Under legislation approved by the 2004 Florida Legislature, an investor who buys a condo with plans to rent it out now has more protection. Thanks to a grandfather clause, even if a condo board votes to ban or limit rentals, a current condo owner is exempt from the new policy unless he or she voted for it.
Lawmakers passed two extensive yet substantially similar bills covering condominiums and homeowners’ associations, SB 2984 and SB 1184. Both include the grandfather clause:
"Any amendment restricting unit owners' rights relating to the rental of units applies only to unit owners who consent to the amendment and unit owners who purchase their units after the effective date of that amendment."
Gov. Jeb Bush must still sign the bills for them to become law and he could decide to sign only one since they duplicate information. If SB 1184 is signed, the protection becomes effective Oct. 1, 2004, meaning a condominium board that changes their rental rules prior to Oct. 1 still has the power to force those changes on all owners. SB 2984 is effective upon signing by the governor, however, which would make the grandfather clause protecting rentals effective immediately.
The bills do not mention specific types of rentals, but a condo association that attempts to ban or limit rentals would arguably be "restricting" the rights of existing owners living in condominiums that currently allow rentals by the week, the season or the year.
Posted by Donald Urschalitz P.A. at May 7, 2004 01:21 PM
