Tag: hoa problems

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Lawyered The S**t Out Of The Final Email To The HOA & Board

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:

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.

Executive Order

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

Terra Verde HOA Email

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

 

 

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Lawyer Time – I Spoke With A Lawyer Over The Weekend, And Here Is What They Said

What a wild weekend capped off my a crazy afternoon on Sunday talking to many different people. I spoke with a lawyer over the weekend, and here is what they said.

Just a quick recap for those just tuning in to everything that has happened to this point. Below are the first three articles from this wild situation with my HOA. Check them out so this article makes a little more sense, links below.

Time For Part 4!

Here we go. So here is where we currently stand from yesterday. After I finished the conversations with Jose, I decided to go back to my place to do a couple of things. I proceeded to call the guests who were just turned away and apologize again for everything going on.

My guests let me know they were driving down to Miami because they weren’t allowed to check in. I could tell they were very frustrated and wanted to stay in Orlando, but they were already on the road. Luckily, this is a guy who I randomly got partnered with last week while I was golfing and he was understanding.

Quick sidebar from a text I received from the guest later last night. He sent me a snip of the law, the exact one that I have been showing the HOA every single day for the past week. Not going to lie, I kind of laughed when he sent it to me. I told him I know man, they aren’t abiding by my interpretation of the law.

Here were his direct words in the text after the picture:

“Either way im calling the GM who is Conrad and im giving him a piece of my mind… But no matter what I should be good after April 10th. Im definitely going to fax over a copy of the order to him and let him know I had to travel to Miami cause he doesn’t understand how to read an executive order…Have a good day and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

I love my boy Alfred. Not only was he understanding, but he has that NY fiery attitude that I miss sometimes.

Next Steps For Me – Find Someone To Speak With

Now, for my next steps. Yesterday, I did two things.

First, I reached out to my real estate agent and asked him if he had a good attorney that I could speak to. My real estate agent asked me to send him a synopsis of what is going on and he would get back to me. I sent him an email with all the details and he let me know that he will set me up with an attorney he has used and they should reach out this morning. So I am awaiting an introduction email and will talk to a local attorney who will sit down to review the case.

Second, I reached out to a good friend of mine I work with. His wife is a lawyer so I had one thing I really wanted her to look at. I reached out to my friend and asked if his wife could review the executive order by the governor and interpret Section A (i). For reference, this is a snip of that section and a link to the entire PDF.

Executive Order Why I Wanted An Opinion On The Executive Order

There was one reason why I wanted the opinion on the verbiage of the executive order. One, I am not a lawyer and don’t understand half of what was said in this document. Two, I want to make sure I can read properly and I am interpreting Section A (i) as stating rentals over 30 days are allowed. I also wanted to make sure it was an unbiased opinion. I have a dog in this fight, so I am biased to read the law how I want to interpret it.

Here Is Exactly What The Lawyer Said

An hour after sending everything over to my friend, his wife called me. She asked me to outline the situation of what was going on. I outlined everything for her and then she asked a few clarifying questions (bringing out that lawyer in her).

After 30 minutes of discussion, these are the exact words she said to me: “YRB, I want you to know one thing before I say what I am going to say. I hate giving the advice to sue someone. Mostly because it is very costly and most of the time not worth it. But, in this scenario, the law is so black and white that you should sue seek damages and sue as this has already impacted your business.”

There was one thing she asked me to do. Documentation is key in lawsuits. She told me to draft up an email to send to the HOA and board that details out everything going on along with the executive order and details of what happened at the gate. In my next post, I will show you the exact email I sent to the HOA and board last night. I put together the first draft, sent it to her, and she lawyered the shit out of it hahaha. If you don’t know what that means, it means she essentially made it 1000000000 times better by adding lawyer verbiage. So, if they thought I was joking previously about the lawsuit, now they should know I am talking to lawyers.

Here is the thing. I think deep down I wanted her to say that, but at the the same time I didn’t want to actually hear her say it. If that makes sense.

Time To Determine Path Forward

I now had one attorney’s interpretation of the law. It is now time to follow-up this morning with my real estate agent to get in touch with the attorney who live in Florida. He is going to do an introduction email and then I will hopefully get on the phone with them this afternoon.

By no means did I think I would want to be in a lawsuit at this point in my investing career, but there are a few reasons why I feel this is the right thing to do:

  1. The law is clear. And I received an interpretation from an attorney that I was reading it correctly.
  2. Financially, I have been impacted by this situation. I have had to cancel on three different guests and even had one guest arrive at the gate and be turned away.
  3. The HOA isn’t above the law. No matter how much they try to be. I have had multiple homeowners reach out letting me know this HOA has been extremely difficult and not representative of investors.  It sounds like it is time for an investor to be on the board…I might be the one nominated based off the passion I have shown in the facebook group.

Final Words

Time for some more fun. Here is the thing I am taking away from this entire situation. This is a learning opportunity for me. I am extremely happy to be going through what I am going through and think that I have learned a lot already to this point.

If you view everything as a learning opportunity, nothing sucks.

Want to see what I emailed the HOA and Board? Checkout the link below for the next post!

 

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Security Turned The Guests Away This Morning – I Watched The Whole Thing From Inside The Gates

And so the saga continues. This morning, security turned the guests away at the front gate. I watched the whole thing from the inside of the gates.

If you haven’t already, read the first two parts of this story at the below links:

 

Ok, now let’s get into the latest update from Ol’ Faithful!

The Plan First Thing This Morning

I texted the guest who was checking in this morning to ask them when they would be arriving. The guest told me they would be arriving around 10:30.

Perfect. I brewed my morning cup of coffee from home and started to write an update for you all on the facebook messages that were being sent on the HOA page last night. After two hours of working to put everything together and post it, I was in my car off to my property.

Here was my thinking. I wanted to be inside the resort gates before my guest arrived so I could easily come out to the gate if there were any issues. I arrived at the gate around 10:20 am this morning. The guy who I normally see was working the security at the front gate. I waved my homeowners “entrance” paper so the guard would let me through.

I wanted to do one last confirmation that my guests would be allowed to check in. I asked the guard at the gate, “I have guests coming in 20-30 minutes. Just wanted to confirm they are going to be able to get in?”

The security guard confirmed they were on the list to be allowed in. SHWEEEET! I was good.

Time For The Fun

I went ahead and proceeded to my property to check on everything to make sure everything was good. I added a few additional trash bags as they would be staying long term. Everything was going well. I was excited that everything was going to go smooth and I would head to the golf course to practice social distancing after my guests arrived.

15 minutes later…I get a call from the guest. They are at the security gate and the security guard is not allowing them in! Umm…I literally just had a conversation with this kid and he said we were good.

I immediately called the front gate and asked what was going on. The security guard told me the onsite manager was speaking to my guest. I told him no worries, I will be there in three minutes. The guests ended up leaving before I got to the gate. More to come in tomorrow’s post about what happened with the guests.

So I start walking to the security gate. Calmly.

At The Security Gate…Here We Go

I arrive to the security gate and see Jose, the manager I have been very friendly with, walking towards me. I have talked with Jose many times and he was the guy who walked me through all the HOA documents after I closed on the property.

He walks up and I ask him, “What’s up?”

Jose proceeds to explain to me that the resort is not allowing any new guests into the community per the governor’s executive order.

For reference, you can read the executive order on short term rentals from the Florida governor here.

Feel free to take a minute to read the document. I am by no means a lawyer and I don’t want to be a lawyer, but I read Section A part i shown below:

Executive Order

Again, I am not a lawyer, but how would you read this?

I read Section A (i) as I can rent my previous vacation rental as long as the rental is for over 30 days or 1 calendar month, whichever is less.

This would mean, my guest who was at the gate trying to get in would be allowed in.

Back To The Conversation With Jose

One quick note, I made sure to stay speaking in a very calm voice with a smile the entire conversation with Jose. There was no reason for me to take my frustration out on him when he is just following guidance from his boss.

Back to the conversation with Jose. I asked Jose why new guests aren’t allowed to check in to the resort? He told me it was a decision made by the HOA and board to close down the resort.

Good deal. I asked Jose if he was aware of the executive order put in place allowing rentals of over 30 days? Jose was not aware, but he let me know it isn’t his job to know those things, his job is to simply ensure he abides by the guidance provided by the HOA president and board.

I can respect someone who doesn’t have authority to make an exception to defer to his leaders. I told Jose thanks for the conversation and here were my parting words to him, “Could you ask Conrad (the GM of the Resort) to call my cell per my request through email earlier this week on Thursday? And also, when you are on the phone with him, could you let him know I will filing a lawsuit tomorrow morning on the HOA and on him personally?”

Jose let me know he would be more than happy to deliver the message. I asked him to call me back once he got a hold of Conrad.

Final Call From Jose

Fifteen minutes later, Jose called me back letting me know Conrad would not be reaching out to me, but the HOA stands firm that no new guests are allowed into the resort. I let Jose know that this is nothing personal and I appreciated him doing his job, but I would be suing the HOA and Conrad tomorrow (Monday).

Some would have asked, “Why not just let your guests get in and just give them a keycard to go through security?” Great question. In this community, there is only one entrance and one exit. The entrance has a 24 hour security guard. You either don’t have a keycard and have to stop at security, or you travel to the right and can swipe the card to get in the resort.

The crazy thing about this is owners are not allowed to have keycards. This was apparently decided at the last HOA meeting that I was not at. The residents who live in the community wanted “security” and felt if owners were allowed to have key cards that all of a sudden the community wouldn’t be safe. I brushed this off as not a big deal when they made that decision. I am now beginning to see how that was just one decision of many showing how ridiculous this HOA is.

The split of investors versus people who live in the community is roughly 80/20. 80% of the community is made up of investors and 20% are made up of homeowners who live in the resort full time.

This Is The Main Issue With The HOA

Here is the main issue that I just learned about this morning. Although 80% of the homes in the community are owned by investors, all the board members are homeowners who live in the community. That right there my friends, means 100% of the votes to make decisions are made by the 20% majority within the community.

Talk about jacked up. All good though. It is the current state. I am going to work to get on the board, after suing the board 🙂

Think it can’t get crazier?! Think again, checkout the next article below!