FEATHER SOUND, Fla. — A letter in the mail brought some sticker shock for homeowners in a Pinellas County HOA, saying they’d have to choose how to a handle special assessment that could cost them upward of $60,000 by October.
“I was in shock, I immediately started texting other neighbors,” said Tammy Rodeffer, a homeowner in The Villas of Carillon in Feather Sound.
“I thought, wow, this is real?” questioned Chris Hu, another homeowner. “A total surprise. It's a shocking surprise.”
In the letter, HOA leaders wrote their reserves have not been fully funded in its 20-year history and the community is presented with a “significant financial challenge moving forward.”
“The Association is now at a critical point with respect to capital improvement projects requiring community-wide balcony repairs, waterproofing, garage flat roof replacement and painting,” reads the letter.
“There’s 165 [members] that live here, and that each person, family’s piece would be $60,000 payable in one of four options,” said homeowner Nancy Radde.
The letter then asks residents to vote on the special assessment plan to fund the community reserves, with a meeting scheduled for June 20.
- Pay $60,000 in four quarterly installments beginning October 1.
- Pay $60,000 in 32 quarterly installments of $1,875 over 8 years.
- Pay $11,650 in four quarterly installments, to fund immediate improvement projects
- Increase the HOA monthly dues from $575 to $1,200 for 8 years.
“There will be a lot of people that lose their home either they have to sell or they can't make these payments. They'll have a lien put on their house, foreclosures. I'm concerned about the overall community,” Rodeffer added, who like others are wondering why this is all coming at once.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to the property management company; the board’s attorney declined to comment.
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The letter explains a recent reserve study does not have “adequate funds” to properly address maintenance issues “the Association has been struggling for years to properly address.”
They also pointed to concerns about remaining insurable in the future.
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This is all happening at a time when condo associations across Florida are grappling with rising insurance costs and a state law, adopted after the Surfside collapse, requiring COAs to have a certain percentage of reserves on hand.
However, HOAs don’t have the same legal requirements when it comes to reserves.
“Obviously, we don't fall in that category. So how come we started this in the first place,” Hu said.
These homeowners are hoping for transparency and more dialogue before any decision is made.
“As we get older, as buildings get older, you need more maintenance, you need more reserves, and I think the can may have been kicked down the road a little bit on this,” Radde added. “But we still are in a position where we could phase in the approach of payment rather than just a lump sum.
In the meantime, new HOA laws go into effect next month, they aim to cut down on frivolous fines and target financial transparency. Associations will have to prepare audited financial statements and publish records online by 2025.