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Community living

Ordinances differ from deed restrictions

By RICHARD WHITE
Published October 29, 2005

Whenever I point out violations of our association documents (overgrown lawns, disabled cars, street parking, construction not approved by our architectural review board), our president says he can do nothing because the residents are not in violation of city ordinances. But at a recent review of city code-enforcement ordinances, city council members said they rely on homeowners associations to enforce their documents. We're caught in the middle here.

Your association is governed by your documents. The members must comply with the deed restrictions (which are often more restrictive than city ordinances), and your board has the responsibility to enforce them. Write the board a letter pointing out that the entire board, not just the president, has the legal responsibility to enforce deed restrictions. Failure to do so leads to a decline in property values, and it's their duty to maintain those values.

How carefree is "carefree"?

Many of our homeowners say that when they bought their homes, the developer advertised this as a "carefree, no-maintenance" community. The sales staff said the same thing. The association has maintained the front yards, but some members are insisting that we take on maintenance of the back and side yards and the sprinkler system. We've just completed our 2006 budget with no increase in fees, but if we have to provide this additional maintenance, the budget will have to increase. Should we let the members vote on this at our annual meeting?

Can someone define "carefree living"? I'm sure I'll get bags of mail in response. The term is open to many interpretations. This is partly a document-driven question: The board is required to provide the services that are enumerated in the documents and to maintain the common elements that were turned over by the developer (pool, clubhouse, parking lots). Why not put the question to the members at your next annual meeting? Seek bids from lawn-maintenance companies so you have actual numbers to set before your members, and they can make an informed decision based on real costs and the real increase in the budget and in their monthly maintenance. Then let them vote on whether they want to pay for "carefree, no-maintenance" living or would rather do it themselves.

Friendly persuasion needed

Can our board adopt a policy requiring all new owners to allow us to automatically withdraw the monthly maintenance from their checking accounts?

I don't think you can force owners to use an automatic payment system. You need a strong selling program to persuade your residents of the benefits of such a system. They might include no late payments and lower bookkeeping costs. I know of some communities that achieve over 50 percent participation.

-- Richard White is a licensed community associations manager. Write to him c/o Community Living, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Sorry, he can't take phone calls or provide personal replies by mail, but you can e-mail him at CAMquestions@cfl.rr.com Please include your name and city. Questions should concern association operations; legal opinions cannot be offered. For specific legal advice, contact an association attorney.

Readers may call the state Division of Condominiums Bureau of Customer Service at toll-free 1-800-226-9101 with questions or requests for materials. Access the Bureau of Condominiums Web site at www.state.fl.us/dbpr/lsc/index.shtml or write to Bureau of Customer Service, 1940 N Monroe St., Northwood Centre, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1032.

Please note that this office provides no information about homeowners' associations. The state has no bureau or department covering those associations.

[Last modified October 28, 2005, 11:07:05]