Barbara Billiot Stage

The Florida Bar  # 0042467

Member

Current

Q. HOA fee increase and missed payments in Florida condo

June 9, 2025

A: The first notice required is a Notice of Late Assessments, which provides the owner with 30 days to pay in full or the association will turn the account over to a lawyer for collections. That is the last opportunity to pay before legal fees and costs are added to the amount due. The next notice is an Intent to Lien Notice giving the owner 45 days to pay in full or a claim of lien is filed. Once the claim of lien is filed a final notice of Delinquent Assessments is sent giving the owner 45 days to pay in full before the association files to foreclose on the property.

The first notice is sent by regular mail but the next two are sent by certified mail and regular mail. Often owners believe if they do not sign for the certified mail they can deny receiving notice, which is the reason for the copy being sent regular mail. If the certified copy is returned marked "unclaimed" or "refused," the court deems the regular mail was delivered. ... Read More

Q. Is it legal for the HOA to block my account access due to unpaid assessments?

June 8, 2025

A: The HOA is not blocking your payments, just your access to make payments online. You always have the option of mailing a payment or dropping off a check or money order in person. Online access is typically turned off once an account is turned over to the attorney because you likely increase the legal fees and costs you owe if you don't send the payment directly to the attorney. Attorneys bill for all of their time, including communications, and it takes extra time to verify with the management company or the board of directors if a payment was tendered to them instead of the attorney.

You should know that Florida law provides payments are applied to interest and late fees first, attorneys' fees and costs next, and if there is any funds remaining, it is applied to the past due assessments last. ... Read More

Q. Seeking pro bono attorney to help dissolve inactive HOA in Sanford, FL due to city repair issues.

May 21, 2025

A: Dissolving an association doesn't terminate the restrictive covenants or solve problems with the city or county. The restrictive covenants have a provision on how to terminate them and it requires at least a majority of the lot (or lot owners potentially) and probably their mortgage companies to consent. The percentage of signatures required could be as little as 51% or as high as 100%.

There also may be issues with compliance with water management districts or other state agencies and easements would be an additional issue to deal with beforehand. As you can see, this is not something a lawyer is going to do pro bono because there is a lot of work involved. Taking it on a contingency won't work either because even if your successful there is no one to go after for the legal fees if the association itself has been administratively dissolved.

I'm just guessing here but it sounds like you have private roads if the municipality is refusing to fix them and this could become a code enforcement issue with the municipality looking to require the individual homeowners to resolve the issue.

One thing you might want to have a lawyer check is if the restrictive covenants are expired under the Marketable Record Title Act. That is no easy job either and requires a lot of research to make sure there are no amendments or references in odd places that might extend the covenants past the thirty year anniversary. That still would not solve your street and sinkhole problem if this is private property owned by a defunct association and you better solution might be to re-establish the association.

Hope this helps. ... Read More

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