A recent appellate court decision serves as a useful reminder of the issues that may arise and need to be considered in enforcing and interpreting recorded covenants that impact the use of real property, such as a declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions for a subdivision. In the case of Leamer v. White (issued on January 27, 2015), Florida’s First District Court of Appeal was asked to interpret a use restriction at issue in a dispute between neighboring owners of townhomes, one of whom had installed a lighting system that may have potentially impacted the other neighbor and their lot without first seeking the requisite approval for the lighting system from an architectural review board as set out in the recorded covenants for the property.
