Tag: hoa issues

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How Many Times Do I Have To Repeat The Same Thing – Real Estate Investing Problems

This saga doesn’t end! Just when you think I will get the final answer from the HOA and be able to know why they think they have the authority to do what they are doing, I get nothing. No response to the questions I have. No validation on why they think they can do what they are doing. Nothing. This is continuing to heat up. The funny thing is this. They think they can just kick the can down the road and I am just going to go away. Nope. Not in my blood. This is a real estate investment property for me. I have no plans of going away any time soon. So here we go! Let the saga continue!

Get caught up on everything that has happened to this point! This has been a wild journey to say the least and it is definitely not over! Below are the links to all the craziness in this saga!

Over 24 Hours Later…Following Up Again

The fact I have to continue following up with this HOA is very frustrating. I have to ask more specific questions and be extremely clear just so I can get the response to what I want them to specifically answer. If I don’t, I end up having to wait 48 hours for a response.

So time for another follow-up email to the HOA:

Following up on this email again as I have yet to hear a response and called this morning with no response back after I was told I would receive a call back shortly. I would like to rent my place long term.

Renter information:
Father, mother and 12 year old son.
Duration of lease:
6 months
Information about tenants:
Snowbirds who have been in Orlando for over 3 months and don’t plan to currently go back to their home due to COVID-19 outbreak in tristate area.
Questions below:
  • What other information would I need to provide for approval?
  • They would like to move in ASAP. Once approved, when would the earliest they can move in be?
Thanks for your time, I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding this important and very time sensitive matter. 
TheYoungRetireeBy33
I have now given the HOA everything they could possibly need to approve or reject these guests from coming. Now time to wait, even longer, to get a response.
Time To Really Laugh At Their Response
Before I just demolish this response below, let’s be fair. This HOA/Board, I am sure, thinks they are doing the right thing. I would be amazed if they actually thought they weren’t doing the right thing. This response below is just comical at this point though.

Good Afternoon,

Firstly, the Governor of Florida late last night extended the ban on new vacation rentals with EO 20-103. This ban is now through the end of April.

We not too long ago issued a notice.

Regarding the rental request for 6 months. Normally, the information below would be enough for a decision. But with the ban now extended we will deny entry to all new guests.

I will send over your request to the board.

Again, continuing to have a common theme here. No answers to the questions I have asked. Or continuing to defer the answer to these questions. Really really disappointing to see, but I am honestly not surprised based off everything that has been going on.

Now time to wait again.

2 Hours Later, Here Is There Pathetic Response

Two hours later, they finally get back with an actual response. And boy is it pathetic.

Hi YRB33,

I sent over your request below to the board for approval. Unfortunately, the board has denied your request below.

Thanks and stay safe.

Again, not surprising. No reasoning on why they are denying my request. Just stating the request has been denied and nothing more.

I continue to want them to dig an even bigger rabbit hole for themselves. For that reason, I am not done continuing to follow up with them via email. Documented communication is the best for of communication for fighting things in the future.

My Response, Simple Yet Effective

Now time for my response. Keeping it simple and effective:

Can I please have an explanation from the board as to specifically why the request is being denied?

I didn’t want to overcomplicate things for them. They have clearly shown they don’t handle communication well.

Here is why I asked the question I did.

First, it is simple and to the point. There is no reason to over complicate things for these idiots. Too harsh? Sorry not sorry.

Second, I read back through the HOA Bylaws. The document clearly states if there is any time the HOA denies a request for long term rental, they must provide a detailed explanation of how to get the rental to be compliant. Here is the excerpt from the Bylaws:

In the event the lease is disapproved, the Board shall notify the Owner of the requisite action to be taken in order to bring the lease into compliance with the Declaration and any rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto. If the Board does not provide an approval or disapproval within the time period set forth above, such lease shall be deemed approved.

This clearly states they need to provide more details than a simple denial. I wish I didn’t spend an hour reading through the Bylaw documents to find this, but sometimes you just want to educate yourself.

Kind of like this HOA/Board needs to educate themselves on what they have the authority to and not to do.

More Time Passing By And Gone Forever

I continue trying to keep my head up and not get frustrated. The longer they continue delaying this, the longer they are causing damages to myself.

It has now been 36 hours since my last follow up email to the board and HOA. Now time, for a follow-up on the follow-up. No reason to stop till I get a legitimate answer.

Here is the follow-up to the follow-up:

A response to the above would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you can clearly state where in the Declaration and/or Bylaws it states the HOA/Board having the authority to not allow me to rent my place long term, it would be greatly appreciated.
Specifically, if you could call out the document section and excerpt that allows this action by the HOA & Board.
Thanks for your time, I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding this very important and time sensitive matter.
YRB
I know what you might be asking at this point. No, no, no. I don’t sign my emails with YRB ahah.
I put my actual name. Maybe Arthur, Ken, or Bob as @eoab__ calls me 🙂
Now time for more sit back and wait time. I wish this story would end, but the amount of email communication has been interesting. If they were to answer the actual questions I am asking, this would all be over. But since they have yet to answer my questions, I will continue pushing on this!
Now time to sit back and wait for their next response. Hopefully the next response isn’t another 48 hours away!

If you aren’t already, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram!

Thanks again for all the support and continuing to come back each day for new updates in this saga!

Want to checkout the latest on the saga with Ol’ Faithful, click the link below!

Ol’ Faithful HOA Saga – Final Path Forward With HOA Dispute

 

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The HOA Facebook Group Gets Heated – Time For The Popcorn!

I honestly thought the HOA facebook group wasn’t going to have much more fun stuff to post about, but boy was I wrong. The below is a full unedited version of the conversation that spun up the other day in the Facebook homeowners group. The hilarious part of this story is the fact that the individual who spun it up was one of the individuals who complained about me wanting to rent my place long term. And now she had the nerve to make this comment, and it lit a flare and a lot of fiery conversation!

Before hopping into this incredible exchange on Facebook, get caught up on everything that is going on! If you haven’t caught up yet, start from the beginning of the story to get the full craziness of this saga with my HOA!

Time For The Fun!

Facebook Pic Pic

The Message That Kicked Everything Off!

FBTV Pic1

Now the fun shall begin!

FBTV Pic 2

First they begin complaining that the HOA turned off the lights at night at that was causing a large safety risk for the people who live onsite. Hmmm…interesting. Someone even mentioned they wondered what happened to the guests that arrived at the gate from my home. Since I haven’t posted anything in the FB group stating what happened, I am for sure certain people think I am still trying to force people in.

FBTV Pic 3

Now the accusations begin coming in with accusing homeowners for breaking guests in “illegally” to the resort. Again, it isn’t illegal. I am allowed to rent my place 30+ days. Period. And this stall that the HOA on is insane.

 

FBTV Pic 4

More accusations accusing homeowners in the resort who are investors whom are still renting out their homes.

FBTV Pic 5

Okay, this is where I have to step in. This lady who is the one who posted on the top of the above picture is full of s**** and the biggest hypocrite I think I have ever seen. So first she complains for people’s safety in the resort for having strangers come in and stay for extended periods of time.

The day after she said all that, someone reached out to me with a link to a Facebook group and told me to check it out. The link ended up taking me to a Garage Sale Facebook group in the Orlando area where this same lady had posted 5 things every day for the last two weeks to sell. Not only had she posted 5 things, but she was openly telling people where they could meet up to complete the sale of her crap. 

Yeah, I laughed out loud for a good hour after I heard and read all that crap.

FBTV Pic7

More fun accusations!

FBTV Pic 6

FBTV Pic 8

 

And now the head of the board weighs in. I lolled at this one as well.

FBTV Pic 9

I won’t even give me 2 cents as to the nonsense I just read over again. The way they are going about handling this situation is, pathetic.

FBTV Pic 10

 

Ok, there was my one comment above. I just couldn’t hold back anymore. My one and only comment in thread though! It was extremely hard to keep my fingers from hitting send on a few different comments I had queued up.

FBTV Pic 11

So that is where this part of the story ends, but my fight and battle with the HOA is not over yet!

In tomorrow’s post, I will post a few different back and forths I have had with the HOA now. These back and forths have been extremely frustrating to say the least and how they have handled responding to email has been horrible. 48 hour response times is not acceptable. They continue to try to just drag this out till they have to let me rent my place out because then the “ban” will be lifted.

More to come…don’t worry. This is not where the story ends!

If you aren’t already, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram!

Thanks again for all the support and continuing to come back each day for new updates in this saga!

Checkout the next part of this saga at the link below!

How Much Clearer Do I Need To Make Myself – Asking The Same Question For The Third Time

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My Response To The HOA Clearly Asking To Rent Long Term

The HOA had their chance to email the homeowners to keep us up to date on all the things going on. Now time for some fun in my response back to them. Sometimes I feel the email etiquette I have learned from work makes some people surprised about how I well I format some of the stuff I say. I would love to deal with these things over the phone or in person, but the HOA and board have yet to want to speak in person or over the phone.

So now, I am stuck with email to try and get responses.

If you haven’t caught up yet, start from the beginning of the story to get the full craziness of this saga with my HOA!

My Email Response To The HOA

I wanted to make sure the HOA understood that I was taking my time before responding to their emails. Do I think they read the entire email response I sent, no. Absolutely not. If they did, they would have responded to my question the first time.

So here is my response in all of its glory:

Good afternoon HOA and Board Members,

I would like to address your email to the homeowners. First thank you for finally sending an email. Communication should be sent out once if not twice a week to update all homeowners on the situation. 
Now, to address the actual content of the message. It was honestly laughable. 
First, let’s discuss the difference between EO 20-91  Essential Services and Activities During COVID-19 Emergency and EO-87  (Emergency Management – COVID-19 – Vacation Rental Closures). 
  EO 20-91  Essential Services and Activities During COVID-19 Emergency is an EO that speaks directly to essential services. The only three references to vacation rentals pertain to Miami Dade County, see screenshot below. 
image.png
Yes, that is right, I hit Crtl+f and typed in vacation rentals to see exactly where it popped up. 
 EO 20-91  Essential Services and Activities During COVID-19 Emergency was extended and set to expire on 4/30 2020 unless extended by subsequent order. 
Now, let’s touch on  EO-87  (Emergency Management – COVID-19 – Vacation Rental Closures). As of 2:30pm EST on 4/8, this executive order is set to expire on Friday, 4/10. This means, vacation rentals, as of 4/10 can go back to business as normal and the HOA and board would be in direct violation of the law if you were to not allow guests to check in. This is pending any potential extensions of the EO that may happen from now till 4/10. 
This is how I would have worded this communication to homeowners. 
As of right now (enter current time),  EO 20-91  Essential Services and Activities During COVID-19 Emergency was extended through 4/30 unless extended by subsequent order. EO-87  (Emergency Management – COVID-19 – Vacation Rental Closures) preventing us from allowing new short term rental guests is set to expire this Friday 4/10. This is pending any subsequent order that could be signed into law between now and Friday. If no extension is signed to this order, we will be allowing new guests to arrive beginning on Friday 4/10. 
On another topic, would the HOA not permit me to rent my place out long term to abide by the law? Again, there are no options the HOA has offered for investors like myself, and the fact that there are no options and the email above asks for our money is well…a joke and very inconsiderate. I have paid and always will pay my HOA dues on time in full every quarter. Period. But asking for my money in an email communication like this is not a good look. 
My Thoughts On The Above Response
I am obviously biased in my response, but I feel I am being fair and pointing to straight facts. I am simply trying to find a way to rent my place long term that abides by the law. Period.
I am not trying to be difficult even though I know the HOA feels like I am just trying to be an ass.
What they need to understand is this. The resort is made up of 80% investors. Yes, this is an investment property. Not a vacation home or something that I have budgeted to just take money out of my pocket every month because I can’t rent it out. This has and always will be an investment property for me.
I don’t buy real estate to not produce cash flow for me. I only plan on buying assets in my life, and not liabilities. An asset to me means something that puts money back into my pocket. Right now, this investment property has become a straight liability. Normally, I wouldn’t be upset about this as I would say I would have control over most of my assets, but the fact that the HOA still feels like they have the authority to just stop me from renting has continued to frustrate me.
Why I Feel How I Feel
Again, I have never dealt with HOA issues in the past. Part of real estate investing is having to deal with the punches and things that come up from time to time. The main things I have accounted for are the most common capital expenses that will come up. Something I have not factored into my investment strategy is the fact that a HOA can just shut down the main entrance and prevent me from having any income. I still believe what they are doing is not abiding by the law.
Even more frustrating is how they talk about having to create an Emergency Budget to be able to handle these tough times. When, the reality is they should be saving money due to everything being shut down and people still paying their dues.
Something Hilarious Was Posted On The FB Group
Even more hilarious about the entire situation was something one of the homeowners who lives in the resort full time posted in the Facebook group.
Now, before I post exactly what they posted in the Facebook group, here is a little context on this owner.
This owner was one of the ones who belittled me saying how inconsiderate I was for wanting to still rent out my place long term and put the other homeowners in the resort at risk.
In tomorrow’s post, I will post the ridiculous comments made by this owner and the proceeding shenanigans in the Facebook group.
Things got out of control. And there was a ton of bickering. This one, I decided to stay out of. I will continue sitting on the sideline until I determine what I plan on doing with the property!

If you aren’t already, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram!

Thanks again for all the support and continuing to come back each day for new updates in this saga!

Checkout the next part of the saga at the below link!

The HOA Facebook Group Gets Heated – Time For The Popcorn!