Changing Covenants

Started by JimM7 • 5 replies • 1304 views

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JimM7 (Florida)
Posts: 71

Posted:

For the Florida folks. Has any one been involved with changing covenants that were written by the developer?
FS 720.3075 outlines prohibited language. One sentence says that developers are forbidden from having "unilateral" ability to make changes to association documents.
One paragraph of our covenants(written in 1988)says the following, "The Developer may at his sole discretion, make modifications, deletions,or additions....to these restrictive covenants".
Will we have difficulty in making the changes now?

BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820

Posted:

if you have covenents from 1988, and your developer is still in control of your HOA, you have more problems than the new law... Once the developer turns over control to the owners, typically they lose all rights except for those granted to owners of lots (for lots they still own), and you can ignore statements like you quoted.

JimM7 (Florida)
Posts: 71

Posted:

Thanks Brian. The developer was out at 75% back in 95.
The covenants have an expiration date of 2017. I have a written legal opinion that we(the association) can revise these covenants now. My research confirms this. The problem is a group of people that believe we (the association)have not inherited the rights of the developer.

I was hoping I could get someone to tell me how they "did it".

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Jim,
By now the Developer should be long gone and you have had your "Turnover" from him. You can revise your covenants at any time as long as you follow the procedures written in your Articles of Inc, Your Bylaws and the Florida Statutes. Does the Developer still have any voting rights because of owning any lots? You can check with your County Clerks office to find the official paperwork for turnover. OR, call the Developer if you are unsure. Then just get a good Document committee together and start the revision preparation and then present it to the community for voting.

JimM7 (Florida)
Posts: 71

Posted:

Thanks Donna. It's going to be an education process but I think I can get it done if I go about it the correct way. The "developer" has one vote left , an empty lot. So he's just like the rest of us.
I presented my ideas to three other board members and I'm sure the others will agree. The folks keep bringing it up but nobody knows how to get started. I guess I'll just have to jump in with both feet. I was hoping someone could tell me of a success story.
Thanks again.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Jim,
Associations do it every day, the rewrite and updateing of their documents. It is a very big task and that is why you will need a committee that is dedicated to getting the job done. Success story? I am chairman(oops,) was chairman of our Docs committee that did a complete rewrite. It took us 8 months of hard work with 7 people working on it. That scarey looking stack of papers went from hundreds of pages down to 88 pages. We removed all references to the Developer(he was long gone), and rewrote 14 items in the Protective Covenants. Once that was all done, it went to the Lawyer for legality and correct wording. Once it was considered "clean:, it went out to the membership for a vote. Only one item did not pass. Therefore, that item remained the same as the original covenant. Simple!!!

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