Good evening,
Thanks again for coming out last night to our monthly board meeting! For those of you who couldn’t make it, here are some updates:
- Ceil Layfield was appointed as our new Vice President! We look forward to working with Ceil, and we thank Heather for her contributions and continued work with our Bylaws Committee.
- Marilyn, Gasner, and Madyson from Top Notch joined us and shared some updates:
- If you would like to allocate your payment to a specific assessment (regular or special), you may call them at (407) 644-4406.
- Meeting minutes and financial statements are available in the portal under “documents.”
- Collection notices for delinquent accounts were sent out. Please call if you have any questions.
- Committees shared updates on finances, maintenance, buildings, events, and rules/regulations.
- The new fee to rent the clubhouse is $100 with an additional $100 refundable deposit. Funds raised from the new fee will be invested in the clubhouse. You may find the digital form to reserve the clubhouse in the Top Notch portal.
- The special assessment can now be paid until the 15th of each month without being considered late. The regular monthly assessment will still be considered late on the 10th.
- Owners with delinquent accounts will be sent a NOLA on the day the payment is late. The cost to send the notice will be added to the owner’s account.
- In addition to posting contracts on the clubhouse board for ten days per our first right of refusal rules, Top Notch will now also email all owners the contracts for pending sales in Lake Villas.
- Storage units: Our goal is to give storage units to residents who own carports and should have a corresponding storage unit (two owners have told me that they’ve never had access to their storage unit) and recover the ones that are being used by residents who are not paying for them. There are 44 storage units; 37 are owned by residents (we have their names and carport numbers from tax records). Lake Villas owns the remaining 7 units. Four of these are being used by residents who do not own them and are not paying a monthly fee. With the addition of the two units that should go to the carport owners, that makes six unaccounted for. Since the numbers are no longer on the doors, storage units have been mixed around, and records have not been updated, we are in the process of finding out which six units those are. This is why carport owners recently received an email asking them to identify which storage unit they are using. Thank you to those who have responded with additional history and advice on the storage unit situation! I understand that this has been an issue for more than 20 years. Once we attach the storage units to the paying carport owners, we will put notices on the remaining six units.
As for untangling the units - this is not our focus right now, but if you are interested in hearing our updates, feel free to read on! If you are not interested in this portion, then thank you for reading our updates thus far, and have a great night! Last night’s presentation is attached to this email.
Here are the basic updates we have and responses to some feedback we’ve been given on the storage units:
- We have the sheet labeled “carport owners” that has a list of each condominium unit and its corresponding carport. This list does not have a date on it and is no longer accurate.
- We have the document labeled “Lake Villas Declarations Book 950 Page 0654 Recorded Seminole County” that has the four carports and numbered storage units on them. The problem with this document is that it shows 12 storage units in each carport when there are actually only 11. This makes the numbers inaccurate. The document does not account for the double storage units, either. This document was likely a plan for the storage units, not a reflection of how they were actually built.
- There is one double storage unit in each carport. Some residents have said that the doubles were two separate units, and people knocked the walls out to make them doubles and take someone else’s spot. However, there is only one door on the double storage units. It’s unlikely that one person in each carport knocked the wall out, removed the door, and fixed the outer wall. It is more likely that the storage units were actually built this way. We have a resident who has been in a double storage unit for 20+ years. If anyone has proof that these were originally built as two units, please share it with us.
- Some residents have also said that Lake Villas is supposed to own all of the double units. As of now, Lake Villas has one double storage unit (30). The other three have gone to other owners over the years, and the tax records only go back to 2012.
- The carports/storage units have been sold over the years (for at least as long as 20 years). Some residents have also said that the carports cannot be sold separately from the condominium units and that this makes all prior sales null and void. Please see the information from our documents below on this matter:
- Bylaws: storage units are not mentioned in the bylaws.
- Rules and Regulations, page 10: “Owner must notify the Board and obtain prior written approval for sale or lease of a unit, carport, or storage closet.”
- Declaration of Ownership: 21.15 says that the Association shall own one carport unit for the use of storing owners’ bikes (this hasn’t happened). 8.02 is the one that has been cited the most: “Any attempt to separate the title to a Condominium Unit from the Common Elements appurtenant to such unit shall be null and void.” Here is my understanding of this (I am not an attorney):
- Examples of common elements are defined in section 7 and include things like stairways, roofs, foundations, and parking structures and parking areas not designated as limited common elements. My understanding is that common elements, not limited common elements, cannot be separated from the condo unit.
- Common elements appurtenant to condominium units are listed in Exhibit B in the Declaration. These are labeled in Exhibit B as bearing walls, supporting walls, and supporting elements.
- Carports and storage units are not listed as appurtenant to any condominium units in Exhibit B. They are listed on their own separate page, and they have their own common elements: bearing walls, supporting walls, and supporting elements.
- Now, Exhibit B does label carports as “G-1” with corresponding storage unit “G-1” and so on. So, you could make the argument that the carports cannot be separated from their original storage units, and they have been. However, this document again does not take into account the double storage units, so the numbers are not accurate.
- If anyone else would like to take a look at the Declaration of Ownership and offer a different interpretation, please let me know! However, again, right now we are focusing on getting back the storage units that are not owned or rented by a resident. Perhaps in the future, someone can tackle untangling the storage units. At the moment, our focus is on 186 and code enforcement.
Thanks again for reading! We do appreciate the feedback and help with the storage unit situation. We would love even more for you to join a committee! Please let us know if you would like to join.
Have a great night,
Your Lake Villas Board