Revitalizing Your Florida HOA’s Covenants & Restrictions
Chapter 712 of the Florida Statutes is referred to as the Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA). It holds that all interests in real property will expire after 30 years, unless the compliance procedures in Chapter 712 are followed. While this excludes some types of community associations, such as condominium associations and co-ops, it does apply to most homeowners’ associations (HOAs), even if provisions in the association’s conditions, covenants & restrictions (CCRs) state otherwise. It is crucial to ensure compliance for the good of your HOA.
30 Years From “Root Of Title”
While there is a procedure to ‘preserve’ covenants in Florida law, it is sometimes difficult to accomplish before their expiration date. In addition, the fact that MRTA extinguishes CCRs after 30 years from the “root of title” is not widely known, even by many board members. A common scenario is for an HOA to hold that their CCRs are ‘self-renewing,’ only to be blindsided when MRTA takes effect, as MRTA takes precedence.
Each lot has a ‘root’ of its title, and it can be time-consuming to find it. If a lot’s “root of title” cannot be found, many HOAs fall back on simply acting to preserve a covenant before 30 years from its original recording have passed. However, this lack of exactitude can still lead to unpleasant surprises for both the HOA board and the residents of a particular lot. A board may preserve particular covenants and restrictions by amending them to reflect a new expiration date, but if they fail to do so, it is possible to “revitalize” the directives in some cases.
Revitalizing vs Preserving
To preserve a covenant or restriction, a board must ensure an amendment to the measure is passed. If it expires, the revitalizing process is somewhat more complex because it requires association members’ approval. Usually, an organization committee disseminates all relevant information to owners, who then vote via written consent, though in smaller associations the vote may be conducted in person.
Once a majority of association members have voted yes, the relevant paperwork must be sent to Florida’s Department of Commerce for approval. If approved, the association must record the certificate of revival that it will receive for each covenant, after which the covenant will be valid for another 30 years. This can be a long, drawn-out process, so if your HOA has covenants and restrictions due for evaluation, it is generally in the board’s best interests to try and preserve them.
Contact A Tampa Homeowners’ Association Attorney
It can be very easy to forget that CCRs have a shelf life in an HOA. If you suspect yours may have this issue, calling a Tampa homeowners’ association attorney can smooth out the process of revitalizing them. Attorney Alicia Seward and the Seward Law Office are ready to help answer any questions you may have about the process. Call our office today to schedule a consultation.
Source:
flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/Chapter712/All
