HB1203 Overwhelmingly passes - HOAs can't bar trucks

[Phishfan]

This law is an overreach of that problem.  What is allowed and not allowed should be clearly and unambiguously before the first house is sold.

I don't live in a HOA community but aren't the board members home owners? Who writes it up if no one lives there? The builder? I definitely want representatives when the document is written.

[Dave Gray]

I think HOAs are essentially just a scam to help attorneys.  They set it up, they charge big fees to fight the people in the community, so no matter what happens, the people who live there get screwed.

It might have the best intentions to start, but HOAs are the worst.  You can't beat them because it's not a fair fight -- they have nothing to lose, because they're just funded by you anyway.  If you lose, you can lose your home.  It's bullshit and they're basically impossible to dissolve, plus the attorneys that back them have too much power and would never let it happen.

[CF DolFan]

The Developer writes up the original covenants and files them with the governing authority. Once the neighborhood reaches a certain level of occupancy, like 20-30 percent, the Board is handed over to them. It was rare but ’ve inspected some neighborhoods before releasing their 2 year Maintenance Bonds and the Developer still is running the board because they hadn’t sold enough yet.

[CF DolFan]

I think HOAs are essentially just a scam to help attorneys.  They set it up, they charge big fees to fight the people in the community, so no matter what happens, the people who live there get screwed.

It might have the best intentions to start, but HOAs are the worst.  You can't beat them because it's not a fair fight -- they have nothing to lose, because they're just funded by you anyway.  If you lose, you can lose your home.  It's bullshit and they're basically impossible to dissolve, plus the attorneys that back them have too much power and would never let it happen.

The only good thing if anything is ambiguous or confusing to the homeowner the courts always side with the resident

[Dave Gray]

The only good thing if anything is ambiguous or confusing to the homeowner the courts always side with the resident

Yeah, but so what?  Side with the resident and then the HOA (which is just the residents anyway) have to end up paying the attorney fees for both sides in the loss.

[Fau Teixeira]

I wonder how many people that are for HOAs are against mandatory Union dues when they go work at a union shop with a negotiated contract. And how many people that are for mandatory union dues are against HOAs.

[CF DolFan]

Yeah, but so what?  Side with the resident and then the HOA (which is just the residents anyway) have to end up paying the attorney fees for both sides in the loss.

I didn't say it was great. I was saying the only good thing is that. Having to pay attorney fees sucks unless you are an attorney living there. As previously mentioned at 2 years we would do an inspection on the infrastructure prior to releasing the Developer's bond. We had this happen in a smaller, nice, higher end neighborhood. The biggest issue being the developer refused to fix the items on the punch list and some were quite expensive. That's when some of the residents there who were attorneys sued his butt off, got his bond revoked, and took over the HOA.

[CF DolFan]

I wonder how many people that are for HOAs are against mandatory Union dues when they go work at a union shop with a negotiated contract. And how many people that are for mandatory union dues are against HOAs.

My experience is most people don't care for the job (HOA) and those that do are only in it for a power trip. That's why they many times suck. Few are in it for the betterment of the neighborhood. 

[Dave Gray]

I had some residents trying to get me to run for the HOA.  I would rather eat tacks.

[Brian Fein]

I AM ON THE BOARD OF MY HOA.

I joined the board when i moved into this community becasue, at the time, there were a ton of stories about misappropriation of funds and embezzling that made me want to make sure MY money wasn't getting spent improperly.

That was 18 years ago.  I was supposed to be replaced max term of 3 years, but no one wants to take my place.  If I leave, the board will be below critical mass, and the state takes over.  Dave has told me many times "just kick rocks and tell them to shove it."

If the state takes over, its sky-high monthly dues, its chaos and hands-off management and plummetting property values.  I am NOT in it for the power trip.  At this point, I'm in it to protect my own property.

The neighbors in the community want nothing to do with serving on the board, but everything to do with complaining about it.  Everyone has comments to make until you offer them an opportunity to take ownership and make change, and then they just say "nevermind, yall are doing a great job."

The intent of a HOA is so that the people who live there take an interest in preserving the quality of their neighborhood.  Unfortunately, some people just want to be fake governors - they give HOA's a bad name.  We have never had a special assesment.  We have kept the dues increases to a minimum. We pretty much let people do what they want to do.  For the most part, the other board members and I do not hassle anyone, and do not want to be hassled ourselves.

[Engineering Owl]

Does your HOA have a truck clause? @Bfein

[CF DolFan]

If the state takes over, its sky-high monthly dues, its chaos and hands-off management and plummetting property values.  I am NOT in it for the power trip.  At this point, I'm in it to protect my own property.

I'm not sure what this means. Can you explain? I worked for Seminole County for 13 years. In that time we took over about 4 HOA neighborhoods and made them public because they couldn't function as was originally intended. It's my understanding only a small fee was charged in their taxes to pay for common maintenance.  

This is one neighborhood not far from Phish called Bella Tuscany. it was turned over at least 10 years ago if not more and as you can see from Zillow the neighborhood has held its value when compared to surrounding neighborhoods.

https://shorturl.at/kH0fK

If that doesn't work try searching this in Zillow ... 1339 Bella Tuscany Cv, Longwood, FL 32750

[Brian Fein]

Does your HOA have a truck clause? @Bfein

No, we do not.

I'm not sure what this means. Can you explain?

I don't know details since i have no experience with this but it was conveyed to me that if there is no board of directors, the state takes ownership of the HOA.  And as the state has about 10 million better things to do that run my community, they issue conservative budgets and just essentially act as a bookkeeper, they pay the bills, they collect the money and that's it.  This is what I've been told by a prior property management company which ran our community at the time.