Denied access to amenities

[BAAFL]

After moving to another county in FLORIDA for my work, we decided to rent for a while until we got familiar with the neighborhood. Before the move, I was surprisingly diagnosed with diabetes. I am very active & athletic and know that exercize is EXTREMELY important. But I also developed a bothersome orthopedic injury, so we chose a place with a pool so I could continue daily necessary exercize. The pool hours are posted and meet our needs.
However, the pool is rarely open and the access is padlocked. We spoke to the condo commando, er...pool committee chair and she said, "You're renters and you are not paying the bills. It costs money to heat the pool." When we told her that the pool's temperature is fine with us, she said, "It's too cold to go in the pool." When we told her that the pool is rarely open, she said, "I was thinking about opening it later today." As if it is her private pool and not the community's. We have kept a detailed log for the times we attempt to access the pool. So far, attempts are twice per day and 98% we have been denied access. We have attempted to contact the unit owner in writing and written to the association board and have requested information about the pool access. Nobody is responding to us. We are now looking for another rental that will allow us access to the life-saving lifestyle we sought and we will break our lease. What are our options?

[DoRight]

In most cases, HOAs deal with the owner/member and not the renter. So, writing to the Association may not get you anywhere.

If your lease specifies that you will have access to all amenities, then break your lease and find a new place to live. If the unit owner wants to keep you, he will contact the pool chair on your behalf to insist that the CC&Rs (which probably list the hours of operation for the pool) be enforced, i.e. the pool is available for the posted hours.

Next, stop calling the committee names. Doesn't help you at all. Often when someone like you comes along, you shake things up and the folks who are usually in charge (the volunteers like the pool committee) find that their method of operating isn't fair. They will probably push back simple because they don't want to do anything new. BUT if the CC&Rs require them to provide amenities during specific hours, they'll need to learn to apply the rules fairly.

Finally, not all BODs or Committees are as you are experiencing. Many have fine and hard-working volunteers who make the Association a more pleasant place to live. I've lived in three HOAs and two of them were fairly and consistently managed by these volunteers. I'm grateful to them - so find an Association that has a GOOD board.

[neonguy528]

when a person rents in an condo,you have full access to everything and the owner becomes merely a guest.your landlord has the pull here and should help you if they(HE OR SHE) are nice.people always look down on renters.it's unfortunate.good luck.

[ecmst12]

It's unlikely that this is sufficient reason to break your lease.