Florida Statute 720.31 states the following:
An association may enter into agreements to acquire leaseholds, memberships, and other possessory or use interests in lands or facilities, including, but not limited to, country clubs, golf courses, marinas, submerged land, parking areas, conservation areas, and other recreational facilities. An association may enter into such agreements regardless of whether the lands or facilities are contiguous to the lands of the community or whether such lands or facilities are intended to provide enjoyment, recreation, or other use or benefit to the owners. All leaseholds, memberships, and other possessory or use interests existing or created at the time of recording the declaration must be stated and fully described in the declaration.
This statute has created lots of disharmony in what was supposed to be harmonious communities. As many of you know, when you bought a home in your community, you also immediately were in effect forced to become a member in a golf or tennis club which included a fancy clubhouse where you were also required to spend a godly amount of money on food throughout the year.
When you were in your forties or fifties and working and in great health, the idea of living in such a community seemed wonderful even though your annual assessments were very pricey. As you began to age, you stopped playing sports and spent more of your time in various doctor’s offices. So, here you are, unable to play tennis or golf any longer but still forced to pay exorbitant annual membership fees for maintenance of the golf or tennis course and club.
Faced with the foregoing scenario, many of you wanted out. The problem is, at least with golf, the popularity of the game also hinged upon the success of Tiger Woods. The more Championships he won, the more popular the game was and the easier it was to sell your homes with mandatory golf club memberships. But Tiger hasn’t been good for a long time now and the popularity of the game has continued to shrink. And so has the ability of members of these communities to sell their homes. Many simply want the golf course closed and their annual assessment reduced. Not easy if the association is locked into a long term membership commitment or if everyone doesn’t feel the way you do.
While these mandatory membership communities were a thing in the 80s or 90s, I don’t see their popularity coming back to life. In fact, for those who still own in such communities it may be a tough sell when they finally want out. I would love to hear from some of you in mandatory membership communities. Do you love it? Hate it?
