Florida HOA Lawyer Blog
Firm shareholder Laura Manning-Hudson authored an article that was featured as the guest commentary column in today’s edition of the Daily Business Review, South Florida’s exclusive business daily and official court newspaper. The article, which is titled “HOA Dispute Over Backyard Playset, Other Amenities Snowballs Into Federal Lawsuit,” discusses an HOA’s dispute over the installation of a backyard playset, spa pool, barbecue and other amenities in a Georgia community that has escalated into a federal lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act due to discriminatory housing practices. Laura’s article reads:
. . . As was chronicled in a recent article in the Gainesville Times newspaper, Martin Moreira and his wife Zulema filed suit against the Pointe West Homeowner’s Association after their plans for a backyard makeover were nixed by the association. They filed the discrimination complaint in federal court in April after the HOA had issued fines and placed a lien against their home in the community located in Oakwood, in northern Georgia.
The dispute arose in the spring 2017 when the Moreiras submitted plans to the HOA to install a play area for their grandchildren as well as a barbecue, spa pool, fireplace, gazebo and other amenities in their backyard. The architectural control committee for the association rejected the project and requested additional information on several items for continued consideration.
The committee continued to reject the project after the supplemental information was submitted, but the complaint alleges that its members then went further than ever before. It states: “In deviation from established practice, ACC members went to the Hall County Building Department and demanded all information regarding Moreira’s application. Hall County Building Department staff later confided with Moreira’s architect, Jack Bailey, that ACC members were looking for something to kill the project.”
