Owners at a townhome advanced in Homestead, FL, are taking the developer of the advanced to court docket for allegedly failing to switch HOA management over to the owners.
In reality, owners within the Villa Portofino East advanced—which consists of 117 townhomes—declare that the developer has been in command of the HOA for 20 years after the models have been offered, amassing dues from residents however holding an iron grip on the HOA’s governance.
Management and decision-making authority over Florida residential communities ruled by associations are speculated to switch from the developer to the owners as soon as the statutory turnover necessities have been met.
However associates of developer Prime Houses at Villa Portofino East—tied to developer Larry Abbo‘s Prime Group and PMG Asset Companies—have appointed their representatives and workers to the HOA board for the previous 20 years, based on the lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Courtroom final month by residents Edney Del Risco, Eliseo Moreno, and Madeline Garcia.
The developer-controlled board and its attorneys have reportedly advised owners that the necessities for transferring management of the affiliation haven’t but been met.
Nonetheless, Risco, Moreno, and Garcia—who’ve co-owned a townhome at Villa Portofino East since 2022—strongly disagree.
“They aren’t the one house owners in the neighborhood with these considerations; they’re those who selected to file,” their lawyer, Eduardo Gomez, tells Realtor.com®
Switch troubles
Beneath Florida’s Owners’ Affiliation Act, owners develop into entitled to elect a majority of the affiliation’s board inside three months after 90% of the parcels in all phases of the neighborhood finally operated by the affiliation have been conveyed to members or different house owners who usually are not affiliated with the developer.
Risco, Moreno, and Garcia allege that the developer-controlled HOA improperly included transferred land in its calculation of residential parcels to delay the turnover of management to owners.
On June 26, 2024, the Villa Portofino East Group Growth District transferred two parcels to Prime Lodge Group at Homestead, LLC, based on the lawsuit.
Though these parcels at the moment are slated for industrial use as the positioning of a brand new resort, the HOA allegedly continues to rely them as residential parcels when calculating whether or not the statutory threshold for house owner management has been met or not.
“The developer now seems to deal with the identical parcels two alternative ways, relying on which calculation favors it: residential when that helps delay developer management of the HOA, industrial when that helps justify the resort enlargement,” says Gomez.
That alleged twin therapy is a part of what the lawsuit seeks to problem.
“Our place is that the developer has manipulated the parcel rely by way of a sequence of post-closing land transfers to maintain itself artificially under the brink for practically 20 years,” says Gomez. “The mathematics, as we learn it, doesn’t help continued developer management.”
Lawsuit additionally raised upkeep points
The lawsuit additionally alleges that the developer-controlled HOA has didn’t adequately preserve the advanced.
“The grievance identifies inoperable entry gates; an unsafe pool, fountain, and pergola; damaged paver walkways; fence harm; and degraded stormwater infrastructure, amongst different gadgets,” says Gomez. “The Affiliation is obligated to keep up these options below the governing paperwork—the residents are those funding it by way of their assessments.”
The HOA month-to-month evaluation was $285.05 going into 2026, based on Gomez, however was decreased to $252.51 in April.
HOA turnover issues persist
Florida lawyer Chad D. Cummings of Cummings & Cummings Legislation, who isn’t concerned within the case however has examined the state of affairs, tells Realtor.com: “The developer turnover course of fails extra usually than most individuals notice. This was a significant drawback through the 2008–09 downturn when many builders went bankrupt, creating ‘zombie HOAs,’ and the difficulty is beginning to rear its head once more.”
Cummings says turnover needs to be measured in months or years, not many years.
“The longer a developer holds management, the extra monetary danger accumulates for owners,” he says. “There may be an inherent battle of curiosity between builders who need to decrease bills to maximise their ROI and owners who need that funds are expended to keep up the neighborhood and shield future resale worth and guarantee facilities and infrastructure are maintained.”
When the developer turnover course of breaks down, Cummings says the apparent danger is the impact on property values.
“Each time we’re coping with a zombie HOA, property values will take successful,” he warns. “Educated consumers will run within the different route.”
Realtor.com reached out to PMG’s lawyer, Geoffrey C. Bennett, however didn’t hear again.
