RENTAL RESTRICTIONS?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published October 21, 2022
Many associations scramble to create
rental restrictions, especially since many owners discovered
that short-term rentals can be very profitable – see Airbnb
advertising.
But many owners consider short-term
renters a nuisance, disturbing the peace in the community.
But then the question arises: What can
be done – and how do we do it?
There are a few Rules of Thumb:
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The amendment restricting rentals has to get the vote of
approval of a super-majority of the membership.
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Owners, who already rent, are grandfathered in.
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The amendment has to be recorded in the local court house.
Then it gets down to the details:
Do you only want to restrict
short-term rentals – or do you want to restrict certain
long-term rentals as well?
It’s actually pretty complicated
because there will always be some owners who will be vehemently
against it – no matter what you want to put into the
restrictions.
In all reality:
-
Make your mind up what you really want to do
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As a board: Make sure that a majority owners is behind your
proposal.
-
Give your proposal to a specialized attorney to create the
final wording, oversee the vote and file the amendment, if
approved in the local court house.
Let’s face it: Nothing comes easy in
community associations!
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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