{"id":937643,"date":"2026-07-16T00:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T00:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/937643\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T00:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T00:05:12","slug":"can-you-inherit-a-home-in-a-55-plus-community-attorney-explains-what-the-law-says-after-jacksonville-hoa-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/937643\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you inherit a home in a 55-plus community? Attorney explains what the law says after Jacksonville HOA dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 After News4JAX reported on a Jacksonville woman fighting to stay in the home she inherited in a 55-and-older community<\/a>, viewers flooded social media with one question: How can someone legally inherit a home but not be allowed to live in it?<\/p>\n

The answer, according to a Florida attorney who specializes in homeowners association law, comes down to the difference between ownership and occupancy.<\/p>\n

Bethany Michel, 28, has been battling her Arbor Mill homeowners association in Oakleaf since her father, a disabled veteran, died in 2023. Michel inherited the home after serving as her father\u2019s caregiver, but the HOA argues she no longer meets the community\u2019s age restrictions.<\/p>\n

Ownership doesn\u2019t automatically mean the right to live there<\/p>\n

Alejandra Gonzales, a community association attorney with Ansbacher Law, said age-restricted communities that comply with state and federal law are legally permitted to restrict who may live in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as they\u2019re following the requirements of federal and state law, they are allowed to have these sorts of restrictions,\u201d Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

The Arbor Mill declaration distinguishes between owning a home and occupying it. Another provision in the community\u2019s governing documents requires every occupied home to have at least one resident who is 55 or older.<\/p>\n

One section states: \u201cNo owner under the age of 55 may occupy a home unless the requirements of this section are met.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzales said that\u2019s why Michel can legally inherit the property but may still be prohibited from living there.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe can still own the property, and that\u2019s why she could inherit the property via the transfer of title,\u201d Gonzales said. \u201cHowever, no owner under the age of 55 may occupy a home unless the requirements of the section are met.\u201d<\/p>\n

How the federal 80% rule works<\/p>\n

Many viewers also asked whether federal law requires 55-plus communities to allow younger residents.<\/p>\n

Gonzales said that\u2019s a common misconception.<\/p>\n

Under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA), qualifying age-restricted communities must ensure at least 80% of occupied homes have at least one resident who is 55 or older. Communities must also be intended and operated for older adults.<\/p>\n

If an association fails to meet those requirements, it could lose its exemption under federal and state fair housing laws, Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

However, the remaining 20% does not automatically entitle younger residents to live in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know what their ratio is,\u201d Gonzales said, referring to Arbor Mill. \u201cPerhaps they have already met that remaining percentage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether the HOA can allow an exception depends on its governing documents and whether doing so would keep the community in compliance with federal law.<\/p>\n

Special assessment vote<\/p>\n

The legal dispute has also prompted a proposed $155,000 special assessment that would help pay the HOA\u2019s legal expenses in the lawsuit against Michel.<\/p>\n

Homeowners are being asked to vote on the assessment Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

Gonzales said, depending on the association\u2019s governing documents, the board may have the authority to approve the assessment even if homeowners oppose it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board may be allowed to impose that assessment on their own with a board vote,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Gonzales said, HOA board members are required to follow and enforce the community\u2019s governing documents while complying with state and federal law.<\/p>\n

The Arbor Mill HOA previously declined to comment on the lawsuit or the proposed special assessment.<\/p>\n

News4JAX will update this story with the results of Tuesday night\u2019s vote once they become available.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 After News4JAX reported on a Jacksonville woman fighting to stay in the home she inherited…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":937644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,67487,7310,377693,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-937643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-hoa","tag-jacksonville","tag-oakleaf","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116926738572139713","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/937644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}