Deed restricted (Boca Raton, Bloomingdale, Westchase: RV park, real estate, HOA fees)

[Haaamburger]

I can't remember where I read it but an article said the entire suburb of westchase Florida was deed restricted . Did I misread or can a whole city be deed restricted and have to pay HOA fees for single family home ? I am from Illinois so this is new to me.

[HWTechGuy]

It is possible to be in a deed-restricted community that does not have HOA fees. Do a search for CDD fees. That's usually a bigger (read: more $$) issue.

[MortonR]

"Deed restricted" means there is a private agreement that restrict the use of the real estate in some way, and are listed in the deed. The seller may add a restriction to the title of the property. Often, developers restrict the parcels of property in a development to maintain a certain amount of uniformity.

Westchase, which is not an incorporated area or city but simply a census designated place, consists of something like 28 different neighborhoods which have deed restrictions imposed by the original developer. While it's possible there are deed restricted areas that don't have an HOA or impose dues, it's highly unlikely. With deed restrictions in place there are bylaws that had to be imposed at the time of development to define those deed restrictions.

If there's no HOA there is no means of enforcement or guarantee of compliance.

Now I suspect you could have deed restrictions and no HOA, but the restrictions would have to be common ones that were imposed by County ordinances or zoning requirements, leaving the County to manage the enforcement. Since these are pretty broad and not terribly restrictive, I can't imagine they would be all that effective.

What's your issue with HOA fees? In most cases unless there are services being provided as a part of he HOA dues, which is common in condominiums but rare in free standing properties, HOA dues are typically a few hundred dollars a year, if that.

Don't confuse HOAs with CDDs, however. Thats a whole 'nother matter and involves a LOT more money.

RM

[HWTechGuy]

Originally Posted by MortonR

"Deed restricted" means there is a private agreement that restrict the use of the real estate in some way, and are listed in the deed. The seller may add a restriction to the title of the property. Often, developers restrict the parcels of property in a development to maintain a certain amount of uniformity.

If there's no HOA there is no means of enforcement or guarantee of compliance.

Now I suspect you could have deed restrictions and no HOA, but the restrictions would have to be common ones that were imposed by County ordinances or zoning requirements, leaving the County to manage the enforcement. Since these are pretty broad and not terribly restrictive, I can't imagine they would be all that effective.

My development's deed restrictions are now enforced by the county code enforcement department. Apparently it was originally handled by the HOA when the homes were first built, but some sort of agreement was made decades ago where the actual enforcement was turned over to the county. There is still an HOA, but the dues are minimal and it primarily serves as a source of information for residents, sponsors social/charitable events, and whatnot. It is a somewhat unique situation, as I was told we are the only deed-restricted development in the county with such an arrangement.

There's no on-street parking, no boat/RV parking in driveways (only if the driveway extends along the side of the home - cannot be in front), various construction requirements, so forth. I have the whole list somewhere. And, there are people who lodge complaints with the HOA regarding violations which are just passed on to the enforcement officer. And, they do come out. I've spotted them in my neighborhood several times doing enforcement activities.

[MortonR]

That is a unique setup, for sure.

Your point about County Code Enforcement is spot on. While many of these issues were formerly addressed by HOA bylaws, the County had the foresight to incorporate them into zoning requirements a few years ago, making such things as parking boats or RVs on the street a code violation. A lot of communities have now adopted the County standards as "community standards", eliminating the need for the HOA bylaws to dictate such things.

It's also a big help in areas like ours where development took place over a fairly long period of time, resulting in some neighborhoods not having deed restrictions put in place by the developer. With the new community standards it shifts these issues to the County for compliance, negating some of the responsibility which used o be the HOAs, if there was one.

In our area (Bloomingdale) we have a Code Enforcement officer assigned to our community. Makes for some very prompt and efficient responses to code violations.

RM

[Reynex]

Originally Posted by HWTechGuy

My development's deed restrictions are now enforced by the county code enforcement department.

Sounds legally questionable. Just sayin'

[engineman]

Originally Posted by Reynex

Sounds legally questionable. Just sayin'

There were similar restrictions in the city of Boca Raton. I was given a warning for putting my yard clippings out a day early. If you had a boat or camper it had to be parked behind a fence in the side or back yard.

[Reynex]

Legally, an HOA can tell you to stand on your head and spit wooden nickles.
Government agencies enforcing association rules is unusual.

[HWTechGuy]

As RMorton described, the restrictions were actually incorporated into the county zoning ordinances.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by HWTechGuy

As RMorton described, the restrictions were actually incorporated into the county zoning ordinances.

This was an effort on the County's part to put deed restrictions into County going requirements. As a result, it allows a non-deed restricted community to impose many of the things that would otherwise be a function of deed restrictions/HOA bylaws.

Do realize that HOAs and deed restrictions are a relatively new thing, just coming into vogue in the mid to late 1990s. As they are now pretty much a standard, the County decided to wrap many of the common ones into zoning ordinances so it could bring older, non-deed restricted areas into compliance.

Nothing illegal or inappropriate about it. County commissioners voted on it and it passed.

RM