No. Five (5) years ago the HOA hired the attorney to write the drafts to comply with Florida Law and the Board/Committee reviewed and suggested edits. The drafts of Articles and Bylaws were first posted on RBOA.net two (2) years ago for your review, and updated with 2 corrections in January 2026.
NO. We are not voting on Covenants at this time.
We must comply with Florida Statute Chap. 720 which governs all HOAs. The Association Articles, Bylaws, and Declaration [covenants] should not have conflicts with each other or with Chap. 720. We are currently not in compliance, which simply means that one or more of our documents disagrees with either Chap. 720 or each other.
On the advice of RBOA’s legal counsel (who specializes in HOA law), the Articles and Bylaws were wholly re-written. That is why they say “Amended and Restated”. There are so many sections of our documents impacted that it is impossible to list each item separately. The existing governing documents are available on rboa.net, Bylaws/Corporate page, if you want to make a comparison.
These powers comply with Florida Statute Chap. 720, which governs HOAs.
Due to failure to meet the quorum at Annual Meetings to conduct business, 25 years ago an Amendment to the Bylaws was passed October 9, 2000 to lower the quorum to 26%. This is not new to these amended documents.
We have trouble getting members to attend meetings. Printing and postage fees are very expensive. We wanted each homeowner to have a complete set of documents and forms. Our volunteers who did this for us saved the HOA about $800, another example of this Board trying to save money for all owners and conservatively manage HOA funds.
This is untrue. The volunteer Dropbox locations are for the convenience of the homeowners and not mandatory; everyone can attend and vote in person. All Board Members and Committee members have a fiduciary responsibility to the homeowners and will secure your proxy and vote as you instruct. There will be NO VOTE TAMPERING.
It is difficult to have a quorum of 5 with the current size of 7. These are volunteers and many have full-time jobs. It is difficult to find volunteers for the Board and there is currently a vacancy. Reduced size of 5 will help alleviate this problem.
Chap. 720 permits conference call attendance by Board Members to achieve quorum, but board meetings will still be held at Niceville City Hall and open to all members.
Additionally this provides for flexibility in setting date for Annual Meeting.
Chap. 720 lists Common Expenses and stipulates that all owners must pay a fair share of all Common Expenses [like insurance, maintenance, administrative expenses]. The budget is prepared and adopted at a Board Meeting [open to all members] and the dues are set to cover that budget. We have had high inflation rates during the past 6 years and significant price increases in our Common Expenses. For example, insurance costs jumped 25% for 2026, which was unexpected.
Yes, our current Bylaws in Section 7:B Duties already permits a lien if Assessment is 180 days past the due date. March 10, 2010 Amendment to Bylaws Article VI Section 7.A.4 permits the levy of fines. The new Bylaws follow Florida Statute 720.305, which provides more protection for homeowners and a strict procedure to follow, including notifications and hearings. A lien will not be placed on your lot for amounts less than $1,000 owed to the HOA. The current Declaration of Covenants for each Unit may include further policies on liens
Emergency Powers allow the board to act quickly to remedy situations in common areas in an emergency, as defined by Florida Statute 252.34(4), for which a state of emergency is declared pursuant to s.252.36. These powers are permitted per Chap. 720.316
Chap. 720.303(2)(c)2 stipulates a notice containing statement that the meeting will consider a special assessment must be delivered to the members 14 days before the meeting. Your Board will not be reckless with any HOA funds. Board members are also homeowners and subject to all Assessments levied.
Chap. 720 requires this form to be on file before the HOA can send your documents [i.e. notice of meetings, drafts of documents to be voted on, etc.] via email. Going ‘paperless’ will save significant money and time.