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Former state lawmaker Randolph Bracy III has not paid the homeowner’s association (HOA) dues for his home in the Town of Oakland’s tony Hull Island subdivision in two years and owes thousands of dollars in unpaid fees, VoxPopuli has learned.
This situation could complicate the Democrat’s candidacy in the upcoming special election for Senate District 15. Bracy is currently running in the June 24 primary ahead of the Sept. 2 election for the late Sen. Geraldine Thompson's senate seat. The closed primary includes his sister, state Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, former Congressman Alan Grayson and Ocoee attorney Coretta Anthony-Smith.
Hull Island HOA President Kelly Zannini, told VoxPopuli that Bracy last paid his $165 monthly dues on April 1, 2023. The association has repeatedly sent him letters, notifying him of missed payments, but she said that the HOA has received no response from Bracy, who served as both a state representative and senator from 2012 through 2022 where he was a member of the Finance and Tax Committee and Appropriations Committee.
Another member of the HOA’s board of directors confirmed that the community’s management company, Sentry Management, informed the association at its April 26 meeting that Bracy owed more than $5,000, which includes back dues, late fees, penalties and mailing costs. The member wished to remain anonymous because of the nature of their job.
Bracy is also in violation of HOA rules for lawn maintenance. Zannini told VoxPopuli the lawn at his residence is so overgrown, it’s “higher than knee length” and the hedges aren’t trimmed. She said the HOA has sent letters about those violations for seven to eight months without a response. The HOA board member said the association has hired a private law firm to handle the lawn maintenance case.
”We asked to do mediation with him, and he just ignored us. He didn't even respond,” Zannini said. “We're now starting the foreclosure process on that house.”
VoxPopuli has made several attempts to contact Bracy by phone and text regarding his delinquent HOA dues, rules violations and lawsuit, but has not received a response.
The HOA filed a lien against Bracy’s home in October 2024, according to documents from the Orange County Comptroller. The HOA board member, who explained that Florida has one of the strictest HOA and condominium owners’ association laws in the nation, said the case is still in the “pre-suit” stages.
In Florida, foreclosure is a judicial process that requires the association to file a lawsuit. The HOA must send the homeowner a notice of intent to foreclose at least 45 days before filing for a homeowner’s association foreclosure, according to Florida Statute.
Bracy’s Oakland home, which he purchased himself in 2022 for $719,200, according to the Orange County Property Appraiser, helps anchor him in Orange County for election purposes. Bracy needs to maintain a residence in Orange County since he announced his intent to run for Thompson's now-open senate seat in February, the day after she died.
Elected members of most Florida public offices must reside in the district they represent at the time they assume office. This means they can run for a seat while they live outside the district, but they must be living in their district when they are sworn in, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
Aubrey Jewett, PhD, political science professor at the University of Central Florida, said in an email that while Florida law is “somewhat vague” on what constitutes residency in a district, having legal identification or a homestead with an address in the district that a candidate is running in is the “gold standard of proof.”
A homestead exemption is a legal provision that reduces the property taxes on a homeowner's primary residence. Homeowners only receive one homestead exemption and they reset every January 1, according to Florida statute. If the county’s property appraiser determines a homeowner was granted an exemption that they were not entitled to, the property appraiser can serve a notice of intent to file a tax lien on any property the person owns in the county.
On May 14, the Orange County Property Appraiser’s site showed that Bracy had a homestead exemption on his Oakland property. However, on May 15, that information, about the homestead and the home’s tax exemptions, was no longer available on the site.
On May 16, VoxPopuli received an email from OCPA that said that Bracy does not currently have a homestead exemption on his Oakland property. The OCPA site still showed that in 2024, his homestead exemptions offset a $12,659.91 tax on the property that year.
Bracy did not respond to text messages and phone calls seeking comment about the status change in his homestead exemption.
Voter registration records, obtained last week from the Orange County Supervisor of Elections, show that Bracy is still registered to vote in Oakland.
Meanwhile questions about whether Bracy’s Lake County estate is his actual legal residence have been raised since last year when he mounted a primary attack against Thompson for her senate seat.
Bracy and his wife, Kietta Mayweather Bracy, purchased the Lake County estate together for $2.8 million in January of 2024, according to the Lake County Property Appraiser. The home does not have a homestead exemption.
But the address of Bracy’s Lake County estate is listed on both the Orange County and Lake County property appraiser sites as his mailing address for his Oakland home. Zannini said that while she believes Bracy “stops by” his Oakland home, she said his neighbors can attest that he does not reside there.
“ Bottom line, he does not live there,” Zannini said.
