Navigating the Complex World of HOA Architectural Control

What does a Homeowners Association, under Chapter 720, Florida Statutes, need to bear in mind when evaluating architectural modification requests from its members? In the case, Young v. Tortoise Island Homeowners Association, Inc., the court reasoned that, in the absence of an existing pattern or scheme of architecture which puts purchasers on notice that only one kind of style will be allowed, disapproving modification requests for purely aesthetic reasons will not be upheld. Although the Tortoise Island Homeowner’s Association did not prevail in Young, the court’s reasoning has nevertheless been used by associations to argue that architectural control powers include the authority to reject modification requests that are clearly at odds with the existing pattern and scheme of architecture in the community and that would not have been foreseen when the architectural standards were being developed.