Article Courtesy of Yahoo News

By Jeffrey Schweers

Published February 27, 2026

TALLAHASSEE — It’s been three years since thousands of residents in a Central Florida subdivision won a landmark class action lawsuit against their developer, who was illegally making millions of dollars by charging them to use their neighborhood pool, clubhouse and other features.

Yet developers across Florida, including some of the biggest in the state, are still profiteering off homeowners by charging illegal “forever fees” on amenities.

A state senator hopes new legislation will put an end to the practice, though the fate of her bill is uncertain as the Legislature hits the halfway mark in its 2026 session.

Charging those fees “is contrary to public policy and our existing homeowners statute,” said Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island.

A state appeals court ruled in 2023 that Avatar Properties, which owns Solivita, a community that straddles Osceola and Polk counties, violated state law by charging homeowners to use amenities, like pools and club houses. Avatar was accused of imposing “forever fees” that were pure profit and had no expiration date.

The court ordered the company to pay back those Solivita homeowners the $63 million the developer collected from them over two decades. State law says common properties should be released to homeowners after homes in a development have been sold.

That ruling was upheld by the 6th District Court of Appeals after the developer appealed the lower court’s decision, and it was cemented when the Florida Supreme Court decided not to hear the case, letting the lower court rulings stand.

But homeowners say the problem continues.

Homeowners in ChampionsGate, a golf course resort community in Osceola built by Lennar Homes, one the country’s largest home builders, last year filed a class action lawsuit against Lennar over its so-called “club fee” scheme.

Bradley’s bill would address the problem by putting the court ruling into state law, making it easier to sue developers, she said.

Homeowners in Solavita, a 55-plus community of 5,500 homes, support the measure, saying it will help bolster enforcement of the court ruling they won.

“No person who buys a house should pay a perpetual fee for amenities that are pure profit for the developers,” said Lita Epstein, vice president of the Solivita homeowners association.

Some communities have so-called “club plans” or recreational covenants that create what amounts to “forever fees,” Bradley said. “This creates an unfairness that shouldn’t exist,” she said during a recent committee hearing.

Bradley’s bill would make it clear that “developers can’t impose mandatory membership fees” that seek more than the actual cost of the amenities and services provided, she said.

The bill also makes it clear that homeowners can sue the developers and be awarded attorneys fees, for violations of the law.

In 2024 and 2025, developers tried to counter the court ruling by supporting legislation that would have overturned the Sixth District Court of Appeals’ decision and carved out exceptions to the state’s Homeowners Association Act to allow developers to continue charging those amenities fees in perpetuity.

Bradley, an attorney with expertise in homeowners association law, played a key role in preventing that legislation, which was promoted and written by Lennar’s lobbyists, from passing.

Lennar and other developers have so far been silent this session on the issue.

Sen. Jim Boyd, the powerful Republican Majority Leader who represents parts of Hillsborough and Manatee counties, is a cosponsor of Bradley’s bill. “This is an issue that is very sensitive to some of my communities,” Boyd said.

But the bill’s future is uncertain as the Legislature enters the second half of its regular 60-day session. The bill received unanimous approval at its first committee hearing but has not yet been scheduled for a subsequent committee hearing, and it does not have a sponsor carrying it in the House.

“We’ve got to get our House allies to agree with us and get it across the finish line,” Boyd said.

The Community Associations Institute-Florida Legislative Alliance — a homeowners support group — said that it generally opposes fees that are not for the” purpose of maintenance, repair, replacement, use or care of the amenities that accompany home ownership within the community.”

Avatar has paid about 60% of the $63 million it owes Solivita’s homeowners and is fighting the court order to pay their attorney fees.

The company also continues to pocket the profits off of advertising sales in the community newsletter and ticket sales for special neighborhood events, residents say. They are only allowed to use that revenue to offset expenses, according to the Avatar court ruling.

The bill, if it becomes law, would prohibit developers from making money off such items.

Solivita resident Gene Foster said homeowners filed contempt charges against Avatar in January, alleging it is still making profits from advertising revenue from their monthly newsletter and ticket sales for special events.

“The concept of financial benefit without providing any service or product is quite offensive,” Foster said. Charging those fees “in a manner that is not transparent to the buyer crosses a number of ethical, moral and business lines that I have never seen before.”