HOA's were not needed before and NOT needed now....closed them all down.

Do not ever purchase a home where there is an HOA

This is Great News. An HOA should never under any circumstances be able to foreclose on a property.

There should be a law that mandates that an HOA be dissolved if 67% or more of the home owners in the neighborhood agree it should be dissolved.

Until they change the rules, don't ever buy an HOA home

Please. Florida needs to do something about these thieves. HOA should be abolished

They (HOA) are one step away from a mafia.

The city or county laws are good enough without the HOA . HOA should never have the power to foreclose on home owners home

The first thing we told a realtor we were working with was no HOA.

The advent of HOA's, in Florida especially has been the worst thing ever invented. At some point I'm convinced HOA's will have to be shut down. The economics of HOA's just do not work anymore.

How about a law that forces a reduction of HOA fees once projects in the HOA are completed?

Never buy a house that is part of an HOA.

Our first realtor we said "no HOAs". First house he showed us was in a HOA. "But it's such a nice house, I just wanted you to see it". That ended that relationship. I've nothing against paying a reasonable fee based on actual cost for maintenance of shared areas or to handle snow removal on sidewalks and driveways. But I don't care at all for all the "you have to" and "you can't" rules. No way.

I recently bought a lot in a community that the residents had voted to get rid of the HOA. I'm in SC.

They have absolutely way too much power over your assets!

Told all my kids NEVER BUY IN AN HOA.

how about taking Away for closer power , no one should lose a 500k home for a one thousand dollar fine

They need to make a law that they cannot foreclose on a property. That's too much!

It’s too late for a lot of us who bought a home in an HOA when it was a good thing but they have been given way to much power and freedom. Time to reel them in.

HOAs actual acts usually go beyond the identified purpose. I would NEVER purchase a home in an HOA run neighborhood. I literally HATE them.

An HOA should only be created to be a solution for a real problen not decorative. My area is an unincorporated area with 26 properties. All our roads are private, we are responsible for maintenance and upgrades. All properties are 5 to 10 acres, so we have 2.5 miles of road. We formed an HOA to do this. Dues is $200.00 a year. Bi laws state no decisions can be made about personal property, but only local county rules apply. We do get snow so this also pays for removal. We only keep a $5,000.00 balance. And 3 times in the last 10 years we didn't collect dues because we still had our $5,000.00 balance. I believe ours is the true intention of an HOA.

You are a fool if you move into a HOA community in Florida. You are giving up your freedom to bored Karen’s and Ken’s that have nothing better to do with their lives than harass their neighbors. All those moving to Florida avoid HOA’s at all costs. You can find plenty of non HOA neighborhoods that are clean and safe. You don’t want to put your peace of mind and way of life in the hands of a bored Karen or Ken that has nothing better to do with their miserable lives.

HOA’s should not be able to foreclose on homes!

I am a retired prop manager. I moved to a dirt road in an unincorporated area just to avoid an hoa. It is just another level of government. We aleady have federal, state, county & city....and then add hoa....too much.

Best way to avoid those "Hitlers" in the making is to refuse to purchase any home in an HOA community . That was the first thing I told my realtor when I began house hunting .

HOA should be required to notify owners by mail only. Not everyone has computers or cell phones.

We lived in an HOA community in Naples from 2013 to 2021. In that time period the HOA became a real issue. First they decided in around 2016 that needed to build a new fitness center and bar. The community had turned over- the fitness place was fine with what the builder did but no- so here comes a special assessment of $3000- we paid it and though that was it. Then Irma hit and we got hit with a $2000 assessment to cover damage to the community in addition to out home damage. Then the curse of the annual roof cleaning letters- whether your roof needed if or not a letter came out every 2 years threatening a $100 a day fine if roof not cleaned as it was a "health and public blight issue" Really? Who the hell goes up on the roof and licks the tiles to make it a health issue. Had roof cleaned one time and had over $2000 in shrubbery ruined by the bleach used to kill the mold- had a devil of a time getting the contractor to pay me for the replacement. The HOA then decided that they were going to do a "major project" to keep up with new communities- price tag $15M. New bars, a dance floor, new pickleball, tennis courts, redoing the pool, etc.- What the place needed was perhaps a sprucing up of the dining room with new carpets and paint as the place was never really used- our of season the activity person literally BEGGED full time residents to go to eat at the restaurant as no one was going! But the HOA said a larger restaurant was essential to future home sales- Many residents opposed it- this was in the time of covid- and despite many people saying why do we need to do this they steamed ahead. In the meantime during covid- they demanded my roof be cleaned once again. As a senior with health issues interviewing contractors as roof cleaning can be VERY expensive and the damage to shrubbery very pricey- I asked for an extension for a few months and was threatened with a $100 a day fine. Ok got it done. When the so called vote on the $15M went thru all of our friends who were not into drinking and who did not need higher fees for bars and amenities that would go unused began to see one by one. The realtor who ultimately sold our home who lived in the community opposed the project as he said it would raise HOA fees and not be something all potential buyers would find appealing. The HOA moved ahead anyway. We put out home up for sale- we made a nice profit, sold and moved out of Florida. On our closing statement the HOA gave us one fine kick in the pants as they charged us $350 to check our records to be sure we had no liens from things like not getting roof cleaning done- adding insult to injury. We also were hit with a $250 payment the first installment of the $750 annual fee increase to cover the project. We closed 3 days after the due date and would never see the project done but the fee was taken from the proceeds. We have heard that the $15M project went over to be $21M and the kicker is that a female realtor who sells a ton of houses in this community and whose husband had been very active on the HOA board has had enough as have 10 of her friends and they are all moving away from Naples to the east coast to a new community. We moved out of state-we now live in the midwest in a larger, more attractive home that cost less than half of what the Naples home sold for. We live in an upscale community which is a suburb of a major Midwest city. The people are friendlier and extremely giving here. We found many of the people in Naples to think they were better than everyone else because they golfed or played pickleball or hung at the bar every night. We do have an HOA which only covers our garbage fees. We do not get roof cleaning letters or have projects shoved down our throats. Goodbye Florida- we do not miss you or your HOAs.

When looking for a property, the first thing I check is the existence of a HOA. If there is one, I'm gone. Period. For me, HOA mean "Hell Out Already". There is no way I will willingly accept yet another level of government.

I did bank foreclosures after the recession. So many properties had been taken over by HOA’s, rental properties that owed a very few thousand in not paid HOA fees. They collected those rents for years until the bank lawyers & myself came in paid the overdue fees and got the properties back. Not easy in Florida to find a home without an HOA but totally worth it!

I have a sister that lives in an HOA community in Bradenton. She, like me, is a ham radio operator. She wants a long wire antenna behind her house. The wire is so thin you really can't see it unless your really look very hard. So she can't put one up. So she really can't be a ham radio operator. I told her to get a ham radio flagpole antenna. Fly the American flag.

I would never buy a home where there's a HOA involved.

The STUPIDEST HOA rule that I ever dealt with, was that my two teen sons were not allowed to keep their basketball goal in our own driveway, on our own property! They kept fining us, because they wanted us to drag it behind the garage, every time my boys played basketball, but it was too heavy to move!!! It was so tyrannical, and there was no logical reason for that rule - it was a nice new basketball goal - it wasn’t old, rusty or ugly so it didn’t make our house look junky, but those control freaks just didn’t want my boys to be allowed to play basketball at their own home - those HOA members were just angry, terrible TYRANTS!!!

Should be another law. You don't have to join the HOA or you can opt out if the House is a single family home, is not in a gated community, and the HOA doesn't own the road.

I own condo at Renaissance Square condominiums in Clearwater Florida they was embezzle funds for decades and now we will be very high association fee and non-stop special assessment and I've been fighting with them and I didn't get anywhere I just want to sell it and move on never ever own HOA community property it's a money losing proposition and I don't believe any law will change anything

I regret buying my home in an HOA. But in South Florida, it's almost impossible to find a home anywhere that doesn't have an HOA.

They need to pass a bill to prevent the foreclosure on a home in a HOA for any fines / broken rules.

No HOA should EVER have the ability to foreclose on someone's home! Why isn't this being addressed in these new laws?!? I've heard horror stories out of FL and GA! Take them to court if they don't pay their fines! If you don't hear from them in a reasonable amount of time after sending a notice of the fine, contact them! Obviously something isn't getting through! Surely they can pick up a phone, or knock on a door to see if it's willful negligence, or honest ignorance! I personally would never live in a home within an HOA! I don't trust them as far as I could throw them collectively.

I was elected to my HOA and was INVITED by the board to handle communications-community affairs and outside agencies. Specifically, I represented the HOA in a fight to defeat zoning changes that would take lakeside land adjace t to is from one house per acre to 4 story dense apartments. Well, I worked hard at the county level and we one. Property changed hands from developers various times. They they went to the city to be annexed which we are unincorporated county. We won for a while. I served for 5 years as president and wanted OUT. NO ONE would take over. I was a holdover preside t for 8 more years. Unpaid job. Exhausting. But my sole goal was to prevent tyranny. No fines. Every project we did had at least 1/4 of the community participating. We even did our own gardens out front. Fees stayed within 10 bucks those 13 years. It was peaceful. The biggest issues are the out of state people who serve on boards now that they fled northern tyranny who are trying to shove it down our Southern throats now. Attorneys love this stuff and profile from conflict. I would never be in an HOA again

What is a dream job for a narcissist? Being on the board of an HOA. You don't need any qualifications at all, you can be dumb as dirt, just nosey. If you make mistakes in the budget, well gosh, you didn't mean to do that, even though it looks like embezzlement, it's not apparently, it was an arithmetic error. And what do you receive in return? Oh, they make sure nobody parks on the street, or in their driveway more than 24 hrs. Oh yeah, that's worth paying an HOA membership fee forever, which keeps on escalating over the years. Whee, no cars parked in front of my house, it's utopia !! Oh, and they prevent people from doing any landscaping , you know, planting the WRONG color flowers, or perhaps hanging the flag on Veterans Day. Horrors, who would do that? Well, I'm sure we've all read the nightmares of an HOA. That being said, if you move to an HOA neighborhood then it's your problem, because probably 99% of the residents in that community don't ever read the HOA bylaws, so you have nobody to blame but yourself. HOA's love over 55 communities of retired folks. They're easy to intimidate. They can make them remove the birdbath in their backyard that's apparently ruining the neighborhood. What about the people recently that were told to remove a flag on their property. It was inside the house!!

HOA, no purpose , a money maker, controlling your property.

As soon as I learned what an HOA was and how they can take control of the home YOU own, I will never buy a home with an HOA fee.

I have a friend in a HOA now. He had a single weed that grew up in the sidewalk on the public area that was not his area of the sidewalk. They sent him warnings and he responded with "It's not my property". They fined him and he refused to pay it because it was in the "common area" sidewalk that was maintained by the HOA. That battle is still ongoing. He refuses to maintain the common are that his HOA fee covers each month.

Better idea just to close all these HOA's down way to many little dictators want to run other people's lives.

Our HOA says we cannot park on the street in our neighborhood even though they are not private streets. They are city streets.

In GA, an HOA has more power over your home than you do. Cities, towns have rules regarding most issues of homes and homeowners already…that’s what kept neighborhoods in good shape before HOAs. However, cities/towns have relinquished the responsibilities to HOAs thus actually forcing another ‘tax’ on homeowners via HOA assessments, fees, fines, etc. Before you purchase that home, study the HOA governing documents and ask yourself if you are prepared to open your wallet to pay for the mismanagement and malfeasance of HOA board of directors and management company. Make no mistake, you will pay whatever amount they determine because if you don’t, you will be fined, interest will accumulate until you pay. Think you will sell and get out of neighborhood….better make sure there is not a lien on the house. This is just the tip of the HOA iceberg in GA.

I rented a condo for 7 years. My third year there they had a change of HOA management, on site president and so forth. It has been my lifelong practice to put up my Halloween decorations on October 1st and take them down on November 1st. Immediately upon taking the Halloween decor, I put up my Christmas decorations. In the first week of November I received a call from the owner of my condo, and he asked if I had received the new CC&Rs? I told him no. He told me to leave my things up as they were, and if I received any correspondence from the HOA to immediately call him because he wanted everything faxed to him. He then asked if I was up for a fight? I laughed and said I was a born rebel so, sure I was. He was going to go to fight for holiday decor nonsense to be removed. Then he ran down what they were expecting to happen; NO Halloween decorations may go up until 6 days October 31st. All Halloween decor must be removed no later than midnight October 31. NO demon looking characters, no skeleton characters suspended from the ceiling of the balcony , NO witch characters, NO ghostly characters hanging. NO spiders in webs. Pumpkin Garland was fine, orange lights could not be turned on before 5:30pm and had to be turned off by 7:30pm. They even stipulated that only fun sized candies could be distributed! No full sized candy bars! 😮 For Christmas holiday; Decorations for Christmas could not be put up until 7 days before Christmas! Any light strung up could only have red and green and couldn't be blinking lights, they could only be on from 6pm until 8pm nightly. Any porch decorations that inflated could only be inflated for one hour per evening, 6pm-7pm. And only ONE character could be used on the balcony and it must be a snow man, Santa, or reindeer. Christmas trees must not be visible from the outside , ie: not placed in front of any windows, AND could only be green. NO flocked trees, artificial or real, must be green, (that one was stupid, I mean if you can't see it from outside who would know if it was flicked or not? 🤪). No Christmas lights on the inside of the condos windows. Only on the outside balcony railing. There were other rules but they aren't even sensible enough to mention, except for the one about baking Christina's cookies: baking cookies more than once per week was prohibited, (they gave a reason for that, "NOBODY wants to smell sweet cookies baking all day everyday"!). All Christmas decorations had to be taken down no later than midnight on Christmas night! NO New Years Eve decor was allowed, period. I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the stupidiest things you've ever heard! My condo owner and I went to court together and the judge heard enough at the two hour limit for lights and baking cookies, he told the HOA weirdos that they were stepping far over the line, the rules they wanted to enforce were unreasonable, and ridiculously strict. He told been to butt out of people's decoratons for the holidays, and if I wanted to put them up in August they needed to deal with it. They were pissed! Of course we won. I was so happy, as was my condo owner. That entire complex was lit up like you wouldn't believe from October 1st through January 5! People got so creative that year and we had several parties in the park like areas of our buildings. Now that kind of bs is without a word for over the top. It was surreal that people think they can just make rules that are ridiculous. Dictator's, the lot of them! Oh yeah, that was the first year in so very long I got a REAL tree. It was flocked 🤭 and stood right in front of the main window of my unit, for all to see. Eventually the residents had enough of the crazy crap they tried to implement, they voted then away, fired them or whatever it is homeowners do to get rid of hoa's. It was also just over a year or so before they finally got them ousted and replaced. It didn't hurt that the joke of a company was being run by thieves, as they were skimming $$ from the dues. They got caught during the quarterly audit.

They get kickbacks from any party they hire to perform work. Lawn care, electrical work, maintenance etc. Im curious if insurance companies also ramp up the price and get a kickback.

I personally would not get a home in a hoa community.

There should be a law at the federal level that prevents an HOA from foreclosing on someone's home

Absolutely ban all HOAs from being able to place leins on homes or forclose on them. Set a maximum amount for fines and a way to settle disputes using an impartial arbiter.

We built our dream home in an area that became a subdivision with HOA. They sent us a registered letter stating they would come out to measure how much mulch in my front flowerbeds. They yelled about the fence we had for our horses. At that point we put the house up for sale and because we didn’t list it with the head of the HOA. The for sale signs were torn down. We sold the house at a loss and moved to a fix it up farm, no HOA, total freedom. A few weeks after we moved a member of the board said hello in the grocery store, all nice and friendly. I took the opportunity to let that person know my opinion is that HOA’s are unconstitutional, we don’t live under Communism.

I know of two different people in two different HOAs who were elected to ‘the accountant’ position. They ended up quitting as the board would not give them the books - at all.

HOA Horror stories are abundant on various social media sites. personally, I would never, ever move into a neighborhood where there is an HOA.

Something like 50% to 60% of all homes in Florida have HOA's. A prospective buyer of Florida real estate really needs to understand what HOA' s do and how intrusive they can be in your life. They are not innocuous neutral entities, they are good allies with governments both local and federal. They are a taxing district with dictatorial powers and can make your life miserable if you cross them. Full disclosure of who they choose do HOA business with, i.e. mowing contracts, repair contracts, waste hauling contracts, insurance contracts, and other contracts, are not disclosed to the homeowners. Full transparency is needed and runaway inflationary cost from year to year is not known for a homeowner of such a property. Buyer Beware!!!!

My HOA is one of those that dictates what you can do in your own unit-down to the cabinets and other fixtures, which they own. Between HOA covenants and fees, property taxes it works out to several hundred a month and I feel like I’m renting again 😤😡

Tell H0A take a flying leap . No body should ever tell you how you should live in your own house .

The fact they can put liens on people's houses and essentially are able to legally steal is a deal breaker for me. I can see them being necessary for condos and buildings provided they are not too powerful, but not single family.

I understand the need for HOA within a community. I own a property in Powder Springs, GA which I purchased back in 1993. Today, it's a geto, cars on cement blocks, unkept lawns, siding missing from exterior walls, and every exterior paint scheme imaginable on a house in the neighborhood. However, HOAs can be a pain to deal with in the type of plants I would like to grow/have on my property or the type of maintenance-free fence instead of the wooden ones.

Interesting video. I can appreciate your dry humor. I live in a non-HOA house, but surrounded by HOA's with their video surveillance, and signs in their land of NO. So subservient, kinda like Canadian People.

I live in a community that has an HOA and don’t mind it a bit. The last community lived in, my neighbor beside me burned his garbage in a pile of stones to represent a burn pit. That smoke from the garbage was terrible and stunk. That doesn’t happen here. The neighbor on the other side of me dug out the dirt next to my fence for a parking space. The fence kept failing over because it was no longer supported by enough dirt. This is why I live in an HOA community

As a security supervisor, I’ve been a supervisor for a couple HOAs. And as a retired law enforcement officer. I was lucky and educated enough to have the ability and knowledge on how to look up and understand the statues. So from that perspective, thank you for the updates. I look forward to hearing more videos from you in the future.

Lived in HOA for almost 20 years… couldn’t wait to get out! Moved 2 years ago and can’t be happier…… haven’t missed them at all!

I've been in an HOA in Hillsborough County coming up on 30 years. They gave me a month to replace my roof and a month to paint my house. They always given me at least two weeks for repairs. Sometimes it takes two weeks just to find someone and to schedule the work.

I moved to an HOA community after my old neighbor painted their house purple and very few people power washed their roofs. I am fortunate to have a good HOA management company. 10 years my HOA fees have gone up only $20

HR 1203 passed both houses and is about to go to the Govenor. Almost everything you listed as potentially coming is in this bill. Takes effect July 1, 2024.

I’m split on an HOA….i don’t like anyone telling me what I can do on my property. I also don’t like a neighbor who doesn’t cut his grass or leave a boat out in front of the house. I am happy to see that laws may pass to help homeowners have leverage with some overzealous HOA tyrants. Hopefully common sense prevails for all.

Bought a house in 2006 in HOA neighborhood. The prior owners had some "issues" keeping up the appearance, minor and correctable. Prepared for closing and the title company tells me there are Recorded $1500 in HOA liens on the property upon doing Title Search. (The title company wasnt going to issue a title policy without everything being cleaned up.) Title company sends to HOA's outside lawyer an Estoppel Letter of which he adds another $1000 out of thin for good measure. This issue wasnt contingent on my closing, and proceded with the purchase and the Estople Letter Fee on the Closing statement. (HUD-1 back in those days.) THAT is when the fun and games began. Month or so after closing get a polite call from some kid at a law firm telling me that I owe another $500 to the HOA and that they didnt "Collect" the right amount and were "other" HOA infractions not collected. I reminded them I had an Estoppel from them prior to closing and considered it settled. But, oh no. Then, harrassment. Next call its $1000, then $1500. Four more different lawyers over an 18 month time frame , ever escalating amount (for shock and awe )insisting upon payment and my continual reply and refrain was "We got an Estoppel Letter and the paid a fee, evidenced on the HUD-1. The fourth attorney when challenged about this told me "You dont know how many times I hear this." I accused them of fraud, and as an officer of the court, it was his responsibility to report this to the appropriate authority, State Attorney's Office, etc. I never heard another word after that conversation. The point Im making, this whole HOA "form of government" needs to be radically overhauled, not these hilarous infintile changes. Christmas decorations and clothes-lines? Really?

Thank you!

Sounds like it's going in a better direction for those who find themselves trapped in a Hell of Association in Florida. Living free here in Alaska. Thank You Lord!

especially with the prices of houses today, ANY HOA and their rules can kiss my .....

Thank you for the information.

Thanks for the info!!

How did they know the shed was in your back yard if they couldn't see it from the street?

Evidently these HOA mgrs have serious Control issues to bring about this Bill of Rights. I’m all for keeping the neighborhood up to standards and why many buy in. But it appears busy bodies and power hungry often “Rule” these communities. Why I prefer TV’s arrangement.

I saw a HMO sue a lady in a wheelchair 500 dollars a day for putting a wheelchair ramp inside her house. They put a lean on her house and kept it going after she removed it. They gave her fines for riding her wheelchair in the street as it made marks. Eventually she sued them and the president who had pushed the fines had his place bought the his home from the proceeds.

Great vid!

This lady is a excellent 👍

Agree about being HOA president. Don't know anyone who says - oh yeah, I am glad I did that. Responsiveness of the management company is a major problem. Laws regarding that should address this specifically with specifics. I recently waited 6 days just to get a phone call returned from the property manager. So far, I am navigating my new HOA OK, but way too many rules that are virtually impossible to change.

You're Terrific!!❤❤❤

Every house we purchased has been in HOA communities. I keep my homes nice and clean.....never had an issue.

They tried to set up an HOA in my OLD long existing neighborhood and got met with a resounding NO. Some of the houses here have been here for more than 80-100 years. There is no way the could have been brought up to the rules they wanted to set up.

My neighbor is elderly. The HOA forced him to repaint his house. It looked fine to me. His wife had just died, so I felt so sorry for him. The stupid thing is the house was 5 years old. Honestly, I wonder if he ticked off someone on the HOA.

Thank YOU Ms Linda 👏👏👏🎉👏👏👏

No goverment or corporation..should ever be able to take a person's home away because of fines ...EVER !!!!!!!!!!

Informative, Lisa. Just wait until Kolter turns the HOA over to the Verano homeowners. Ouch!!

When I was buying my house in Florida, I told the realtor I had 2 request. A garage and no HOA, I will never let someone tell me what I can and cannot do with the house I bought.

Well done

I live in a good HOA. Our HOA of 3500 homes is an organic HOA which means there is no management company. The 80 guys that maintain the golf courses and the common grounds are direct employees of the HOA. So are the employee's that run the administration and accounting. We do contract out the restaurant and the gate. We have millions of dollars in reserve and pay cash for everything we do. We have hundreds of people involved committee's for many of the things the HOA provides including an internal audit committee. We have a new master plan for the community. We just added a new fitness center and pickle ball courts without an assessment. The only assessment the community did 25 years ago was to tap in to the county water system to provide reclaimed water for our grounds and golf courses. Best thing the community ever did.

Lisa, Thanks for researching this, it saved me the time! These laws are long overdue!!! I will be more open to HOA’s with REASONABLE rules in place.

Thanks!

Great information Lisa……thank you…..I’ll probably just continue to visit your beautiful area of Florida 🌴😎

Thank You Lisa, very informative! Agree on the STR you never know whose coming and going. Good to see some changes. Some of these places are just way too strict, over the top.

Great information thanks Lisa

I just ran across your channel and I’m thrilled to know that you’re going over this and that these changes are hopefully going to be made. I sold real estate in Florida for 10 years and exactly what you said, trying to get a hold of the HOA president or anyone as a matter, fact, in order to get the information to the title company to even close, Was always a problem. They did not care that we had to extend closings and mess up loan documents or anything else just because they didn’t wanna be bothered. I love everything you went over but that’s my personal biggest take away. And the one where they need some kind of education or Some type of credentials in order to be on these boards. Where I sold, we did not have anyone telling us what to do on the inside of our property - that was a new one to me.

Never

I live in an HOA in Tradition. I have had no problems, when i lived in the community alot of people do not take care of there property, i was tired of seeing cars in the middle of the yard, over grown grass, garbage cans over flowing, decided it was worth being around like minded people that valued there property and what they pay for. However, if I found a neighborhood where people valued their property and it had a canal behind the yard, not overpriced, I would move.

When our HOA broke contract by NOT taking care of the public areas w/in the HOA area (pool, walking trails) my dad got a lawyer & since the HOA was in error, my dad no longer was required to pay they HOA fees. After my dad died, they tried scaring my mother they were informed/reminded of their error. And they had to remove the lien they had quietly placed on the house. "Oops" they said.

I’ve had several of these “rules” that they said I violated, I have also had tried to add plants and tried to get a plan accepted! , my management company never replied to 4 different plans. Frustrating! Thanks for this info! Truly grateful!

After living in Sarasota, Florida for 43 years, I finally sold my condo and moved to another state. I moved for a number of reasons, but the HOA Association was comprised of good people. I had NO fault with them. The current monthly HOA fee is $486, but that covers master insurance , exterior maintenance, lawn care, pool, club house, water, sewer, trash and basic cable TV. -- Our single story villas each with it's own carport, had flat roofs, which caused our master insurance to drop wind coverage. We could not even get insurance through Citizen's due to the flat roofs!. -- So, for the entire summer of 2023, we had NO wind coverage. Luckily, no major storm hit Sarasota last year. -- The Board has since obtained wind coverage, albeit at a much higher price (how much I don't know). One company offered wind coverage at a 400% increase from the previous year. -- During the 5 years I lived in this complex, my monthy HOA rates went from $295 to $486. Combine that with Florida's ever-increasing auto insurance rates, Condo contents insurance, etc. urban sprawl, increased population, traffic, etc., it was finally time move to a lesser expense locale. -- At 64, I'm eyeing retirement, and don't want these increased price headaches, which are everywhere, but more prevalent in Florida at this time.

It is not hard to find a non HOA property. Realtors are in the habit of only showing HOA properties. You have to tell them no HOA's.