#HOA #condoliving #movingrules #Florida
Hey neighbors! 🏡 Have any of you experienced a situation where your HOA is dishing out fines for simply giving away a piece of furniture? We’re in a bit of a pickle here in our condo building in Florida – apparently, we need permission to even move a cabinet out!
🤔 Can anyone lend some advice on how to navigate this bizarre rule? Here’s what we’re dealing with:
– The HOA states we can’t move without permission
– We gave away a cabinet and now facing fines
– Service elevator was used to not disturb anyone
It all seems a bit over-the-top, right? 😕 We feel like they’re just trying to squeeze some extra money out of us for no reason.
Any suggestions on how to handle this? We appreciate any insights or solutions you all can share! Let’s help each other out in this tricky situation. 🤝
This would likely be a violation of HB1203, restricting what fines are permissible from HOA’s now.
I don’t think that getting rid of a piece of furniture is “moving”. Perhaps there’s more to the story.
I’m assuming you’ve brought trash outside/to the curb. You had to ‘move’ that, and the garbage folks come and take it away. Is this “moving?”
I’d dispute it and ask them to clarify their language in the contract, because not every item taken out of your home can possibly be counted as a ‘move.”
If you decide to go donate some items to Goodwill, will this also be a move? Bring clothes to a Laundromat? Bring your kayak to the lake?
Ridiculous.
is it possible that the issue is needing to use the service elevator for this? i.e. that the time should’ve been reserved?
Not a legal answer, but perhaps helpful in understanding the HOAs position:
Many buildings have these sorts of policies because they want to hang moving blankets in the elevator before you move furniture. This protects the elevator from bumps and scratches.
It has very little to do with you moving in/moving out and everything to do with the potential damages associated with you moving large, heavy, bulky items.
You didn’t notify them so they could hang protections and so they are fining you so you don’t do it again.
Unfortunately, it sounds like that wasn’t well described in your HOA documentation.
With all the comments, discarding an item is like taking out the trash. I would ask them to clarify the statue.
Not legal advice, NAL. However I used to be a HOA board president. Attending the board meetings goes very far. The board sets up the rules and enforcement policies, but often has discretion in how they’re enforced. In my limited experience when folks came to board meetings to request clarification on rules or leniency on rules, it was very likely to be granted. Your mileage may very, but if build your case and then make it there it might be beneficial, and cheaper than a lawyer.