A 28-year-old Florida woman says she is being forced out of a 55-and-over retirement community she inherited from her father, with the homeowner's association (HOA) now suing to remove her and asking other residents to fund the legal battle.
Bethany Michel claims that approximately 155 residents of the Arbor Mill retirement community in Jacksonville are being asked to pay a mandatory $1,000 assessment to cover the HOA's legal fees. Michel stated that five board members voted to approve this special assessment, which she believes was done without the full consent of the community's residents.
"They allowed 155 people to think that they had a decision in the vote," Michel told News4Jax. "But it was the five board members who spoke for the whole community."
Michel moved to Florida in 2020 to care for her father during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been living in the community since then. She inherited the home after her father passed away in 2023. According to Michel, she received a notice stating she did not meet community guidelines three months after her father's death.
"I 100% am being forced out," Michel said. "They’re trying to rip my office away from me, too."
Michel also reported that she has been denied access to some community amenities as she navigates the lawsuit. She stated that residents who do not pay the assessment fee will face additional charges.
"So not only do I have to pay my own attorney to defend me against these f–kers trying to sue me out of my own home, but I also have to pay the thousand dollar assessment," she said. "I have to pay both sides. I have to pay them to help sue myself."
Some residents have expressed discomfort with the situation, with neighbor William Baltazar telling News4Jax, "As a person who has kids, I don’t believe that this is the right thing to do, to just kick her out and take her out. The majority of the people here disagree with this. There are very few people that are really pushing it."
The HOA covenants require at least one occupant in each home to be 55 or older, with no residents under 19 allowed to live in the neighborhood. However, documents viewed by The Post indicate that transfer of home ownership is permitted to individuals under 55 if specific occupancy requirements are met.
"Nothing in this Section shall restrict the ownership of or transfer of title to any Lot; provided, no Owner under the age of fifty-five (55) may occupy a Home unless the requirements of this Section are met nor shall any Owner permit occupancy of the Home in violation of this Section," the governing document states. The HOA laws were established to comply with the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA).
Michel remains defiant, asserting that her father ensured she would be "grandfathered in" before his death. "How many people between the age of 20 and 30 can actually become a homeowner these days? It’s nearly impossible to become a homeowner, and the fact that he worked to set me up with a situation where I own a home — and I was told I would be allowed to stay," she said. "Love y’all, even the ones who don’t like me. You will live the rest of your life watching me thrive, whether you’re happy with it or not. I ain’t going nowhere."