ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and homeowners oftentimes have a love hate relationship with their homeowners’ associations.

Aside from moving, it’s a relationship you’re more or less trapped in, but this time next year, you might have a new tool at your disposal to “break up” with your HOA once and for all.

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Love them or hate them, homeowners’ associations are about as Floridian as oranges and alligators.

More than 43 percent of the state’s residents live under the rules and regulations of an HOA.

‘HOA has gotten more aggressive’

There are, no doubt, some upsides to living under an HOA.

HOAs ensure a consistent look throughout the neighborhood, accountability for neighbors to keep their homes and yards clean and tidy, and they allow for the pooling of resources through HOA dues to pay for neighborhood improvements and recreation facilities.

But lately, Alison Golan’s relationship with her HOA has been anything but rosy.

She’s lived in her St. Johns County neighborhood for 25 years, and up until this fall, everything was smooth sailing.

READ: The Clay County NAACP is helping a disabled veteran with the legal fight against his HOA

“But recently I feel like the HOA has gotten more aggressive,” Golan said.

The problems began in October when she got a notice giving her a month to trim her palm tree, or else face a $1,000 fine.

But Golan argued the HOA rule she’s been accused of violating was written with vague language.

READ: RV garage dispute sparks 2-year-long dispute between Jacksonville veteran and HOA

“It says you must regularly perform maintenance to promote neat and healthy appearance of landscaping,” Golan said. ”Well, what is neat and healthy?”

Golan said she has her palm tree trimmed once a year in the spring, and despite getting an opinion from a master gardener warning her trimming in the fall would damage the tree, the HOA wouldn’t budge.

“It didn’t matter. I had no power,” Golan said.

HOA horror stories

Golan, like many Floridians in disputes with their HOAs, bit the bullet and paid for her tree to be trimmed out of season.

And while her situation was no doubt frustrating, State Rep. Juan Porras (R-Miami) agued there are some true HOA horror stories playing out across the state.

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“The Hammocks and anyone who knows that case, it was one of the state’s largest organized crime busts where multiple members of this HOA were funneling millions and millions of dollars through fake shell companies and fake businesses, essentially even hiding receipts under floorboards of this club house,” Porras said.

It started with a social media post Porras made last August, where he floated the idea of abolishing homeowners associations statewide.

Since then, the idea has changed a bit.

His bill, which is now nearing the finish line in the Florida House, creates new financial transparency requirements for HOAs to prevent corruption.

The legislation would also make it easier for neighbors to take their HOA disputes to court and even create a pathway for communities to dissolve their HOAs entirely.

Make ‘some of these HOAs think twice’

A dissolution vote would be triggered if more than half of neighbors within an HOA sign onto a petition.

To make it official, more than 60 percent of the community would have to vote in favor of dissolving the HOA.

“And I think just having the threat of having the tools for dissolution will make sure that some of these HOAs think twice before enacting some of these corrupt dealings or super authoritarian rules,” Porras said.

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Despite her headaches, Golan said she’d still prefer to keep her HOA at the end of the day.

But she said she believes the reforms proposed in the bill would make a huge difference.

“Me presenting my case in a court … They would probably lose this case,” Golan said. “And so knowing that, I think they would be more willing to work with me.”

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