A Work In Progress NEW WEBSITE for Tropical Bay Owners

New Website

Link to the plan for this New Website

A brief intro:

  • The TBPOA was incorporated in 1971 as a voluntary Florida Statutes 617 not-for-profit corporation.
  • The Articles of Incorporation and the by-laws clearly state the voluntary nature of the corporation.
  • No amendment has ever been made to The Articles of Incorporation.
  • A central question for legal determination is whether or not membership in TBPOA remains voluntary.
  • In 2020, as a new property owner in Tropical Bay, I was told and believed that the TPOA's claim of authority as a mandatory membership HOA was legitimate.
  • I worked in good faith as a Board member for two years to correct what I knew were bad HOA practices through my previous experience as president of a Georgia HOA and Treasurer of a Florida one.
  • The goal now is to provide the TBPOA Board and the Tropical Bay property owners with information to support moving forward to cure the defects and deficiencies of the HOA to the satisfaction of the membership.


Bill Boles     Click here to send me an Email

TBPOA History

History of the TBPOA   and its governing documents.

  • The original owner/developers created three subdivisions with Deeds and Surveys for Tropical Bay.

  • Then they recorded Declarations of Restrictions for the properties in all three subdivisions.

  • At that time TBPOA did not exist. The Deed Restrictions did not mention a homeowners association or subject the property owners to any form of association or membership in a homeowners association.

  • The Articles of Incorporation for TBPOA were filed 05/25/1971.

  • The Articles of Incorporation do not refer to or mention deed restrictions.They state that every owner shall be qualified to become a member by requesting membership in writing and by paying any qualification fees and dues required of members at the time of admission.

  • The language of Article III clearly establishes a voluntary membership schema.

  • The TBPOA operated as a voluntary membership corporation for unknown years.

  • The original By-Laws of the Association declare the TBPOA to be voluntary in the first line of Article II - Purpose.

  • The Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA) was enacted in 1963 with the goal of simplifying the transfer of property by extinguishing certain covenants and restrictions after thirty years.

Conclusions from the TBPOA history:

  • The DRs for Tropical Bay, First Addition filed April 9, 1959 were extinguished by MRTA on April 10, 1989. There were no filings or other actions taken to reinstate or continue them.

  • The DRs for Tropical Bay, Second Addition filed November 13, 1963 were extinguished November 14, 1993.

  • The DRs for Tropical Bay, Third Addition filed March 14, 1967 were extinguished by MRTA on March 15, 1997.

  • Beyond the functioning of MRTA, the 1991, 1993 and 1997 Revised Deed Restrictions did not and could not mandate membership in a voluntary membership corporation. A change to mandatory membership would require the unanimous consent of all property owners, not a simple majority of property owners.

  • The Amended Deed Restrictions which were recorded for all three of the Tropical Bay Subdivisions more than thirty years following the 1st recordation do not constitute a proper action under Florida Statute 720 PART III for revitalization of expired Deed Restrictions. No action whatsoever was taken by the TBPOA Board to preserve the original Deed Restrictions from extinction.

  • Florida Statute 720.303(2)(e) now requires, ...At the first board meeting, excluding the organizational meeting, which follows the annual meeting of the members, the board shall consider the desirability of filing notices to preserve the covenants or restrictions affecting the community or association from extinguishment under the Marketable Record Title Act, chapter 712, and to authorize and direct the appropriate officer to file notice in accordance with Florida Statute 720.3032..
    No such meeting was ever held or action taken.

  • The original Declarations of Restrictions were filed by the developers as covenants running with the land. The Amended Deed Restrictions of 1991, 1993 and 1997 include the previous restrictions except some of those invalidated by Monroe County building code changes.

  • The three revised declarations claim to bind all of the Lots of each subdivision to mandatory membership in and under the regulation of the TBPOA, Inc. This claim has no merit. The TBPOA operated between 1991 and 1997 with only 1 or 2 additions claimed to be mandatory members of the HOA.

  • The TBPOA has no legal basis to assert any authority or control over the Tropical Bay property owners, including, but not limited to the authority to make assessments, levy fines or lawfully charge fees of any kind whatsoever.

  • The TB POA, Inc, remains as a voluntary membership corporation under Florida Statute 617 and, accordingly, Tropical Bay property owners who have not requested to be members of TBPOA are not members and that property owners who have asked to be members are free to resign.