Notice: The Rules Have Changed

Dear owners, 

In light of recent events, the Board of Directors has amended the rules and regulations and added the new rules listed below. Please be advised that we will be enforcing the new rules strictly and violations will be subject to a $100 fine per occurrence after notice of first violation. These rules are added for the benefit of all and are intended to make our life here at Cocoa Beach Cosmopolitan more harmonious. Thank you for your cooperation.

Board of Directors
Cocoa Beach Cosmopolitan Condo Association

• Renters and guests are not allowed to have pets on the premises.
• Pets must weigh less than 20 pounds.
• No more than one pet per unit.
• Maximum four occupants in any unit.
• No unit may be rented more than two times per year.
• Minimum rental period is one month.
• Clubhouse may not be used for children's birthday parties.
• The south pool is limited to persons age 21 and over.
• No one person may own more than 3 units.
• Owners renting their unit must use on-site management.

Is this legal? Can the Board make new rules restricting my use of my unit without a vote of the association? Luckily, no. They cannot. That fact does not stop many from doing so, however. I have seen several of the rules above adopted by misguided Boards under the assumption that they have the authority to change or restrict owners' use rights by merely changing or adding rules with a vote of the Directors. The law is very specific about this. If your Association has adopted new rules that change the original use restrictions in the Declaration without a vote of the association, they have probably violated their duty and the changes are not valid. They do have the authority to adopt new rules for things other than use restrictions.  For more info on this read this excellent post by attorney, Jean Winters. 

Ultimately, if people lose their willingness to recognize that there are times in our history when legality becomes distinct from morality, we aren’t just ceding control of our rights to government, but our agency in determining our futures. ___Edward Snowden