Fee Impact On Mandatory Community
Eastpointe is a Mandatory community where 65% of residents are non-golf members and 35% are golf members. All RSM and Golf members have the same access to all non-golf amenities. If you play golf, you pay extra for the golf amenity. Currently, Resident Social members number over 410+ memberships in the club and growing. They provide over $2.2 million annually in fees and much more in Food & Beverage, fitness fees, etc. :
- They do not have any vote on club issues, particularly how the revenues are spent by the Board. They had no say and provided no vote on what amenities to build like the Pointe, how these amenities are used, nor any vote on electing the Board of Governors who are making these decisions. Non- Golf Members (RSMs and a few Grandfather residents) make up almost 2/3 of the total of 867 homes in Eastpointe.
- During the last bi-party negotiations in 2021 the ECC had the annual payment for Eastpointe Infrastructure maintenance of $86,500 eliminated. The payment was transferred to the 876 homeowners and residents of Eastpointe, including the majority resident social members, with a $98.75 annual increase in HOA fees beginning in 2022.
- Additionally, On November 1, 2021, the HOA Board led by Ira Berger as President, forced an increase in RSM annual fees of $4000 plus tax (total $4,300/annually) to $4,743 by 11/01/2023, with a Board only Vote. In fact, the HOA President would not allow the actual verbiage of the modified Tri-Party agreement at the time, be shared with the community prior to the Board vote. It seems he intends to do the same thing again with this additional proposal to significantly increase RSM fees.
- The latest Bi-Party Agreement increases RSM 1 fees by $400 /yr for next 3 years. It also creates a new RSM II member category where all new residents must be RSM II with annual fee starting at $7,000 /yr increasing a minimum of 5% or more each year.
- By the way, based on the several resident social member survey , only 1/3 of the resident social members regularly use the ECC facilities and amenities, another 1/3 occasionally use the facilities, and 1/3 seldom, if ever, use the facilities.
This deal is bad for home values – it will further depress real estate values because it will reduce the potential buyers who will be interested in paying these much higher fees. Homes will stay on the market longer. The Condo’s and smaller duplexes in the community will be the hardest hit.
This will have a significant impact on many senior residents who are living on fixed income. The Eastpointe community is made up of approximately 70% of residents over 65 and on fixed incomes. There will be residents forced to sale their homes and leave the community due to these high fees.
We strongly believe that this increase in mandatory fees is excessive and unreasonably alters the relationship among the residents of Eastpointe with the ECC, and destroys the general scheme or plan of development within our community as stated in the Amended and Restated Declaration of Restrictive Covenants for Eastpointe Homeowner’s Association, Inc. Our governing documents state that after December 31,2002, every unit owner who took title to a unit in the Eastpointe Community to become members in the Country Club. It also states that the Governing Documents may be extended for periods of time, and/or amended, as shall be approved by a majority of the voting membership present at a special or annual meeting.
We understand that Section 720.31(6), Florida Statutes (the HOA Act) provides that: "An association may enter into agreements to…require “memberships” in “country clubs”. The HOA Act also requires that these agreements must be stated and fully described in the declaration/Association documents. Any material alteration or substantial additions to any membership agreements must be approved by the total voting interest in the association.
We also understand that without mandatory memberships, country clubs suffer because there isn't enough consistent revenue. But mandatory club membership can reduce home values by reducing the number of people willing to buy such homes. Prices for homes that come with mandatory membership in a golf club are “way below what they should be selling for,” Ken Johnson, a real estate economist at Florida Atlantic University, told The Wall Street Journal. Homeowners argue they shouldn't have to pay for amenities they don't want to use and that they'd have never purchased in the association had they known they'd be forced to join. In addition, they claim, the pool of potential buyers for their homes will be considerably smaller if the buyers must pay club membership fees.
The proposed mandatory fee increases will harm the real estate market at Eastpointe by further limiting the potential buyers who are looking to buy. This means reduced home values and a longer time on the market. For Condo owners and the duplex homes in the community, these fee increases will have a potentially devastating effect.
