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The original was posted on /r/fuckhoa by /u/EvanWasHere on 2023-08-10 19:55:43.

I found an amazing house in Miami… But it’s in a 10 home HOA. And there is a legal issue.

Background: There is currently a lack of new inventory in the Miami market. Either people are holding on to their homes waiting for the market to go up again, or they are listing at ridiculous prices, or the home they are listing is subpar.

I found an amazing home that is a prime location, prime size, prime quality, and prime amenities. I have been looking for almost 2 years and visited over a 100 homes, so when I say that there has been nothing better in 2 years than this home, I mean it.

I made an offer on the house… and it was accepted. But during inspection, it was like pulling teeth getting the HOA bylaws and paperwork. There are 2 members of the HOA, president and vice president (my seller happened to be the previous vp). My lawyer (who is amazing) found a huge issue.

The HOA was created to pay for an electronic gate used to enter the 10 home block. The bylaws only specified that all the homes would pay $1,000 a year. This pays for gate maintance plus yard work for all the homes.

But last year, someone bought a home and their college aged son moved and threw parties every day. So all the homes decided they wanted to create new bylaws about parties, approving people that move in to the homes, and a few others. Nothing crazy. All things I can live with.

The legal issue: Supposedly, they got all the homes to sign the new bylaws. But there is an issue. The lawyer for the HOA is the son of one of the homeowners. The new bylaws (according to my lawyer) are not legal. They added their bylaws to their current bylaws. But their original restrictive covenants don’t allow this. They only allow bylaws that have to do with the gate, wall, and easement. So the new bylaws are NOT legal.

According to my lawyer, they had to draft an amendment to the restrictive covenants (NOT to the bylaws) which are then signed, witnessed and notarized (like a deed) by every single homeowner (so it can be properly recorded). It has to include the new restrictions for the community and confirm that 100% of the community owners (who will all sign) all agree these restrictions are in place even though they extend beyond and cover areas within the community other than the “Wall”, the “Easement Area” and the “Entrance Feature” that the original restrictive covenants cover.

We told this to the HOA lawyer but he was dismissive and said it didn’t matter. That the HOA didnt have the knowledge or experience to know the difference. We explained that their bylaws aren’t legal and he basically said he didn’t care, we were not his client. He then asked my lawyer if he wanted to do the work to write up the new covenants??!!

Aftermath: My lawyer advised me not to purchase this house. If a lawsuit happened because of these bylaws, the entire HOA would be responsible for the legal cost and awards. He said it looks like an HOA that went rogue.

This is killing me. This is my dream house. I am unsure if the HOA members know that their lawyer/president is causing this legal issue for them. I tried to inform the seller’s broker about the issue but he doesn’t seem to understand. I tried to request to tell the seller so she can push the other houses to fix this issue, but the broker is refusing to let me speak to her. I have spent way too much money (on the inspection) and time on this and I should just walk away. But it seems like such an easy fix to make it legal. I mean if everyone already agreed to the new bylaws, just agree to a new covenant! Ugh.

So I am coming here for a second opinion. How bad is the above and what should I do?