Quote:
Originally Posted by Altavia
In Florida, the statute of limitations for breach of contract (such as violating HOA covenants) is five years. I have no idea why this does not apply to The Villages.
Statute of limitations, waiver and covenant enforcement
" There are a number of problems with the situation you describe, and your homeowners’ association is going to have a very hard time enforcing the patio-size covenant against you and the other owners.
For one thing, if in fact these patios were built seven years ago, the “statute of limitations” has expired.
A statute of limitations is a time period within which any legal action must be brought. This makes sense, because the more time that passes before a legal action is filed, the less likely that evidence will be available to prove or disprove the dispute, and also because it is not considered “fair” to bring an action after so much time has passed, as the delayed notice of the dispute would be unreasonable to the defendant.
In Florida, the statute of limitations for breach of contract (such as violating your HOA covenants) is five years.
The time period within which the HOA could enforce the covenant has expired, at least as it pertains to those patios that were built more than five years ago." |
Wow! I do so agree. There was a case last year I think, where a house north of 446 had a small path on the side of the house, for over 20 years, & I think the owner bought the house (over 20 years ago) with the path already there, I don't recall all of the details. But someone complained that it was out of compliance. In my opinion this was a classic case of something that should have been grandfathered in. The fact that it wasn't, to me, means we need to change the rules to put in some kind of time limitation, after which, the 'improvement' gets to stay.