South Florida Paralegal Blog

Are you having problems with your Florida homeowner's or condo association? Is the sheer quantity and overbearing nature of the rules and restrictions making life in your community unbearable? Has your association filed a lien against you and threatening to foreclose on your home? Do you feel you have no voice in the decisions that affect your community? Have you been fined because you have 12 guppies in your fish tank and your association rules only permit a maximum of 10? Have your neighbors with too much time on their hands turned into informants, watching and waiting for you to break the smallest rule? Do you have to read a telephone-book size manual before using your pool or inviting a family member to spend the night at your home? Welcome to condo life in South Florida.

I often get calls from condo residents who relay horror stories to me about how miserable life in their community has become. I have heard stories about condo associations foreclosing over $200.00 in disputed assessments. I have heard stories of fist fights breaking out at monthly condo meetings. I have heard stories of people's tires being slashed over disagreements on rule changes. I have personally seen associations blatantly discriminate against prospective homebuyers based on the color of their skin or their ethnic background.

I don't mean to be too dramatic here, but in my humble opinion, condo communities have become little pockets in which basic American rights have ceased to exist.

Associations are governed by Florida Statutes, sections 718 and 720. However, upon reading the statutes, it appears that you can summarize your rights as a resident in one sentence: Associations can do almost anything they want as long as it is in the rules and regulations.

Condo communities in Florida are permitted to decide what type of vehicle its residents may own and what types of jobs they may hold. Believe it or not, many communities outlaw "work vehicles" or pickup trucks.

Imagine this scenario: An American serviceman spends the last three years risking his life to defend our nation. Upon his return, he gets a job working for an air conditioning company as an apprentice. The veteran's employer is nice enough to provide him with a company vehicle in which the employer's logo is displayed. The veteran doesn't make a lot of money, but his dream is to own his own home. He can't afford a single family home in South Florida, so he plans to use his VA benefit to buy an affordable condominium. He finds a nice community and enters into a contract to purchase a unit. His Realtor provides him with a telephone book sized Rules and Regulations and right there on page 743, it says that "commercial vehicles" are not allowed to be parked anywhere in the community overnight. Since he doesn't own a car yet and his only transportation is his employer's vehicle, he can't buy the condo.

Doesn't sound very American to me, but it could and does happen. When communities are permitted to prohibit pickup trucks and work vehicles, it's really a hidden message; we don't want any blue-collar people living here. In reality, it's socioeconomic discrimination and in Florida, it's legal.

I have two experiences living in communities with associations:

My first home was a townhouse in West Palm Beach and I enjoyed the community very much. The association maintained the property very well yet there weren't onerous and absurd rules that caused me live in a constant state of fear. My only interaction with the association was a friendly reminder that I needed to paint my front door. I had replaced the door a few months earlier and was simply procrastinating. No threatening letters or sneaky neighbors filing complaints. Just a simple, to-the-point reminder that I needed to paint. No big deal.

My second experience occurred a few years ago, in which I lived in an "all-age" condo community in the West Palm Beach area for a short time. I assumed that, like my townhouse experience, persons of all ages were supposed to live together in relative peace and harmony. And by relative peace and harmony, I mean that I would be able to enjoy a sunny, South Florida Sunday afternoon lounging by the pool without being accosted by fifteen elderly snowbirds. My offense? Bringing one bottle of water into the pool area.

Never in my life could I have imagined a Twilight Zone-type scenario in which a majority of residents would actually vote for a rule barring bottled water beside a pool, of all places. Of all the liquids that exist in our solar system that should be prohibited from a swimming pool area, water would be the last on my list of objectionable ones. Gasoline. Check. Battery acid. Check. Water left over from the processing of uranium. Check. But drinking water? You must be kidding!

But, it actually happened to me. I didn't even have time to put my towel down. Within seconds of unlocking the pool gate, a dozen shrieks of horror and anger broke the pleasant Sunday calm. "YOU CANT BRING WATER IN HERE!!!!!!" "I'M GOING TO TELL THE PRESIDENT". "YOU'RE BREAKING THE RULES!!!!!!!!!!!

I was in shock. It actually took my mind a few seconds to grasp what all the fuss was about. From the commotion these ladies of leisure were making, one would have thought I threw a dead rat in the pool.

It was at that moment I realized that I could never live in a condo community again.

So what's the moral of the story here?

First of all, the public (that means you) needs to put pressure on our lawmakers to change the statutes. Before living in a condo community, I thought the purpose of the association was to cut the lawn and make sure the sprinklers worked. I assumed the association's sole purpose was to maintain the appearance of the community, which in turn, maintains property values. I did not realize that many association boards had become pet projects for people with too much spare time to exercise control over every facet of life of the residents. Until lawmakers reign in the power of associations and restore them to the original purpose that they were intended, here are a few suggestions:

1. Understand that the tradeoff for living in a condo community is that you are surrendering basic rights that you have taken for granted most of your life.

2. Spend some time asking other residents questions about the community: Do you like living here? Are you happy with the association? Have you any had problems with the association? What would you change about the community? Have there been many special assessments? Seek out people in your age group as their concerns might mirror your own more accurately.

3. Pay especially close attention to rules regarding your ability to rent your unit if you have to move unexpectedly. Some communities actually have the gall to pass rules where the residents who owned before a certain date can rent out their units but newer owners are discriminated against and cannot.

4. Make sure you understand exactly what your condo fee includes. Some cover roof replacement, but some do not. Some include basic cable, some do not.

5. Take a good look at the pool area and the neighborhood in general. Are there any kids? No? If you're retired and want peace and quiet, this is a good thing. If you're not retired and the community, while billing itself as "all-age" looks more like a retirement community, realize that you're probably going to have a few challenges, to put it mildly.

6. If you're going to be a full-time resident, find out how many residents are "snowbirds". If it's a large percentage, realize that their priorities are different than yours. You may want the association to spend some some money to tear down the shuffleboard courts to build an exercise room but part-time residents may be happy to get their exercise from walking to the clubhouse each Tuesday to play Bingo.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:

7. Read the rules and regulations (yes, every darn page) before you decide to live there. If you don't understand certain parts, consult an attorney. It's better to spend a few hundred bucks before you buy than tens of thousands only to find out that you'll have to park your hated pickup truck three miles away.

If you can put up with the high property taxes, property insurance and the constant threat of annihilation by hurricane, living in South Florida can truly be a paradise. The key is to understand and accept the risks. At least we don't have to scrape snow off our windshields!