This situation currently faces an acquaintance of mine in Florida.
Homeowner in Orange County, Florida decides to sell their house. They
have a realtor and a willing buyer, but have not yet written a sale
contract. It is everyone's expectation that a sale can be completed relatively quickly. But before the sale can be made, the homeowner
receives a violation notice from the HOA that their Bahia lawn has many barren spots and needs to be restored. The violation quotes a
requirement in the Covenants stating that lawns need to be neat and
orderly and free of barren or bare patches. They are given 30 days to correct the violation, which is the standard HOA policy. If the
homeowner fails to respond or take action after 30 days, a second notice
is sent out and after no response or action in another 30days, the HOA
turns the matter over to their lawyers and the homeowner is assessed
legal fees. At some point in the process a lien is potentially filed
against the property, but that does not happen instantly.
Assuming the potential buyer knows of the barren spots and wants to buy
the house anyway, what happens if the homeowner ignores the notice and proceeds with the sale? Can the homeowner successfully sell the house
with the violation effectively becoming the problem of the new owner?
Or does something happen during the title certification process where
the violation is caught and becomes a factor? Is it standard practice
in such situations that the violation notice is incorporated into the
sales contract and the new owner agrees to assume the violation?
Alternatively, if the owner responds to the violation by contracting
with a lawn company to reseed the lawn, but the lawn company states that because it is a Bahia seed lawn and not sod, it will take several months
for the lawn to grown back, will that satisfy the HOA to close out the violation and allow the sale to proceed. I'm interested in
understanding both the legal aspects of this situation as well as common practice in Florida.
(*) Yes, I know realtors always capitalize the R to protect the
trademark. They're free to do so, but that doesn't bind us ordinary
mortals.
On Sun, 15 Jun 2025 13:42:08 -0700 (PDT), Rick wrote:
This situation currently faces an acquaintance of mine in Florida.
Homeowner in Orange County, Florida decides to sell their house. They
have a realtor and a willing buyer, but have not yet written a sale
contract. It is everyone's expectation that a sale can be completed
relatively quickly. But before the sale can be made, the homeowner
receives a violation notice from the HOA that their Bahia lawn has many
barren spots and needs to be restored. The violation quotes a
requirement in the Covenants stating that lawns need to be neat and
orderly and free of barren or bare patches. They are given 30 days to
correct the violation, which is the standard HOA policy. If the
homeowner fails to respond or take action after 30 days, a second notice
is sent out and after no response or action in another 30days, the HOA
turns the matter over to their lawyers and the homeowner is assessed
legal fees. At some point in the process a lien is potentially filed
against the property, but that does not happen instantly.
Assuming the potential buyer knows of the barren spots and wants to buy
the house anyway, what happens if the homeowner ignores the notice and
proceeds with the sale? Can the homeowner successfully sell the house
with the violation effectively becoming the problem of the new owner?
Or does something happen during the title certification process where
the violation is caught and becomes a factor? Is it standard practice
in such situations that the violation notice is incorporated into the
sales contract and the new owner agrees to assume the violation?
Alternatively, if the owner responds to the violation by contracting
with a lawn company to reseed the lawn, but the lawn company states that
because it is a Bahia seed lawn and not sod, it will take several months
for the lawn to grown back, will that satisfy the HOA to close out the
violation and allow the sale to proceed. I'm interested in
understanding both the legal aspects of this situation as well as common
practice in Florida.
I understand why you posted here. But IMHO this is an area where the
law is less important than real estate industry practice.
These are good questions for the seller to ask their realtor(*). As
I've learned from two recent homebuying experiences, when it comes to
defects the law is one thing but common practice may be something
else. For instance, at least in New York State and California, the
buyer does not face any penalty for backing out of the sale, no
matter how frivolous their reason. The escrow company will give them
back their deposit, because it's common practice, even if their offer
stated otherwise (as it probably is, because that's the standard
realtor[*] form).
HOAs vary widely in their fussiness. The logical thing to do, if it
will take as long as you say for the lawn to grow back, is let the
HOA and the buyers know that you've hired N. N. to reseed the lawn
but it will take X weeks to grow back. But what is logical to you or
me is not necessarily logical to a realtor.(*) If the seller's
realtor(*) is a good one, he or she will have advice on how to make
sure this doesn't derail the sale.
A good realtor(*) will also have a list of contractors with various
areas of expertise who will work more quickly than usual in order to maintain their relationships with that realtor, who is a fruitful
source of referrals. A smart homeowner will ask their realtor(*) for recommendations rather than just looking in the phone book in an area
where they don't know anybody yet.
(*) Yes, I know realtors always capitalize the R to protect the
trademark. They're free to do so, but that doesn't bind us ordinary
mortals. I would not capitalize the m in mechanic, the b in butcher,
the d in doctor, or the l in lawyer; why should realtors wear a
crown?
(*) Yes, I know realtors always capitalize the R to protect the
trademark. They're free to do so, but that doesn't bind us ordinary
mortals. I would not capitalize the m in mechanic, the b in butcher,
the d in doctor, or the l in lawyer; why should realtors wear a
crown?
The way you protect a trademark is to put TM (if unregistered) or
circle-R (if registered) after the mark. You'd think an outfit as big as
the National Association of Realtors would know better.
According to Barry Gold <[email protected]>:
The way you protect a trademark is to put TM (if unregistered) or
circle-R (if registered) after the mark. You'd think an outfit as big as
the National Association of Realtors would know better.
Actually, the way you protect a trademark is to act like the trademark is valuable, which often involves sending more or less polite lawyer letters to people who use your trademark in a generic way. The R in a circle is just a hint. Capitalizing your trademark is a standard practice, so, you know, you can
tell a Kleenex kleenex from an ordinary kleenex.
Fun fact: cellophane, escalator, trampoline, zipper, and heroin used to be trademarks but are now generic.
On 6/24/2025 3:51 PM, John Levine wrote:
According to Barry Gold <[email protected]>:
The way you protect a trademark is to put TM (if unregistered) or
circle-R (if registered) after the mark. You'd think an outfit as big as >>> the National Association of Realtors would know better.
Actually, the way you protect a trademark is to act like the trademark is
valuable, which often involves sending more or less polite lawyer
letters to
people who use your trademark in a generic way. The R in a circle is
just a
hint. Capitalizing your trademark is a standard practice, so, you
know, you can
tell a Kleenex kleenex from an ordinary kleenex.
Fun fact: cellophane, escalator, trampoline, zipper, and heroin used
to be
trademarks but are now generic.
Ditto Band Aid, Aspirin, Videotape, Thermos, Teleprompter, Laundromat,
Dry Ice, Kerosene, and numerous others including, of all things, Flip Phone
On 6/24/2025 11:13 PM, Rick wrote:
On 6/24/2025 3:51 PM, John Levine wrote:
According to Barry Gold <[email protected]>:
The way you protect a trademark is to put TM (if unregistered) or
circle-R (if registered) after the mark. You'd think an outfit as
big as
the National Association of Realtors would know better.
Actually, the way you protect a trademark is to act like the
trademark is
valuable, which often involves sending more or less polite lawyer
letters to
people who use your trademark in a generic way. The R in a circle is
just a
hint. Capitalizing your trademark is a standard practice, so, you
know, you can
tell a Kleenex kleenex from an ordinary kleenex.
Fun fact: cellophane, escalator, trampoline, zipper, and heroin used
to be
trademarks but are now generic.
Ditto Band Aid, Aspirin, Videotape, Thermos, Teleprompter, Laundromat,
Dry Ice, Kerosene, and numerous others including, of all things, Flip
Phone
AFAIK Band Aid is still a trademark. I call your attention to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band-Aid#/media/File:BandAid.jpg
Notice the circle-R next to "Band-Aid"
Now... without the hyphen it might be generic. Not sure about that. But
I'm pretty sure I haven't seen anybody else selling adhesive bandages
under that name.
Actually, the way you protect a trademark is to act like the trademark is
valuable, which often involves sending more or less polite lawyer letters to >> people who use your trademark in a generic way. The R in a circle is just a >> hint. Capitalizing your trademark is a standard practice, so, you know, you can
tell a Kleenex kleenex from an ordinary kleenex.
Fun fact: cellophane, escalator, trampoline, zipper, and heroin used to be >> trademarks but are now generic.
Ditto Band Aid, Aspirin, Videotape, Thermos, Teleprompter, Laundromat,
Dry Ice, Kerosene, and numerous others including, of all things, Flip Phone
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