Hoa Holding Me To Impossible Standard, Delaying Close After I Was Approved For Home Loan

Hi guys! I (26F) am currently in the process of attempting to purchase a single-family townhome here in my home state of Florida. I thought it was gonna be a pretty simple and straightforward process, because I wasn’t really looking for a crazy home, and I inherited my parents property after they died last year, so I was able to sell that property, make a pretty nice profit, and I am putting down 40% on the home that I am trying to purchase.

I’m struggling with a very unique situation because I’ve already been approved for the home loan and have been ready to close for two weeks. As I mentioned, I’m putting 40% down, I made a very competitive offer, and we make an adequate amount of money to afford the monthly costs of the home that I am trying to purchase. I am purchasing the home alongside my husband, who is on the deed, but not the mortgage, and my father-in-law as he has a higher credit score than I do.

However, I’m running into a roadblock from the HOA, which only costs $130 a month (less than the cost of one week’s groceries where I live), as they have a credit score requirement of 650, but the credit scoring agency that they have provided is using an obscure Equifax scoring model that not even my lender was aware of. This model is showing my credit score at 592.

I was aware of the 650 credit requirement in advance, but I didn’t think that it would present too much of an issue on my end. Currently, the credit score that I’m getting for myself from Credit Karma is up to 681, with my lowest being 677 (from Equifax! Just another scoring model). My realtor/lender is using a different credit score model, but it was still over 650, at 656. I don’t really have any significant debt, aside from student loan debt that is currently deferred, have never been foreclosed on, I have never had a car repossessed, etc. The only issue I’ve ever had was a credit card that went delinquent that has been paid off. The only thing holding my credit score back is my lack of credit history- good or bad- but it doesn’t really seem to justify a nearly 80 point difference.

I met with the president of the board today, and explained the circumstances and asked him if it would be possible to use a different score, but he refused to budge, stating that this credit reporting bureau was the one that the HOA had used from day one. I also tried to reach out to the credit reporting bureau that they use to see if there is any way that they could run my score with a different company, like TransUnion, to which they refused.

Additionally, I tried offering to come up with some sort of other solution for the HOA in order to make the situation a little less financially risk for them. I offered to pay them two or three years of the HOA‘s dues in advance. They are aware that I can make good on this promise, because they have seen my bank account balance.

All of these potential solutions have been refused, and the HOA is refusing to entertain the notion of my moving into the neighborhood, citing financial risk, even though my bank account balance, and the approval that I’ve received from the lending company shows that there is nothing risky about me moving in. For reference, my mortgage would be about 30 times the cost of the HOA, and it wasn’t a difficult process for me to get approved at all.

I have some legal experience and also have a pre-law degree, so I read through the HOA‘s bylaws and their covenants and restrictions which layout financial justification for refusing a sale, but there is nothing in any of the HOA‘s governing documents that stipulate that the credit score must come from this credit reporting bureau. I couldn’t even find any text stating that the HOA had to write to choose the credit reporting bureau.

When I pointed this out to the president of the HOA and asked him if he knew about any bylaw that forced him to use the specific credit reporting bureau, he said he was not aware of one, but that this was “just what they’ve always done.”

I’m very frustrated, because I’m currently living in a very cramped little room in my in-laws house while I’m looking for a new home, I’ve already spent thousands of dollars on this process and two months of my life, and the seller is also hoping for this deal to go through because they have a house waiting for them on contingency a couple hours north of us.

It seems like a very bizarre situation, so my question is: can they do this? Can we force them to accept a credit score from another credit bureau? Can they force the sale to be contingent on a credit score from the specific bureau that they’re using?

TL;DR: i’m trying to buy a house and even though I have already been approved for the mortgage and have a credit score of 677 through one model, the HOA is refusing that credit score and is forcing me to work with the model that their credit bureau uses, despite there being no supporting tax within their bylaws that states that they must use that agency.

Help!!!!

Edit: Guys, HOAs are ridiculously common in my area. I don’t think I have ever lived anywhere that didn’t have one. I am WELL aware of their issues, and cannot afford a house that does not have one. Even though these people are nightmare to deal with, their monthly fees are the cheapest in my area by a lot (for reference, right next-door to this neighborhood is another one where the HOA is almost $1000/month).

I understand the potential risks of moving into this neighborhood and also that they can take vengeance against me, and I am okay with that. I have read the bylaws and am aware of what is and is not against the rules. If it gets to a point where I find that it is not worth it, I can and will walk away from the deal (and yes, there is a contingency in my contract, which allows me to do that without HOA approval, and the sellers are in the loop and on my side here), but I would not like to do that.

I am not looking for advice on dealing with the HOA from a personal perspective, just from a legal one. Please keep comments oriented towards legal advice, or asking follow-up questions related to the legality of the issue.