The state’s homeowners’ associations (HOAs) are notorious for petty bureaucracy – including threats of eviction for the wrong kind of dog or decorative garage door hinges

If you had to name the state where a Vietnam war veteran almost lost his apartment for owning the wrong kind of dog; in which a ring of thieves made off with millions of dollars of residents’ money they were obligated to look after; and where a family was threatened with legal action over decorative garage door hinges, intuition would lead you to Florida.

Such absurdities from homeowners’ associations (HOAs) abound where the nation’s highest concentration of condominium developments, gated communities and upmarket resorts blend seamlessly with an abundance of petty bureaucracy and outright crookedness.

  • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    This is too good to be true:

    “There are professional firms that have taken over the governance of HOAs, lawyers, and others, and I think this will basically speed up that process and make it more likely you’ll have these tasks no longer performed by amateurs.”

    Corporate HOAs have been the worst HOAs.

    Fast forward to 12:26 https://youtu.be/qrizmAo17Os

    Edit: in other words. Get ready for massively bigger fines and more people being foreclosed upon for stupid bullshit.

    • meco03211@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      But I can see your garbage bin. That’s a $1/hr fine since it was first noticed. Unfortunately you won’t get the official correspondence for another few days. Also you need to account for what the fine will total at the time we process payment. Any overages are considered a charitable donation. Any underpayment is subject to fees and fines per the fee schedule located in the bylaws section 897.56.3.a.i.3.22b and the fine schedule in the pamphlet you got when you first moved in and probably threw away.

      Love, Your friendly neighborhood HOA.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Everyone is confused about Florida going against HOAs while I’m much more confused about ‘Karen’ now being mainstream enough of a term for The Guardian.

  • lily33@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    I’m confused… Aren’t HOA reps elected by the people living in the HOA? And generally, democracy should work better on a local level where people know each other, not worse… So why do they fail so bad?

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      Because much like in government, they like to hold meetings and elections at inconvenient times when most people are at work, so it’s retired and anger-motivated people that show up. And those are not the people you want doing it.