preservation document or letter?

Started by GaryW12 • 4 replies • 666 views

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GaryW12 (Alabama)
Posts: 56

Posted:

Our HOA is going to have a meeting Thrusday , saying that a lawyers opinion was that the board did not file a "preservation document" after the 30 year marker

I live in FL. and people say that Fl has some rule that says you have to file that to stay valid?

Anyone ever heard of this?

If this is the case, does that mean the HOA is fake, if it was fake for 14 years, would peolpe be eligible to get there money back?

what is the process or options?

RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 3,868

Posted:

https://www.floridahoalawyerblog.com/preserving-hoa-covenants-and-r/

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Gary,

Pretty odd questions ...

Are you angry about something?

The Florida MRT Act of 1963 is quite well known.

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,045

Posted:

Here is a long thread regarding MRTA:
http://www.hoatalk.com/Forum/tabid/55/forumid/1/tpage/1/view/Topic/postid/149433/Default.aspx

As you have heard, covenants can be preserved by a board vote prior to the 30 year point, otherwise they can be revitalized by the assent of a requisite percentage of owners. It's very well possible that your association is no longer valid. It's probably doubtful that you can get your money back for the last 14 years. I would imagine that 14 years is way beyond any statute of limitations, and that the money is gone and has been spent to the benefit of the owners in any case. To attempt to get any money back you would have to sue. Anybody with experience in civil cases will tell you that getting a judgement and collecting are two very different things.

A big gray area is how MRTA expiration affects ownership and maintenance of common areas. At the very least there is typically mowing of common areas, some associations are also responsible for streetlights, road resurfacing, and other infrastructure. If the association is disbanded, what happens to these?

Assuming the board dropped the ball 14 years ago, getting an attorney involved now to explore revitalization is a good idea. If you are against this and would like to see the association go away, it would not be a bad idea to consult a lawyer yourself to see what the ramifications might be.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Based on Gary's wording, I suspect he knows about MRTA - if he doesn't and this is the place he is learning, I would certainly direct him back to the books.

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