Lake Heather Homeowners

Communication, where did it go?

Posted in: N Lakes
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  • pstreicher
  • Respected Neighbor
  • Tampa, FL
  • 354 Posts
  • Respect-O-Meter: Respected Neighbor

I received a call from an owner for a house in North Lakes yesterday. They were asking me if I had a copy of the Deed Restrictions. My first thought is, how in the hell did they get my name and number, but, I think I know the answer.

Problem is, I haven't been on the board of North Lakes in over ten years now. It's just pathetic that HOA's like to hide behind either a property management association or a CPA that they've hired to do their jobs for them and the boards do not want to disseminate pertinent information and make it readily available. Or, the scrappy newsletters that do happen to come out are frought with inaccuracies and outdated information and fluff.

 

I'll stop here as I don't think anyone will find this to read it anyway.

I was more than happy to help the homeowner out though. I have downloaded the clerk of circuit court's pdf file for the deed restrictions and will email it to the person who reqested them. We had a nice printed booklet that a past board member took the time to edit and publish and send out to everyone years ago. If only it would have been given to someone who cared to keep it up and available. But, nooooo! Couldn't happen. Egos get in the way as usual.

I'm done.

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  • rradice
  • Active Neighbor
  • USA
  • 1 Post
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Thank you for posting your comment. I have been trying to obtain a copy of the deed restrictions for 2 months now. Now that I know the clerk of circuit court has a copy I will search for it on their site.

 

My father lived in this community for many years. He passed away in December and it has been almost impossible to get anyone to return my calls for something as simple as a copy of the deed restrictions.

 

Thank you!

  • Avatar
  • pstreicher
  • Respected Neighbor
  • Tampa, FL
  • 354 Posts
  • Respect-O-Meter: Respected Neighbor

Thank you for posting your comment. I have been trying to obtain a copy of the deed restrictions for 2 months now. Now that I know the clerk of circuit court has a copy I will search for it on their site.

 

My father lived in this community for many years. He passed away in December and it has been almost impossible to get anyone to return my calls for something as simple as a copy of the deed restrictions.

 

Thank you!

I am very sorry for you loss. I'm sure I must have met him at least once in my time while at North Lakes. Maybe at a board meeting or in person. The last name seems very familiar. Did he have a motor home for many years that he used to park in the side yard? I believe he was on the board in the early days and I know he did a great job and got us through some unknown times.

As for no one returning your calls, that is typical. For the life of me I do not know why people volunteer for the position of being on a board and then do not even respond to those they serve. You would think that at the least the CPA that the board hired long ago to do all their work for them would at least check for messages and return calls. I know they are maybe two or three in a year. I know as I was the one who originally proposed the North Lakes phone line and had it installed in my house with an answering machine back in the day. So, now they just keep paying the montly bill and for what reason. I just bang my head again.

As for the county clerk and finding those deed restrictions, if you haven't found them by now, here is the link for you or anyone else to find them easily. If you don't know what to search on you will have one heck of a time finding them. I hope this works. Keep in mind also that there are four sets of deed restrictions depending on what section you live in. Might be five, can't remember for sure now. But, we looked into merging them into one but was told by an attorney at the time that it just wasn't possible. Mainly, because of all the signatures that we would have to have gotten to approve it. With over 715 homes, that would have been one mountainous task. Okay, I type too much. Here's the link.

http://pubrec3.hillsclerk.com/oncore/search.aspx?bd=1%2F4%2F1965&ed=4%2F8%2F1989&n=north%20lakes&bt=O&d=4%2F8%2F2013&pt=-1&dt=RES&st=fullname

Oh, another thing? Well, we were also told that we could not enforce them. I don't remember the exact wording but I can tell this, we do not have a separate HOA, meaning, other than the Special Taxing District that we are currently manageded under. Yeah, hard to understand but it is for real. We need a HOA board but we have never really had anything that resembles that. It has always been mostly one person that would take on that responsibility and they had one task to handle, manage the bank account. The bank account where money was donated by contribution. It is not mandatory in other words. Past newsletters made you think it was a mandatory thing. Yeah, the money is still in the bank and something needs to be done with it. I have not the time to get involved. I thought I would but like others, we have other priorities in our lives. Okay, you probably wanted a copy of the deed restrictions in order to provide them to the realtor who is listing your dad's home. Most realtos don't even bother to find them or mention them to prospective buyers even though it's their duty to do so. I have to stop now, I have other things to do. Glad I could help you! Write anytime. Even though I do not live in North Lakes, I still have a house renting there.

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