I lawyered the s**t out of the final email to the HOA & Board. That is right. The last thing my friends lawyer told me was to send one last email to the HOA & Board. She high level outlined the different things to put in the email and then asked me to send it over to her for final approval. Let me just begin by telling you this. The final email was 100000000000 times better than the original email I put together. This is one of the benefits of knowing someone who has a wife as a lawyer! You can get some free legal council.
Before you go into reading the email I sent to the HOA & Board, make sure you are up to speed on everything that has transpired to this point! Here are the links to each of the first four articles I have written about this crazy situation I am that has led me to a potential lawsuit:
- Part I: Calling HOA To File Lawsuit!?!?! Short Term Rental Update – Ol’ Faithful
- Part II: S**t Is Getting Real – I Posted In My HOA Homeowner FB Group And Got People Fired Up
- Part III: Security Turned The Guests Away This Morning – I Watched The Whole Thing From Inside The Gates
- Part IV: Lawyer Time – I Spoke With A Lawyer Over The Weekend, And Here Is What They Said
Time For The Email!
This is the exact email I sent over to the HOA. Again, my first draft of the email sounded much less lawyery than this final draft! I couldn’t have done it without the help of my friends wife!
Here we go…get the popcorn ready..enjoy 🙂
April 5, 2020
Good afternoon Conrad and Board,
I wanted to take a few minutes to follow-up per my latest emails beginning April 1st till April 3rd and events that happened this morning at Terra Verde where one of my guests (staying for 31 nights) was not allowed in.
I am emailing again to request the HOA to adhere the exception granted by the Office of the Governor in Executive Order # 20-87, dated March 27, 2020, permitting rentals for 30 days or more. To date, I have had to cancel three separate bookings to rent my property, at *my address*, for 31+ days as a result of the HOA refusing to adhere to the Governor’s Executive Order # 20-87. I have included the link to the Executive Order below, which clearly states that any rental of 30 days or more are not prohibited under this order.
https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/orders/2020/EO_20-87.pdf
The Executive Order provides for three different exceptions for short term rentals. I have taken a snip of these exceptions and pasted it below.
Pursuant to Section A (i), rental of any house, condominium, cooperative or dwelling unit… “Which is rented for periods of less than 30 days or 1 calendar month, whichever is less are prohibited.
The three rental reservations that the HOA have refused to allow my guests entrance to the property, where all rentals of 30 days or more, which is clearly permitted pursuant to the referenced Executive Order, the current law regarding the rentals of properties in Florida. Please advise whether the HOA and Board is abiding by Section A (i) noted above as it reads. If not, please advise as to what law permits the HOA to disregard the Governor’s Executive Order permitting rentals of 30 days or more.
I would also like to briefly touch on the email sent to homeowners by the HOA Board on 3/30 shown below
The above calls out specific concerns to anyone from out of state areas of high infection, must self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival. This leads me to believe the main reason for not allowing new guests is the safety of not allowing people from highly infectious areas to stay in the resort.
I would like to outline the very specific scenario from this morning. I had a guest who was supposed to arrive today (4/5/2020). This guest was scheduled to stay at my home for 31 nights, checking in on 4/5/2020 and checking out on 5/7/2020. These guests’ reservation was for $2,100. A little background on these guests. The guests were a father, wife, and 12-year-old son. They have been in Orlando for over 3 months for the winter, thus not coming from out of state. During their time in Orlando, they have been staying at Airbnb’s long term rentals. They are now displaced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevents them from going back home to the northeastern side of the country.
These guests arrived at the gate today, April 5, 2020 around 10:28 am local time. Upon checking in, they were notified that they would not be allowed into the property and were turned away. The guests called me, very frustrated, which is when I went out to speak with the on duty manager. The on duty manager informed me this decision is final and there is no exception as he is doing his job as directed by Conrad and the board (I really like the on duty manager, good guy).
Below are questions I have for the HOA:
- Are there new HOA Bylaws or Declaration documents that have been signed into order that I am not aware of stating the HOA has the authority to perform the actions that have been performed to not abide by the Executive Order put in place by the Governor on March 2, 2020? If there are, could I please receive a copy of the new Bylaws and/or Declaration documents?
- Please advise whether the HOA and Board is abiding by Section A (i) noted above in the executive order as it reads.
I will be moving forward with seeking damages as a result of lost income based off the actions from this morning which prohibited my guests, rental for over 30 days, to enter the premise. I have also had to remove my listing for all rental sites causing even more damage and loss.
My intent is not to circumvent the laws and restrictions set in place for our public safety. In fact, I respect and appreciate all of these measures being implemented for our safety. I am simply trying to adhere to the law and help people who are currently in the state of Florida, but displaced due to the pandemic until they are able to make more permanent arrangements. Again, all of my guests’ reservations were for the permitted period of 30 days or more.
Therefore, I request that the HOA and Board reconsider its decision as the requested action is clearly permitted under that Governor’s Executive Order and the County “Stay at Home Act.”
Thanks for your time, I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding this very important and time sensitive matter.
Sincerely,
TheYoungRetireeBy33
Property Owner
Talk About A Email Having Some Lawyered Up Amaizingness In It
I was amazed after she sent back an edited version of the first draft I sent over to her. I had to add a few dates and clarifications and it was ready to send over to the HOA and Board.
It is now time to wait for the response from Conrad and the board. And boy do I have my popcorn out and ready for the response.
I am a firm believer that the HOA president and board think I am just blowing smoke when I say I am going to move forward with seeking damages as a result of lost income based off the actions from this morning which prohibited my guests, rental for over 30 days, to enter the premise.
It all started with being belittled by the President of the board and other homeowners who live in the resort on the Facebook page after my post. If you thought the last five posts have been juicy, I can’t wait to continue documenting this journey.
If you haven’t already, checkout my Instagram page and follow the blog! Thanks for all the support and messages from everyone over the last two weeks going through all this. It has been amazing to see all the people reading along and getting all the feedback!
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!
This story doesn’t end here! Checkout the next post at the link below!
To read Part V of this crazy story, click the link below!
The HOA President Responded With The Board Decision – Prime The Popcorn
