Many individuals believe that commercial vehicles, or at least certain types of commercial vehicles, hurt property values and negatively affect a community’s desirability. Of course, the type of commercial vehicles a community may want to prohibit or restrict may vary significantly. By way of example, where one community may want to prohibit 18-wheelers, another community may want to prohibit any vehicle with signage thereon, while another community may want to restrict various types of vehicles of a certain size, weight, appearance, function, etc. Ultimately, we must acknowledge that restrictions on commercial vehicles, if not the prohibition of commercial vehicles altogether is extremely common in Declarations, if not the norm. Moreover, as additional developments come online, it appears that more and more covenants and restrictions limit and restrict, if not completely prohibit, commercial vehicles from communities.
FREE MONEY FOR THE ASSOCIATION AND LOTS OF IT!!!
10 Aug 2022 inDoes your association’s Governing Documents (e.g., its Declaration) require future purchasers of Lots and/or Units within your community, upon closing, to pay the association a capital contribution? If not, you’re losing out on free money.
Explosive Situations - Can My Association Restrict Fireworks?
24 Jun 2022 inMany of our Fourth of July festivities will include friends and family, barbecues, and fireworks. Although many attend fireworks celebrations hosted in the community, many of us also love smaller-scale fireworks events in our neighborhoods and driveways. This begs, the question: what can and can't our Homeowners' Association restrict regarding fireworks this upcoming Fourth of July?
Covenants - How Past Requirements Can Affect Future Owners
06 May 2022 inThe recent Florida Supreme Court ruling in Hayslip v. U.S. Home Corporation, Case No. SC19-1371 (January 22, 2022) should make property owners seriously consider using counsel who is well-versed in title issues, to review the original deed transferring their property from the builder to the original owner, and all subsequent deeds in the chain of title, as part of their property purchase. Specifically, this recent case held that if any of those deeds contain provisions that bind the property, they remain effective against new owners, even if those new owners were unaware or these “covenants running with the land,” and even if the covenant is not mentioned in the last several deeds. This also impacts our firm’s Community Association clientele, insofar as the Association could otherwise unwittingly take title to a property through foreclosure or deed in lieu thereof, without knowing it is subject to these covenants and must comply with them or seek to eliminate them.
Holiday Décor: Ho Ho Ho, or Bah Humbug?!
03 Jan 2022 inThe holidays can bring out the best in a community: parties, lights, statues, and festive adornments throughout the neighborhood are common and largely welcomed in community associations. However, there is certainly disparity between what some members adore as tasteful, festive, and appropriate holiday décor, versus the Griswoldian “floodlights” that plague some neighborhoods at all hours of the night.
Defining Nuisance
21 Sep 2021 inOf all the violations a community association must deal with, nuisances are perhaps the most troublesome because of their inherent uncertainty. Unfortunately, determining what constitutes a nuisance and determining when to take action with respect to a nuisance is somewhat troublesome. While it is not difficult to provide community association managers, associations, boards and developers with multiple definitions of the word “nuisance”, listing all the activities which constitute a nuisance or affording a black and white guideline for determining when a particular condition rises to the level of a nuisance is far more difficult, if not impossible. Nevertheless, the following definitions may be of some help, especially when combined with the discussion which follows:
Will it Fly? Display of Flags
13 Apr 2021 inSeveral years ago, a few Homeowners Associations, located in south Florida, brought legal actions against Association members, one of whom was a veteran, to prohibit the flying of United States flags on the homeowner’s/veteran’s property.
Objection! Enacting Board Rules & Regulations
21 Nov 2017 inIt is true that after the required notice, boards can generally enact rules & regulations, via a board vote at a duly called board meeting. However, that does not mean such rules and regulations will be valid, binding, effective and enforceable. Determining the validity, effectiveness and enforceability of board adopted rules & regulations depends on various factors. Moreover, such rules & regulations may have significant limitations.
Let’s Get Down to Businesses
10 Apr 2017 inA provision which prohibits all Business and Commercial Operations may prove problematic, as it may seek to prohibit all business and commercial activities (i.e., operations) within a community. Please appreciate that prohibiting business and commercial activities within communities has become more problematic as technology has advanced. In today’s world, countless individuals perform some level of business or commercial activity from their homes. How many of us use our phones and computers on business activities from our homes? Given this fact, do you really want to stop all such activities, or do you only want the outward manifestation of such business and commercial activities to cease? By way of example, while you may want to prohibit an auto repair shop operating within your community, you probably do not want to prohibit someone from using a phone for a business.
Single Family Residential Use Restriction What it Means, What it Prohibits
04 Nov 2016 inThe term “single family” has been interpreted to mean multiple if not numerous things. In fact, the term may encompass a group of unrelated individuals living as a single household unit. Similarly, a religious group may qualify as a single family. As such, the term is not even necessarily limited to an individual and his or her significant other. Consequently, single family restrictions within associations’ governing documents may have little or no teeth with which to restrict who and/or how many individuals can reside within a unit. In fact, this development has severely, if not completely, undermined the ability of associations to use the “single family” use restriction(s) found within their documents to prohibit a multitude of activities.