Courtside, Boca West: approval of every transfer, no entity owners, and Club-owned units

Courtside's own certificate of approval, plus the master's Certificate of Compliance and the Country Club's approval of the buyer. Since 1977 a sale has needed the association's approval, except a sale to another owner, and the association had 20 days to decide (Art. XVI, OR 2635/1810, pp. 11–12). An unapproved sale was already void unless later approved (Art. XVI.F, p. 13). The 2003 restatement extended approval to sales between owners, leases and inheritances, and gave the association 30 days.

• What needs approval. All sales, leases, gifts, devises and inheritances, and "any other transfer of title to or possession of a unit" (§ 17.1, OR 16228/405, p. 31). A transfer "undertaken without prior written approval of the Board of Directors shall be void".
• What does not. Transfers to a spouse, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild (§ 17.1(h), p. 32), an institutional lender's foreclosure and resale, and public sales with open bidding (§ 17.4, p. 33).
• The application. The seller gives notice with the contract, the association's forms and a personal interview of the buyers and every occupant (§ 17.2). A transfer fee up to the statutory maximum is a condition of approval (§ 17.1(f)).
• The decision. The association has 30 days from the last item, and silence is approval (§ 17.3, p. 32). It then delivers an executed certificate of approval, which we record with the deed.
• Refusal for good cause. It need not supply another buyer if there is good cause (§ 17.3(b)(i), p. 33). The causes include certain convictions, a disruptive history, early possession and missing information or fees. Another is a buyer who intends to purchase "without paying at least twenty percent (20%) of the purchase price, excluding closing costs, in cash".
• Refusal without cause. The association must produce a contract from another buyer on the same terms, closing within 30 days. If it does not, the sale is deemed approved (§ 17.3(b), pp. 32–33).

"No ownership or possessory interest in a Unit may be conveyed, leased or otherwise transferred to a corporation, partnership or other entity of any kind" (§ 16.8, p. 31). The one exception is "trusts formed for the purpose of estate or financial planning". Title may be held by no more than two natural persons. No one may own an interest in more than two units, directly or indirectly. The association, and an entity or institutional lender taking title by foreclosure, are not barred.

No approved source says why. The County's parcel records show Boca West Country Club, Inc. owning five Courtside parcels covering six units: 1101, 1102 with 1104, 1103, 1702 and 2403, bought in 2021 and 2022. That is a corporation holding more than two units, which § 16.8 forbids. The Club's 2022 deed of Unit 1102 carries the association's "Certificate of Approval for Residency" naming the Club as purchaser (OR 33885/359, p. 3).

We found no amendment relaxing § 16.8. Whether the Board's approval answers the entity and two-unit limits is a question for underwriting.

On 2 January 2025 the Club recorded a Declaration of Unity of Title over the two units, "in consideration of the issuance of a permit" (OR 35471/744, p. 1). They are "unified under one title as one plot and parcel of land". No portion may be "sold, assigned, transferred, conveyed or devised separately except in its entirety". The covenant runs with the land until released in writing by the County's Planning, Zoning and Building director and the County Engineer.

So the two units can only be sold together, by one deed, until a release is recorded. We found none. Two further points for underwriting:

• The Club's 2022 deed describes only Unit 1102 (OR 33885/359, p. 1). The unity of title recites the Club as fee owner of both, and the Property Appraiser carries one parcel "Units 1102 & 1104". We did not find the deed that vested Unit 1104 in the Club.
• The condominium still counts 48 dwelling units with separate shares, and the master bills 48 units for cable and ambulance service. Work joining the units needs the Board's consent (§ 9.1, p. 12), and we found no amendment changing their shares.

Not in the first 12 months of ownership, measured from the recording of the latest deed (§ 16.6, p. 28). After that, every lease needs the association's approval, "which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld". A unit may be leased once in 12 months, for at least 3 months and no more than 12. No subleasing is allowed, and the owner is jointly liable for the tenant's damage.

The 1977 declaration allowed leasing unless the association limited it by rule (Art. XV.E, OR 2635/1810, p. 11). A condominium amendment banning rentals, changing the rental term or limiting how often owners may rent binds only owners who consent to it and those who take title after it (§ 718.110(13)). Every buyer since November 2003 is bound in full. The master's leasing rules apply on top.

The owner, "regardless of how title is acquired", is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for unpaid assessments, and must pay them within 30 days after the transfer (§ 12.1, p. 16). We pay the estoppel figures at closing. No capital contribution appears in the Courtside documents we read, so the buyer's entry charges are the master's capital contribution and the Club's Joining Fee.

The master bills Courtside $33,973 for 2026/2027, up 19.69% (master's adopted 2026/2027 budget, not recorded). Each unit also carries the master's per-unit charges. Courtside's own assessment comes from its estoppel.

• The legal description names The Hammocks at Boca West, not Courtside. Hammocks II at Boca West is Arbor Lake, a different Village.
• Unit 2801, a 700-square-foot housekeeping service unit in the pool building, may be used "for any purpose permitted by applicable law", including for "any other project served by such owner" (§ 3.1(b), p. 6). We did not find its owner on the Property Appraiser's residential roll.
• The declaration's lien relates back to the earliest date the law allows, and no later than the restatement's recording in 2003. Against an institutional first mortgagee it runs only from the recording of a claim of lien (§ 12.2, p. 17).