Another Friday report from SanibelSusan and team. Funny weather here this week – still summerlike, warm and humid, but two mostly-overcast days in a row now, rather than bright sunny days with occasional afternoon or evening showers.
Next Friday at the Sanibel Community House is the Meals-of-Hope food-packaging event that the Sanibel and Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® is sponsoring and my committee is ringleading. I am happy to report that we have met both of our goals: 1) to raise more than $5,000 to pay for the food/supplies, and 2) to line up at least 50 volunteers to help in the packing. If any of you are here and want to help, just let us know in advance so that we have a task lined up for you. It will be from 3 to 5 p.m. on July 28. Our goal then is to pack 20,000 meals during the two hours.
Below are a couple of news items, followed by the action posted since last Friday in the islands’ Multiple Listing Service. Not much action this week, but The SanibelSusan Team has good representation! Woohoo!
Other Dates to Remember
August 4, Friday – Noah’s Ark Annual Bag Day from 9 to 11 a.m. Fit as much as you can in an bag purchased in the parking lot for $4. Any items that don’t fit in the bag are 80% off. After August 4, the Ark is closed for cleaning and repairs. It reopens October 3 on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon. In November, full schedule resumes (weekdays and the 1st Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon. Donations are accepted beginning September 1. More info at www.saintmichaels-sanibel.org.
Until August 28 – Seniors age 62 and older can purchase a lifetime pass “America the Beautiful – The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Senior” for $10 at the “Ding” Darling Nature Store when the price increases to $80. The pass allows free lifetime admission to most national wildlife refuges, including “Ding’ Darling, plus national parks and monuments, and more than 2,000 sites manages by federal agencies. This is the 1st senior pass price increase since 1994.
Homeowners Association Restrictions Have an Expiration Date
A good article was posted on-line June 28, 2017 by Amanda Barritt, with Henderson Franklin Attorneys at Law.
“With the turnover of volunteer homeowner’s association (“HOA”) board members over time, it is not surprising that certain important long-term issues may be overlooked. There is one very important law, however, which board members may not be aware of that can eliminate an HOA’s ability to enforce its restrictions.
“I am often contacted by an HOA board at the last minute before their restrictions “expire” under this law and even sometimes after they expire. Below is a breakdown of the two different processes an HOA must follow to preserve the restrictions before they expire or, if the deadline has been missed, to revitalize the restrictions.
“What is the law and why? The Marketable Records Title Act (“MRTA”) is a Florida law designed to eliminate “stale” recorded claims that affect the title to real property, such as old recorded leases for which the beneficiaries have long departed or dissolved. Without MRTA, these documents still have to be shown on title commitments and policies even though may have long since become irrelevant and unused. Unfortunately, there isn’t an exemption to save old (and still active) association covenants unless the affirmative steps are taken to preserve them.
“What does it mean to HOA’s? The simplified explanation is that the recorded covenants governing a community must be preserved before the end of a 30-year period beginning on the date they were recorded. The Florida statute lays out the process that an association must go through to preserve the effectiveness of the recorded covenants if the 30 years has not yet expired. The preservation process will mean that the covenants are effective under MRTA for another 30 years. HOA’s must still look at the Declaration to determine if the covenants expire under their own terms at another date without an automatic renewal.
“Merely amending or restating the covenants does not restart the 30-year clock. The statutory process must be followed. For preservation, the Statement of Marketable Title Action provided in Section 712.06, Florida Statutes must be sent to all homeowners seven (7) days in advance of the board meeting to consider preserving the covenants. The Board must approve the preservation by at least 2/3 vote of the Board, and then a Notice of Marketable Title Action is recorded in the public records.
“What if an HOA misses the 30-year deadline? “Revitalization” is required to reinstate the recorded covenants for another 30 years. The revitalization process that applies to HOA’s is found in the Homeowners’ Association Act (ch. 720, Florida Statutes).
“Revitalization Process: In order to revitalize, a majority of the owners of the affected property must approve of the revitalization. The process also includes:
- Forming an “Organizing Committee” to prepare the proposed revitalized documents.
- Providing notice to all homeowners that includes the HOA documents (as well as the current articles of incorporation and bylaws), a graphic depiction of the property (often a copy of the plat, if applicable), and the form of written consent for them to sign to approve the revitalization (unless the HOA is holding a vote at a meeting).
- Submitting the approved documents, the consents, and other documentation verifying that the proper process was followed to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (“FDEO”) for approval.
- Upon approval by the FDEO, the revitalized Declaration, the current Articles, Bylaws, and affected property owners and property list are recorded.
“Bottom Line: It is important to note that the expiration date under MRTA applies regardless of whether an HOA’s Declaration of Restrictions contains its own expiration date. Both the MRTA deadline and the Declaration’s own expiration provisions must be addressed by all HOA’s. The process may be daunting for some Boards, but a successful revitalization or preservation is possible with some diligence. If you have any questions or concerns regarding how MRTA applies to your HOA, please feel free to contact me at amanda.barritt@henlaw.com or by phone at 239-344-1108.”
Green Sea Turtles On Sanibel
The first green sea turtle was tagged on June 5, on the west end, just east of Bowman’s Beach. Since then four more have been tagged here making the Green Sea Turtle in Southwest Florida program a huge success for the first year.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) partnered with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida this year to tag green sea turtles. As of last week, two green sea turtles were tagged with satellite trackers on Keewaydin Island and five on Sanibel.
SCCF has a nighttime tagging crew monitoring the beaches seven days week to tag loggerhead turtles with flipper and pit tags, and taking measurements. So far this year, the crew has encountered 202 loggerheads, while 20 green sea turtles have been reported on the island. Green sea turtles nest biannually.
In addition to looking different, these two turtles have different nesting characteristics. Green sea turtles use symmetric movements while crawling on the beach, while loggerheads crawl like babies. Green sea turtles also have a tail drag because their tails are a bit longer. The green sea turtle also spends a long time covering their nest to camouflage it from predators. Two of the five green sea turtles were found nesting at 5 a.m. Green sea turtles lay a clutch of about 136 eggs, while loggerheads lay an average of 110 eggs. Follow the green sea turtles that have been tagged on www.movebank.org.
To help protect sea turtles, please:
- Hunker down when spotting a sea turtle on the beach, especially when seeing a green sea turtle. If it sees a human near them, it is enough to scare them back into the water.
- Turn lights completely off near and on the beach, or place an approved red filter over the light. Sea turtles are not attracted to the long wave length of red lights.
- Make sure beaches are clean and flat. Flatten sand castles, fill in holes, and remove beach furniture from the beach at night.
- If you see a sea turtle nesting, do not approach it, but rather watch from a distance and hunker down.
Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity July 14-21, 2017
Sanibel
CONDOS
2 new listings: Pointe Santo #B2 2/2 $825K, Tamarind #B202 2/2.5 $1.749M.
1 price change: Snug Harbor #312 3/2 now $669K.
1 new sale: Blind Pass #B105 2/2 listed at $464.9K.
1 closed sale: Spanish Cay #D1 2/2 $360K (our listing & sale).
HOMES
1 new listing: 1035 S. Yachtsman Dr 5/4.5 $1.149M.
6 price changes: 1717 Sand Pebble Way 3/2 now $649K; 1710 Sand Pebble Way 3/2 now $669K; 673 East Rocks Dr 3/2 now $733,888; 225 Daniel Dr 3/2.5 now $749K, 765 Conch Ct 5075 5/4 now $899K, 5075 Joewood Dr 4/4.5 now $3.45M.
1 new sale: 625 Lake Murex Cir 3/2.5 listed at $699K (our listing).
No closed sales.
LOTS
No new listings.
1 price change: 0 Island Inn Rd now $995,555.
1 new sale: 2501 Wulfert Rd listed at $183.9K.
No closed sales.
Captiva
CONDOS
Nothing to report.
HOMES
No new listings.
1 price change: 16447 Captiva Dr 6/5/2 now $3.699M.
No new sales.
1 closed sale: 4 Sunset Captiva Ln 3/2.5 $2.345M.
LOTS
Nothing to report.
(This representation is based, in whole, or in part, on data supplied by the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® or its Multiple Listing Service. Neither the association nor its MLS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. The information provided represents general real estate activity in the community and does not imply that SanibelSusan Realty Associates is participating or participated in these transactions.)
Here’s hoping your summer is happy too! Next Friday’s update will be posted earlier in the day! Happy weekend!
Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan
You must be logged in to post a comment.