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Hoa abuse of power or not?

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GillesB

Member
What is the name of your state? Tamarac Florida

looking for HOA law for proper procedure to issue fines

I hope I am asking in the correct place for some laws I can print to help aggressive Hoa enforcements. Before I start I need to say I have always been one month ahead on HOA payments never late once.
I live in a golf course community where homes are not all identical specs. I love my neighborhood and neighbors. I have been in my place for 15 plus years, raised my 2 daughters myself and owned my business for 28 years. Last year I ran into bad luck where I broke my back for a third time and found out how crooked the system is. While getting my first of 2 surgeries my company was embezzled into the ground. Long story but let's just say everything came down crumbling at once. All emergency protection I had turned out to be fraud. From worker's comp, Aflac, LifeLock I can go on with this list for days. Trying to get help I ran down my savings along with my daughters college fund. My Hoa started driving around and hit every neighbors with letters to fix anything from lawns driveways etc.. Everyone can appreciate keeping the area nice but talk about nit picking. All neighbors last month were cursing this person who seemed to have nothing better to do but aggravate the neighbors. I said for once I must be lucky. I am in no physical shape to be working on the outside of my house nor do I have any money left to pay someone. I literally have been working 18 to 20 hr. days fighting everything from frivolous lawsuit trying to liquidate real estate getting caught up into a corrupted land buying suing me because his closing agent never sent me a closing. Yes, exactly what did I do wrong? Florida you can sue anyone for anything until they no longer have a dime to protect themselves. Tried to auction of my woodworking company's equipment but got robbed and ended up with not $1. When I said everything at once. Here is my question after setting up the ambiance Hoa didn't skip me at all. I received a letter to remove hurricane shutters. I had a few small windows hidden by column that seemed to bother no one. I sent them an email same day I received the letter saying how my health was not great and back barely allowed for me to get up and walk but I will do my best to accommodate. I also included that I was not happy with the way my house looked on the outside. My grass is green, and all bushes always kept trimmed but I have hurricane damage behind my house from my own personal tornado (I really did have a tornado land in my backyard pick up my solid roof patio as quietly as I've ever heard. We were watching wizard of Oz right at the roll down shutter to the patio and hear one little noise. In the front security camera, the whole patio was flying over the homes and landed on the golf course destroying itself) Explaining in the email that I was liquidating assets and selling real estate for much needed money. I had plans to get the house renovated on the outside. The next day I took down the few windows shutters except one I couldn't reach and felt extremely lousy. This put me in bed sick for a week then escalated in major pneumonia. I am alive today only because I asked the mother of my kids if she could watch them over the weekend. They came to my house to get cloths only to find me on the ground suffocating and out. The mom called Emergency. They said my oxygen level was down to 73 which is organ failure. 2 days on life support 8 days in ICU. I said everything crumbling at once so let add no insurance to this. Back to my question When I got back home a few days ago a letter from my Hoa also was waiting to say this was my second notice. I have no idea how they could see one window, but they attacked me for one window. They completely ignored my email of explanation and now saying I will be fined $100 per violation per day up to $2500. How can this be legal knowing my condition asking for some leniency along with my plans to remodel this year. How can this even be human. My neighbors and I have always taken care of the elderly and helped everyone. This new person is tearing up the neighborhood and seems more like trying to generate money for themselves. wouldn't be the first corruption in my town of Tamarac Florida. Even the most kept homes are getting threats. How can I find the law and proper HOA procedures to hand out to my neighbors? As far as my place I'm not sure to what they are referring to as I removed any that could be seen from any street. The only way to the window unreachable would be to trespass and walk around my place. I replied also to the second letter and threat in the time of extreme heat. I think If I don't have the legal HOA procedures to fine I might be in trouble once they read my answer. I can think of many other things that are bothering me about my place, which is why I wanted to remodel. Please help, this is clearly an abuse of power to ignore an email acknowledging the first violation and plans for near future.
Thank you for reading

GB
 


adjusterjack

Senior Member
I stopped reading about halfway through. I hoped you would edit out the irrelevant information by the time you started your own thread.

As far as I can make out you have received demands from the HOA to remedy non-compliance with the HOA rules and regulations and you are looking for something you can use to limit the HOA's enforcement of those rules and regulations.

Well, the first place you look is in your CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions). That's the contract you agreed to abide by when you bought a property in an HOA.

As long as the HOA is acting within the terms and conditions of that contract, despite your opinion that it is nitpicking, there isn't anything you can do but comply with the demands to remedy the conditions of your property that require compliance or get assessed with fines.

What happened in your life is, indeed, tragic but doesn't change the fact that the HOA is within its rights to seek compliance with its rules and regulations.

You are welcome to consult an attorney but I don't think you will learn anything different.
 

GillesB

Member
I do write a story and apologize for the over writing. This is a single family housing neighborhood Some house are palaces next to 30 year old homes. It is very easy and HOA has always been minor. The take care of public landscaping entrance etc. The HOA management has traded hands several times. I try to stay out of all that and take care of my suroundings. I bumped into this site looking for this updated ordinance. ( see below from old attorney). I have a rental in a townhouse association which ran into a bad decision of tenant . Unlike my neighborhood this is much higher HOA expense and regulate very strictly. I wanted to educate myself as you suggest on the updated laws. I will take your advice and look up our latest association website to seek out the bylaws. I am as easy as they get. Ask and I take care of it. This however denied any communication attempt, not just from me but several neighbors as well.

I have serious doubts as to whether the Association has the authority to fine as noted in your letter. Even if the Association does have fining authority, the procedural requirements of FS 720.305(2) were not followed.

Thank you for your advice
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
the procedural requirements of FS 720.305(2) were not followed.
You mean the bolded part of this:

(2) The association may levy reasonable fines. A fine may not exceed $100 per violation against any member or any member’s tenant, guest, or invitee for the failure of the owner of the parcel or its occupant, licensee, or invitee to comply with any provision of the declaration, the association bylaws, or reasonable rules of the association unless otherwise provided in the governing documents. A fine may be levied by the board for each day of a continuing violation, with a single notice and opportunity for hearing,

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0720/Sections/0720.305.html
I'm not going back to that big block of text but I thought I read that you were given notice.

Did you ask for a hearing?
 

HighwayMan

Super Secret Senior Member
I stopped reading about halfway through. I hoped you would edit out the irrelevant information by the time you started your own thread.
You're a better man than I am. I saw the same novel posted and won't even look past the first few words.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Gilles, if you edit your original post to make paragraphs and double space between paragraphs you might get better responses. Yes, it will still be too long but it would be more readable.
 

GillesB

Member
You mean the bolded part of this:

(2) The association may levy reasonable fines. A fine may not exceed $100 per violation against any member or any member’s tenant, guest, or invitee for the failure of the owner of the parcel or its occupant, licensee, or invitee to comply with any provision of the declaration, the association bylaws, or reasonable rules of the association unless otherwise provided in the governing documents. A fine may be levied by the board for each day of a continuing violation, with a single notice and opportunity for hearing,

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0720/Sections/0720.305.html
I'm not going back to that big block of text but I thought I read that you were given notice.

Did you ask for a hearing?
I think this is exactly what I was looking for. The previous text was something written by an attorney years ago. I was looking for the updated or exact wording to this.
The very next day after the first notice everything were removed but one small window I could not reach nor could anyone see without trespassing. I opened dialog agreeing with the letter, assuring them I would do my best on my own and see where I get along with plans to remodel my property. We had a block meeting today as several people received secondary threats after doing exactly what was asked.
I did ask for a hearing as I agreed with the demand and already disliked the aging of a few items on my place. I never challenged them. My letter said exactly what I did and what plans I had coming in the next few months in case they wanted to hit what I was already working on. How are they in the right to send secondary threats to people that already handled the issue. My neighbors are all outside enjoying conversation. We all use the same landscaper always pressure cleaning driveways. I need to find the by-laws that states How to communicate or what constitutes not following notice when mine was done the very next day. The other neighbors across from me do just this as retired people. they maintain their homes like no one I've ever seen. The city Mayor lives on our Block and i think today she was out talking with the afterwork party we call it.
thank you for helping with this end. Now I think we need to see what constitute not following directions and where it says they can trespass single family home yards.
 

GillesB

Member
good for them . They should have brought what they didn't like about my letter that said I agree along with their fines to stick it right in the crack of my behind on life support. exactly seven days after first notice. They must have walked around to go look between 2 columns everyday for a whole weeks in order to send out their notice.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Gilles, here is your latest post edited the way I asked you to edit your original post. Please TRY to post this way:

I think this is exactly what I was looking for. The previous text was something written by an attorney years ago. I was looking for the updated or exact wording to this.

The very next day after the first notice everything were removed but one small window I could not reach nor could anyone see without trespassing. I opened dialog agreeing with the letter, assuring them I would do my best on my own and see where I get along with plans to remodel my property. We had a block meeting today as several people received secondary threats after doing exactly what was asked.

I did ask for a hearing as I agreed with the demand and already disliked the aging of a few items on my place. I never challenged them. My letter said exactly what I did and what plans I had coming in the next few months in case they wanted to hit what I was already working on. How are they in the right to send secondary threats to people that already handled the issue. My neighbors are all outside enjoying conversation. We all use the same landscaper always pressure cleaning driveways. I need to find the by-laws that states How to communicate or what constitutes not following notice when mine was done the very next day. The other neighbors across from me do just this as retired people. they maintain their homes like no one I've ever seen. The city Mayor lives on our Block and i think today she was out talking with the afterwork party we call it.

thank you for helping with this end. Now I think we need to see what constitute not following directions and where it says they can trespass single family home yards.
 

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