Condo Association Changing bylaws

[fwawrzyniak]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Florida

I recently received a package in the mail with proposed changes to our condo bylaws, which were drafted by the board of directors. Quite a few of the changes pertain to the area of renting and leasing. Needless to say I am one of the owners who does lease their condo.

When I first purchased the property the only restriction was that the minimum rental period was 1 month.

Since then the restriction has been expanded to include a rule for a maximum limit of 8 months, supplying a copy of the lease agreement to the condo association and creating a renter application with an associated "maintenance" charge.

The latest changes which are being proposed now include the requirement for the condo association to run a background check on any renters and charging a fee for that as well... double the fee if it is within 2 weeks since it would be considered a rush. They are also proposing a rule to prohibit the right of the owner to rent out their property if they are delinquent on their association dues (yes I am current on my dues).

My question is are these changes legal? Would I be exempted and grandfathered from these rules? It's my impression the board of directors is attempting to make it harder and harder every year for owners to lease out their property that they have invested $1000's in just like every other owner. I have been told by a lawyer after the first set of changes that I was grandfathered from the changes and that the condo association and individual board of directors may be liable for any property depreciation from these rule changes.

I am very frustrated here. I have a company, which does my background and credit checks, so I don't need another. It is my opinion if the condo association wants to do their own background check then they can do so at their own expense. As far as supplying them a copy of the lease agreement I will not do that since they are not a party to the contract.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Zigner]

You already have an opinion from your attorney who, presumably, knows the details.

 

[colourfastt]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Florida

I recently received a package in the mail with proposed changes to our condo bylaws, which were drafted by the board of directors. Quite a few of the changes pertain to the area of renting and leasing. Needless to say I am one of the owners who does lease their condo.

When I first purchased the property the only restriction was that the minimum rental period was 1 month.

Since then the restriction has been expanded to include a rule for a maximum limit of 8 months, supplying a copy of the lease agreement to the condo association and creating a renter application with an associated "maintenance" charge.

The latest changes which are being proposed now include the requirement for the condo association to run a background check on any renters and charging a fee for that as well... double the fee if it is within 2 weeks since it would be considered a rush. They are also proposing a rule to prohibit the right of the owner to rent out their property if they are delinquent on their association dues (yes I am current on my dues).

My question is are these changes legal? Would I be exempted and grandfathered from these rules? It's my impression the board of directors is attempting to make it harder and harder every year for owners to lease out their property that they have invested $1000's in just like every other owner. I have been told by a lawyer after the first set of changes that I was grandfathered from the changes and that the condo association and individual board of directors may be liable for any property depreciation from these rule changes.

I am very frustrated here. I have a company, which does my background and credit checks, so I don't need another. It is my opinion if the condo association wants to do their own background check then they can do so at their own expense. As far as supplying them a copy of the lease agreement I will not do that since they are not a party to the contract.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Sec. 718 FL.S. does indeed allow the changes you outlined to be made to the assoc. documents. As far as the rental period restriction, you would be grandfathered. As far as the background check for renters is concerned, the Board can make that a rule by simple vote of the Board and you would not be grandfathered/exempted from that.

 

[fwawrzyniak]

Sec. 718 FL.S. does indeed allow the changes you outlined to be made to the assoc. documents. As far as the rental period restriction, you would be grandfathered. As far as the background check for renters is concerned, the Board can make that a rule by simple vote of the Board and you would not be grandfathered/exempted from that.

Thanks for the response colourfastt. I don't really have a problem with them wanting to do their own background check I guess what I have an issue with is the $50 or $100 fee they want to associate with it. That's seems a bit high to me. Besides that there is no defined criteria for accepting or rejecting a tennant. What if I approve of a tennant but they don't?

What about supplying a copy of the lease agreement to them even though they are not a party to the contract?

Thanks in advance

 

[colourfastt]

Thanks for the response colourfastt. I don't really have a problem with them wanting to do their own background check I guess what I have an issue with is the $50 or $100 fee they want to associate with it. That's seems a bit high to me. Besides that there is no defined criteria for accepting or rejecting a tennant. What if I approve of a tennant but they don't?

What about supplying a copy of the lease agreement to them even though they are not a party to the contract?

Thanks in advance

The fee would be for the cost of the background check, in fact where I have my condo in FL the assoc. requires that the assoc. run the background check and approve the tenant and the fee is $50 ... $100 seems a bit excessive. As far as rejecting a prospective tenant, if the rules allow for the association to approve/reject prospective tenants, then yes. For specific answers, review your condominium declarations.