Asked in Wrongful Death and Real Estate Law for Florida

Q: HOA - No liability insurance / money / road maintenance. Negligence accident on road - property owners liable?

October 1981 Subdivision recorded. Private Roads. Plat dedicates use of roads to Property Owners. No language on plat transferring Developer road interests to anyone. No HOA mentioned on record plat. Separate "Declaration of Restrictions" filed by Developer in Public Records several days later. Restrictions speak to "an association of property owners" taking ownership and rights of interest in roads. Restrictions have a twenty year term. Developer moves away. Twenty years pass. No HOA formed. Roads maintained by property owners in community effort. October 2004 - HOA formed based on sunset restrictions. Developer contacted and rights transferred into HOA corporation. No authority given for fees or assessments. 2021 - Roads / Right of Ways poorly maintained. I am fearful of a wrongful injury accident and negligence action on a road. HOA has no liability insurance / no money. No one wants to talk about it. I bought a home here in 2011 - what is my liability?

1 Lawyer Answer

A: Generally, if the roads are private roads dedicated to the owners, the owners would be equally and severally liable, meaning any judgment would be paid by the one or ones who are able to pay. A judgment would be against every owner and if not paid, a lien against each property. Your neighbors need to band together, revitalize the restrictions and impose assessments to pay for insurance and maintenance. That is unless they are willing to risk losing everything.

Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.

The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.

Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.