Brookwood, Boca West: 1980 sale approval, a 2025 Board review and a capital contribution

Brookwood's approval comes first, then the master's Certificate of Compliance and the Country Club's approval of the buyer. Since 1980 no owner may sell "without approval of the Association except to another Unit owner" (Art. XVI.A(1), OR 3247/276, p. 19). So a buyer who already owns a Brookwood unit needs no approval under that article.

• The notice. The seller notifies the association of the intended sale, with the buyer's name and address and any information it reasonably requires. The seller may also demand that the association furnish a buyer if it refuses this one, attaching the signed contract (Art. XVI.B(1)(a)).
• The deadline. The association has 20 days from the notice and information to approve or disapprove (XVI.B(2)(a), p. 20). An approval is a certificate in recordable form that "shall be recorded" in the public records.
• A substitute buyer. If the seller made that demand and the association refuses, it has 20 days to deliver a contract from itself or an approved buyer. The price is the contract price, paid in cash, closing within 30 days (XVI.C(1), pp. 21–22). If it fails, the sale is deemed approved.
• Entities and trusts. A corporate buyer's approval is conditioned on approving its Primary Occupant, and so is a trustee's (XVI.B(3), p. 21).
• Void without it. "Any sale, mortgage, or other transfer which is not authorized pursuant to the terms of this Declaration shall be void unless subsequently approved" (XVI.F, p. 23).
• What is exempt. An institutional lender taking title through its mortgage, and its own resale, and a buyer at a public sale with open bidding (XVI.E).

Gifts and other transfers also need approval. If the association refuses one, it has 30 days to state the terms on which the transfer must be made (XVI.C(3), pp. 22–23).

At a members' meeting on 16 February 2025 the owners added a paragraph to Article XVI without deleting any of it. "The Board of Directors shall sit in review of all New Unit Owner purchases and all lease and rental applications" (OR 35815/1300, p. 3). The applicant pays for any background check. The Board "may facially deny" applicants who:

• have a felony record in the past ten years;
• are owners or tenants violating the covenants or rules;
• are delinquent, or are applying to rent from a delinquent owner;
• are known to the Board not to comply with other community covenants.

The Board also "shall use its Business Judgment Discretion" in approving or disapproving any application (p. 4). The amendment does not say how that sits with the 1980 duty to furnish a substitute buyer, or whether "New Unit Owner purchases" reach a sale to an existing owner. We treat the older procedure as still in force, because nothing struck it.

A capital contribution to Brookwood. Since July 2004, on "all future acquisitions of any ownership interest in a Unit", the new owner pays one quarterly installment of the assessments then in effect, or three monthly installments (Art. XVIII.N, OR 17314/186). It is "deemed to be an assessment against the Unit", and the amendment lists no exemptions. The amount comes from Brookwood's estoppel.

That is on top of the master's capital contribution and the Club's Joining Fee.

After approval, entire units may be leased for 14 days or more (Art. XV.E, OR 3247/276, p. 18). The lease process mirrors a sale: notice with the signed lease, which must say it is subject to approval, and a decision within 20 days (XVI.B, pp. 20–21). Since 2025 the Board's review covers tenants too. No recorded amendment has changed the term or frequency since 1980. The master's rules still bar any lease in the first 12 months of ownership and any lease under four months.

• Insurance. Every owner must carry an HO-6 policy, and the text says tenants too (Art. XXXIV, OR 35815/1300, p. 4).
• Grills. Only electric barbecues may be used; gas and wood-burning grills are banned (Art. XXXVI).
• Fines. Up to $100 a violation and $1,000 in the aggregate, after notice and a committee hearing. "A fine may not become a lien against a unit" (Art. XXXVIII, pp. 4–6).
• Amendments. Now adopted by 50% of all members plus one. An amendment affecting rentability needs the vote "provided by Florida Statutes", instead of 90% of the members (Art. XI, pp. 2–3).
• The President. May approve repairs and new vendor contracts up to $25,000 alone (By-Laws § 6(b), p. 6).

• Private mortgages. No owner may mortgage a unit "without the approval of the Association except to an Institutional Lender". For any other lender, approval "may be arbitrarily withheld" (XVI.D, p. 23). Seller financing needs the association's written approval before closing.
• Adoption of the 2025 amendment. Until it, the declaration could be amended only by members owning at least 75% of the units, and a change affecting rentability needed 90% (Art. XI.C, OR 3247/276, p. 7). The 2025 certificate does not state the vote it received. It is signed by the President and by the manager's representative as "Registered Agent", not by the Secretary (OR 35815/1300, pp. 7–8). We raise both points with underwriting.
• The lien. The 1980 text makes the lien effective only from a recorded claim of lien and frees a foreclosure buyer from earlier assessments (XVIII.K–L). Today the condominium statute governs both.
• The buildings have first- and second-floor units, so the three-story milestone rule in Fla. Stat. § 553.899 does not reach them.