|
BUT I DON’T WANT TO PLAY GOLF ANYMORE…………..
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published JULY 10, 2023
Florida
Statute 720.31 states the following:
An association may enter into
agreements to acquire leaseholds, memberships, and other
possessory or use interests in lands or facilities, including,
but not limited to, country clubs, golf courses, marinas,
submerged land, parking areas, conservation areas, and other
recreational facilities. An association may enter into such
agreements regardless of whether the lands or facilities are
contiguous to the lands of the community or whether such lands
or facilities are intended to provide enjoyment, recreation, or
other use or benefit to the owners. All leaseholds, memberships,
and other possessory or use interests existing or created at the
time of recording the declaration must be stated and fully
described in the declaration.
This statute has created lots of disharmony in what was supposed
to be harmonious communities. As many of you know, when you
bought a home in your community, you also immediately were in
effect forced to become a member in a golf or tennis club which
included a fancy clubhouse where you were also required to spend
a godly amount of money on food throughout the year.
When you were in your forties or fifties and working and in
great health, the idea of living in such a community seemed
wonderful even though your annual assessments were very pricey.
As you began to age, you stopped playing sports and spent more
of your time in various doctor’s offices. So, here you are,
unable to play tennis or golf any longer but still forced to pay
exorbitant annual membership fees for maintenance of the golf or
tennis course and club.
Faced with the foregoing scenario, many of you wanted out. The
problem is, at least with golf, the popularity of the game also
hinged upon the success of Tiger Woods. The more Championships
he won, the more popular the game was and the easier it was to
sell your homes with mandatory golf club memberships. But Tiger
hasn’t been good for a long time now and the popularity of the
game has continued to shrink. And so has the ability of members
of these communities to sell their homes. Many simply want the
golf course closed and their annual assessment reduced. Not
easy if the association is locked into a long term membership
commitment or if everyone doesn’t feel the way you do.
While these mandatory membership communities were a thing in the
80s or 90s, I don’t see their popularity coming back to life.
In fact, for those who still own in such communities it may be a
tough sell when they finally want out. I would love to hear
from some of you in mandatory membership communities. Do you
love it? Hate it?
|
|
About
HOA & Condo Blog
 |
Eric Glazer graduated
from the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after
receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community
association law for three decades and is the owner of
Glazer and Sachs, P.A. a five attorney law firm with
offices in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
|
Eric is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in
Condominium and Planned Development Law.
Since 2009, Eric has been the host of Condo Craze
and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs at 11:00 a.m.
each Sunday on 850 WFTL.
See:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
Eric is the first attorney in the State of
Florida that designed a course that certifies condominium and
HOA residents as eligible to serve on a Board of Directors and
has now certified more than 20,000 Floridians all across the
state. He is certified as a Circuit Court Mediator by The
Florida Supreme Court and has mediated dozens of disputes
between associations and unit owners. Eric also devotes
significant time to advancing legislation in the best interest
of Florida community association members.
|
