Can a condominium association deny an owner the right to rent his unit if his assessments are unpaid

The short answer is:  “it depends” – because the board can deny a lease only if the authority to approve or deny a lease is stated in the declaration or bylaws.

718.104(5) of the Florida Condominium Act states that the Declaration as originally recorded or as amended may include covenants and restrictions concerning the use, occupancy and transfer of units.    Thus, if  leasing a unit is not subject to prior approval or otherwise restricted  in the Declaration (or in the Bylaws, an ...

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21
OCT
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Unpaid assessments of previous owner are not always owed by the foreclosure buyer

In January, 2017, my client received title to a house he bought in December at a mortgage foreclosure sale. The mortgage had been recorded in 2005. Soon after, the homeowners association (HOA) demanded more than $19,000 from my client that it claimed was owed because the prior owner who was foreclosed did not pay assessments for years and the law passed in 2007 states that a buyer, including a purchaser at a foreclosure sale, is jointly and severally liable with ...

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18
APR
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Know The Limits of a Condominium Board’s Authority

Eleven condominium associations belong to a master association. In the Declaration of Condominium for one of the associations, a condominium restriction states: “all units above ground floor must remain fully carpeted at all times except in the bathrooms and kitchen.” One day the owners of a second floor unit asked the property manager for permission to lay ceramic tiles throughout their unit. The manager wrote it’s “O.K.” if the master association approves, and she referred the owners to the master ...

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5
JUL
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Grandfather Status For Condominium Unit Owners

When an association amends its existing declaration, the rights of existing owners must be considered.

A declaration of condominium may not contain all the property restrictions that owners want, especially as a community changes over time. Although declarations may be amended to establish new constraints, amendments cannot always be enforced against everyone.

For example, there may be no restrictions against boats in the parking lot or pets on the premises. If no other restriction exists (such as local zoning ordinances), owners will ...

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5
JUL
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Selective Enforcement – Is that your defense?

“Selective enforcement” is a defense to an action by an Association to enforce a restriction against one owner where it has not acted to enforce it against other owners. The defense is shown where a party demonstrates there are substantially similar violations of which the association has notice but had not acted to correct. One arbitrator at the Division of Condominiums wrote: “Selective enforcement involves the failure of an association to enforce the condominium documents in other instances bearing sufficient ...

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2
JUL
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