Category Archives: Homeowners Association Disputes
Can Homeowners Fly “Historic” Flags In An HOA?
Homeowners’ associations (HOA) in Florida have the right to regulate almost everything that happens in the association, from assessment payments to what color a homeowner may paint their garage. This extends to the display of flags – more and more nowadays, some homeowners are choosing to display not only the U.S. flag, but also… Read More »
Are Florida’s 55+ Communities Discriminatory?
Florida’s Fair Housing Act (FHA) and its federal equivalent prohibit discrimination in housing, specifically holding that one may not be discriminated against on the basis of race, national origin, religion, disability, familial status, and certain other characteristics. However, there is a significant exception to this policy, and it deals with age. In 1995, federal… Read More »
Moving Into Your First Homeowners’ Association
Most new single family developments in Florida are part of a homeowners’ association (HOA) nowadays, but for many, moving into the subdivision means agreeing to live by a host of rules that may be new to them. While the HOA rules are generally contained in the contract of sale, not everyone reads or understands… Read More »
Criminal Charges For Bad Condo Boards
Sometimes, condo boards do not act in an ethical manner, but until recent years, very little was able to be done about it unless the board member was caught in the act. In 2017, however, Florida made major changes to its relevant laws, establishing criminal consequences for some of the acts most often reported… Read More »
Who’s Got The Key: Condo Laws & Privacy Rights
Most Florida condo owners, by necessity, accept a little interaction with their condo board and with maintenance people who require access to their units in order to make repairs. However, in recent months and years, it has become more common for condo associations to request even more access to units, which can be discomfiting… Read More »
The Rights of Condo Owners
If you own a condominium, you have certain rights as an owner, and also as a member of the condo board if you are named or elected to it. However, there is a lot of misinformation and variable practices that go on depending on the preferences of the association. It is important to understand… Read More »
Condo Law: What Constitutes A Nuisance?
While every condominium complex is different, it is a fairly universal truth that anything branded a nuisance will not be tolerated. However, while every complex will have rules about how to handle a nuisance, almost none will specifically define it beyond some variant of branding something a nuisance only after it has already occurred…. Read More »
What Is Condo Arbitration?
One might imagine that when you have a dispute with your condo board, you might simply bring suit against them in civil court, as you would against a neighbor if you owned houses next door to each other. However, Florida law sometimes forces condo owners and associations to handle things differently; namely, within a… Read More »
Emotional Support & Service Animals In Condos
People of all walks of life have service animals and emotional support animals that improve their quality of life significantly. However, it is not uncommon for landlords and business owners to either misunderstand or ignore the law surrounding the right to own these animals, and condo boards are no exception to the general ignorance… Read More »
Who Can Run For Condo or HOA Board?
While condo boards and homeowners’ associations (HOAs) are fairly low-key organizations in most respects, one area where regulations become quite strict is in the issue of board elections. The board has enormous power to make decisions that affect not only owners, but everyone who lives in the condominiums or the association, and even those… Read More »