.

HERE" FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES:

Drawbacks, good points to being over 55

By Elizabeth Rhodes

Seattle Times staff reporter

Q: All the owners in our small condominium are older. What would we have to do to officially turn our building into an "over-55" community?

A: First, you must amend your condo's declaration, which would require a vote of the owners, said attorney Dean Pody, who's with the Mercer Island law office of Kris Sundberg.

Next, you'd have to comply with a federal law — the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 — so that you didn't violate the various fair-housing laws passed to fight age discrimination.

Under the Housing for Older Persons Act, 80 percent of the units must be occupied (not necessarily owned) by at least one person age 55 or older.

The facility must be clearly identified as an over-55 community, and the association must publish and adhere to policies and procedures that demonstrate the intent required.

Also worth considering is whether turning your building into an over-55 complex is wise.

On the plus side: There aren't enough adult communities to serve the growing number of baby boomers beginning to retire, noted Edward Krigsman, founder of Seattle's ek Real Estate Group. So that could make your building attractive to older buyers.

But demographics alone aren't enough.

"Generally when you limit the pool of buyers, you lower the value of the property," Krigsman cautioned. "So you have to have something that offsets the impact of that limitation substantially."

Such amenities as a game room where planned activities would be offered would be one.

Another would be good accessibility — elevators, wide hallways, kitchens and baths that could accommodate wheelchairs. Nearby medical care is another plus.

Krigsman suggests you interview the managers of several over-55 condo communities before proceeding. Describe your building and ask them for their observations and advice.

yes we want the amendment so that you have to be 55+ to buy, or live here.The plus side is to stop the investors that are buying and renting. Lets get real a renter does not take as good a scare as a homeowner. I feel at this time we (HOA) is losing some control. We have a great community for the last 28 years. Alot od care and voluteer work made this like it is . Just trying to keep it is all

LaverneB: You state you are a 55 and over community; however, you also want to create an amendment to dictate that you must be 55+ to buy in your community. Is your community legally recorded as a 55+ community? Or, do you just happen to have residents who are over 55, and until the investors came along renting to younger, this is how it was.

You must address this legally. Review the section in the very beginning of your Declaration: "Summary of Community Documents" to learn if an 'age restriction' is shown as applicable to the use and occupancy of units.

Once you learn whether your documents state such, you may have to go to your local municipality to review with them.