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Real Estate & Property Law

Condo Rules & Compassion Argued as 55-Plus Community Seeks to Evict Girl, 6

Posted Oct 22, 2009 12:24 PM CST
By Martha Neil

Children aren't allowed to live in houses in the Lakes Homeowners Association in Pinellas County, Fla., which is designated a 55-and-older community in accord with federal fair housing law.

But Kimberly Broffman, now 6, has lived there with her grandparents since she was a baby. Originally, Judie and Jimmy Stotler took Kimberly and her mother in. When Melanie Broffman began using drugs, however, they demanded that she leave and took custody, recounts the St. Petersburg Times.

Although the association initially tried to accommodate the Stotlers' pleas for leniency, the couple is now at the center of a nationally known case as LHA seeks a court order enforcing its rules and evicting Kimberly from her grandparents' home. Now in its second year, the case appears nowhere near a resolution, the newspaper reports. Attorney Robert Eckard of Palm Harbor is representing the Stottlers on a pro bono basis in order to try to prevent the potential breakup of the family.

The Stotlers have tried to sell their home, which they inherited from a relative, so they can move with Kimberly to a neighborhood where children are allowed. But they have found no buyers in the decimated Florida real estate market, even though they have dropped their asking price from $249,000 to $129,000. Judie Stottler supports three people on her $18,000 annual income, and they can't afford to go elsewhere without selling the house, she says.

Comments

1.

julie
Oct 22, 2009 2:59 PM CST

i find this obscenely unethical.  The homeowners association should either make an exception and let the girl stay or buy the families home for the original quarter million dollar price so they can relocate.  Are these neighbors a bunch of alligators or could they act like humans?

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2.

B. McLeod
Oct 23, 2009 12:41 AM CST

Those who move into a development with restrictive rules should be ready to follow the rules.  The kid never should have been there to begin with.

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3.

Dr Phun
Oct 23, 2009 11:16 AM CST

The reason these communities have these rules to begin with is that by meeting the Federal requirements for senior housing, they don’t have to comply with some state and local laws, usually especially zoning laws with regard to density i.e. the community couldn’t ahve been built without that restrictive rule.

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4.

Jay
Oct 23, 2009 11:55 AM CST

Yeah, follow the rules.  Kick your 6-year-old granddaughter out.  Make her live on the street.  The association can call social services, and she can live in foster care.  You know, #2, the grandparents probably did not plan to raise their grandchild, as they were living in senior housing, and would probably prefer not to, but sometimes life does not turn out as planned.  They are simply doing what decent, good grandparents do.  The association should not have brought a lawsuit.  It is absurd and makes them (and the rules) look ridiculous.  They should be ashamed.

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5.

London Calling
Oct 23, 2009 12:25 PM CST

See what happens when you’re nice?  McLoud is right on this one. 

@#4 - the grandparents absolutely planned on bringing the child into their home in flagrant violation of the rules.  If they had planned on following the rules, they would never have done so.  Shame on them for placing themselves in the position where they might end up living on the streets.

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6.

Jay
Oct 23, 2009 1:16 PM CST

Actually, the Florida article states that the folks moved in years before their granddaughter was born.  So I assume that they originally intended to follow the rules.  But when faced with the choice between following the rules and taking in their granddaughter (or sending her into foster care) they absolutely did the right thing.  Screw the rules.  Yes, I know it is not that simple, but our court systems seem adept at working around, bending, and finding exceptions for rules and making result-oriented decisions.  The court should do so in this case, at the very least until the couple can sell their condo for enough money to afford decent alternative housing.

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7.

Roger
Oct 23, 2009 5:42 PM CST

I am a Board member in our HOA and also a grandparent that has cared for a grandchild since he was 10 weeks old.  Fortunately our home is not in an age restricted community.  We did not plan on this but it is happening to grandparents all across America.  If these people are forced from their home and their granddaughter is placed in a foster home, then the burden for her care falls on the Florida taxpayers.
HOA Boards have huge amounts of discretionary power.  This Board is disgraceful.  Before taking this horrible action they could have negotiated a compromise settlement or even left it to a vote of the community members that they purport to represent.  But they chose to exercise their power, a common problem in associations.
I think that the fact that the Stotlers reduced their home price dramatically and that it still did not sell speaks volumes about the desirability of this community.  I know that I would never live in a community so obviously lacking in neighborly love, tolerance and patience.  As long as their home is for sale at a market competitive price, then give them some consideration.

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