HOA covenants form the rules and regulations of a community association that must be adhered to by members and the BOD. They are referred to as the community’s Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions, or CC&Rs.
When you purchase a home in a planned community you are automatically bound by the CC&Rs of your association. They are legally binding and if you violate any of the terms there can be consequences.
But what happens if a covenant expires? Is this even possible?
Covenants can and typically do have expiration dates. It varies state by state and covenant to covenant. In Florida, if a covenant is older than 30 years it may no longer be enforceable.
What this means for the community association is that the CC&Rs can no longer be enforced, assessments can no longer be collected and the BOD’s power is nullified.
Luckily, there is a process to reinstate the covenant called “Covenant Revitalization.”
Chapter 720, Part III, Florida Statutes, provides a way to revitalize a declaration of covenants. We’re not going to get into the nitty gritty here, but the gist of the legal jargon states:
- The revived declaration needs to be approved by a majority of homeowners at an approved meeting.
- The new covenant can’t contain more restricted covenants than the old one, with a few exceptions. It can have a longer term than the old declaration. It can take out restrictions in the old declaration. I can govern fewer homes or parcels than the old declaration. It can contain new amendments to the declaration and other governing documents. And it can contain new provisions that Chapter 720 now requires.
- The new declaration must give the same voting interests.
- Proportional assessments can’t be changed.
- The amendment provisions can’t be changed if the old declaration did not include amendment provisions. If they are changed, they requiring approval of two-thirds of the property owners.
Additionally, section 720.405, Florida Statutes, says that at least three unit owners are required to propose the covenant revitalization. Then this committee must submit the proposed covenant revitalization to all unit owners at a properly noticed meeting. They must follow all the specific guidelines of the statute including getting an attorney or court reporter to certify proof of notice of the meeting.
The final step, under section 720.406, Florida Statutes, is to submit the proposed revived governing documents to the Department of Economic Opportunity within 60 days of the vote.
Revitalizing a covenant is no small matter, but letting a covenant expire is an even greater worry. Do you know if your covenant has an expiration date?
Contact us for assistance with covenant revitalization.
Our self-managed HOA was oblivious to the effects of MRTA and approximately 80% of almost 800 covenants were expired by 2014. The BOD submitted a Preservation and was challenged that a revitalization needed to be done. Eventually, the revite application was granted by DEO. However, the final step in the process, as required by statute at the time in 2016, required that the parcels be indexed by name of owners and address within 30 days. This step was overlooked. The 2016 statute was replaced with a 2018 statute which did not require the idexing component and was bit retroactive. An attorney has opined that this is a fatal flaw and the revitalization was unsuccessful as a result and our subjdivision remains expired and without covenants. THoughts?
Correction to above……”indexing component was NOT retroactive.”
We went through the revitalization process 30 years after the first recorded CC&R (which was 25 years ago) do we go through the same process in 5 years ?
Or only one time ?
The recent revitalization was denied by the deo ,because the covenants had more restrictive covenants in them,now the bod of the expired association says they will just change the expired covenants and reapply.when I bought into this hoa I read the covenants if the amended covenants are removed I would of never bought here,how can expired covenants be rewritten?also the members got the denial letter 21 days after the deo denied ,which means our appeal rights are gone.
I just found out that our convenant expired 19 years ago after upset tenants started to read the CC & R’s. My question is, Am I going to be legally presecuted if I refuse to continue to pay assesments until the a new covenant is re enstated? and can I reclame all the atterneys fees that I had to pay when last year the HOA send me to collections and almost lost my house to the HOA.
Question:
If the present effective Declaration has not expired can it be updated and filed?
Is there any legal reason for it to be revitalized if it hasn’t expired?
How would I find out if my HOA has expired? I am in Sec. 23 Punta Gorda, Florida Charlotte County.
Thank,
Clay
I bought my home in 1992. The covenants expire in 2014. No one knew. Of 130 homes, around 91 homes are expired or all 130 expired? Our HOA board has no knowledge of how an HOA is managed. So far they have done nothing and think they are still the boss of everyone. We are a 55 and over community. Gated community. For 7 years a fence has been down due to tree falling through it. Still not repaired. Pit Bulls come in the neighbor each day running around. In another section trees fell and about 20 feet of fence is down (since 2022) and a homeless camp is set up right beside where fence with down. Nothing done. Another section has trees through fences (about 20 feet) since Nov 23 and nothing has been done.
There are vehicles with expired tags stored in our overflow parking area (owned by board member) and nothing is done. 2 weeks ago the put signs up that if you part on grass your vehicle will be towed.
Question, do we continue to pay $145 month amenity fees? Should real estate agents be advised covenants are expired? 4 to 5 homes are up for sale. What rights do we are homeowners have?
They continue to call attorney for advice as to what to do and for every little thing vs
Our covenant expired 29 years ago.the bod has know for 2 years and just told us in November they are still collecting hoa fees and buy in fees our park is in a major up roar