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WHY THE LAWSUIT?
The Sand Lake Hills Homeowners Association, hereinafter SLH, and a group of property owners who own 57 lots in Section 3, have taken it upon themselves to attempt to remake Sand Lake Hills into something it was never intended to be: a development controlled by a homeowner association which can levy mandatory assessments against all of the owners, even those who don’t want a homeowner association and who don’t want to pay assessments. SLH has stated that membership in the association is not mandatory for current owners. However, they say that even those members who didn’t join will still have to pay. Taxation without representation was bad enough. Taxation without affiliation is even worse. It’s as if the Rotary Club sent you a letter saying that you owe them money even though you’re not a member, threatening to sue you and if you don’t pay, they’ll add late charges, 18% interest, attorney fees(!) and costs, to the total amount owed!
What’s even worse is that the SLH and Amended Covenants say that if you sell your property, the buyer will be mandatorily required to be a member of the Association, even if you don’t want your property to be burdened with this requirement and don’t want buyers of your property to be forced to join.
SLH named this initiative “Fair Share”. If you have read some of the SLH documents, demand letters, etc., it more aptly should have been named “Fair Scare”. SLH has generated a steady flow of disinformation, intimidation, and threats. By claiming that they aren’t forcing you to “join” the association - and then threatening legal action - some of you have buckled under the pressure and paid. The original Covenants and Restrictions state that membership is voluntary. Under our original Covenants, and Florida law, this can never be changed without the consent of all property owners. This lawsuit is being filed to prevent SLH from trampling on the vested property rights of the Sand Lake Hills property owners.
I for one will never allow my vested property rights to be trampled upon by anyone, least of all by a power hungry board whose president doesn’t even own a lot in Sandlake Hills. Why do we even need a homeowners association? There are no common areas depicted on the plat for any Sand Lake Hills subdivision requiring maintenance. Why then, exactly, are the assessments needed? The SLH board has thrown down the gauntlet and opened “Pandora’s Box” and as a response I quote Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “Cry Havoc! And let loose the dogs of war, that this foul deed should smell above the earth.”
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