Article Courtesy of The
Jacksonville Daily Record
By John McCorvey Jr.
Published February 6, 2024
|
In
2023, the Florida Legislature passed the “Homeowners’ Association Bill of
Rights.”
The bill enacted new laws addressing aspects of homeowners’ association
management, including meetings of the board of directors and notice
requirements, conflicts of interest of officers and directors, voting
irregularities and the destruction of, or refusal to allow, inspection of
official HOA records.
The importance of an up-to-date statutory scheme governing HOAs cannot be
overstated since roughly 45% of the state’s population, about 9.6 million
Floridians, live in HOA communities.
Disputes between the associations and homeowners are so common that the
Legislature mandated that, in some instances, the homeowner and association must
participate in pre-suit mediation before commencing a lawsuit. Otherwise, the
courts could by inundated with non-monetary disagreements over “neighborly”
matters.
Disputes that are required to go to pre-suit mediation include the use of or
changes to a parcel or common areas and other covenant enforcement disputes,
disputes regarding amendments to the association’s documents, disputes regarding
meetings of the board and committees appointed by the board, membership meetings
not including election meetings and access to the official records of the
association.
Some disputes are exempt from pre-suit mediation, including the collection of
any assessment, fine or other financial obligation, as well as attorney’s fees
and costs claimed to be due, or any action to enforce a prior mediation
settlement agreement between the parties. See sec. 720.311(2)(a), Florida
Statutes (2023).
Among the changes in HOA law in 2023 was the enactment of sec. 720.3045, Florida
Statutes, which states:
“Installation, display, and storage of items.— Regardless of any covenants,
restrictions, bylaws, rules, or requirements of an association, and unless
prohibited by general law or local ordinance, an association may not restrict
parcel owners or their tenants from installing, displaying, or storing any items
on a parcel which are not visible from the parcel’s frontage or an adjacent
parcel, including, but not limited to, artificial turf, boats, flags, and
recreational vehicles.”
Previously, an association may have become aware of an unseen violation on a
homeowner’s property. For example, a boat might have been stored in a fenced
backyard that was not visible to neighbors, but that violated a rule prohibiting
boat storage.
Understandably, the homeowner would consider such a violation harmless since it
was not visible to neighbors. Despite the lack of visibility some associations
would insist on enforcing the rule or restriction against boat storage. Section
720.3045, Florida Statutes, would prevent such enforcement action.
The law should decrease the number of disputes between associations and
homeowners over such unseen violations.
The Homeowners’ Association Bill of Rights, while a positive development, may
increase the number of HOA disputes. The enactment of new laws invariably
invites disagreements over the application of such laws, compliance with the
laws or even the meaning of such laws.
Such disputes would seemingly fall within the purview of those requiring
pre-suit mediation under sec. 720.311, Florida Statutes (2023), ie. “…disputes
regarding meetings of the board and committees appointed by the board,
membership meetings not including election meetings, and access to the official
records of the association...”
It may be time for HOA attorneys and mediators to roll up our sleeves in
anticipation of an increase in workload.
|