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Our current HOA board have decided they want to stop Long term rentals , above 6 months in duration ? Details below

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They want to do this by making alterations to the Masters documents ( generally for common areas ) so they do not need a vote of the home owners just the HOA Board members . There are two other governing documents one for the SFHs and one for the Townhouses but they cannot change these without an eligible owners vote . They are trying to do it by the back door and they know owners will have to use their own money to fight this whereas they use everyone's monies to defend any action . Do I need an attorney? and do any do free initial consultations before going ahead ?

2 Attorney Answers

Best Answer
Rental restrictions have generally be disfavored in HOAs, unlike condo associations, but there has been a trend with these gaining in popularity. You would need an attorney to read both the master documents and your association documents to determine if the board of the master association has the authority to do this by reserving rights to amend for such conduct.
It's difficult to guess how the courts would handle this. Recent changes to condominium law prohibit enforcement of new rental restrictions on owners unless they consent or they purchase after the amendment is enacted. A judge could apply the same rationale to HOAs, who do not have that law in Chapter 720. On the other hand, any action by an HOA to amend the documents must be reasonable and a judge could rule the amendment is reasonable based on the facts and circumstances of the case.
Many attorneys provide free consultations, but to review your documents in detail would go beyond the scope of a free consultation because of the work involved. You could probably have an attorney provide a quick review for free to see if further review is required.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to discern a particular question from this post. Additionally, I do not see that any legal harm has been done at this point. If you wish to curtail the actions of the board, you may be able to petition for a vote of the members. However, you need to refer to your HOA covenants and restrictions to determine if that is an avenue that has been left you or not.

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