Lakewood Gardens I, Boca West: 28 garden condominiums, a 1977 approval clause and the Village of Lakewood

Three bodies approve a Gardens I buyer: the association, the master by its Certificate of Compliance, and the Country Club. "No Unit owner may dispose of a Unit or any interest therein by sale without approval of the Association except to another Unit owner" (Art. XVI.A(1), OR 2694/924, p. 19).

• The notice. The seller gives the association notice with the buyer's name and address (Art. XVI.B(1)(a), p. 20).
• The decision. "Within twenty (20) days after receipt of such notice and information, the Association must either approve or disapprove" (Art. XVI.B(2)(a), p. 21). An approval is a certificate in recordable form, delivered to the buyer and recorded.
• A substitute buyer. If the seller's notice demands it, a disapproval must come with an agreement to buy from the association or a buyer it approves. The price is the contract price, in cash, closing within 30 days. Otherwise the sale is deemed approved (Art. XVI.C(1), pp. 22–23).
• Company and trust buyers. Approval of a corporation, or of a trustee holding for someone else, is conditioned on approval of the "Primary Occupant" (Art. XVI.B(3), p. 22).
• Gifts and other transfers. These also need approval within 20 days, on terms about occupancy and voting (Art. XVI.B(2)(c), p. 22).
• Void without it. "Any sale, mortgage or lease which is not authorized pursuant to the terms of this Declaration shall be void unless subsequently approved by the Association" (Art. XVI.F, p. 24). Foreclosing institutional lenders and buyers at a public sale with open bidding are exempt (Art. XVI.E). If no notice was given, the association may approve or disapprove whenever it learns of the transfer (Art. XVI.B(1)(d), p. 21).

A mortgage needs approval too, unless the lender is a bank, life insurer, federal savings and loan association or real estate investment trust. "The approval of any other mortgagee … may be arbitrarily withheld" (Art. XVI.D, p. 24). So seller financing or a private lender needs the association's consent before closing.

Arvida recorded the Village of Lakewood declaration over the whole Lakewood plat (Plat Book 30, Pages 199–203) in February 1976. Every record owner of a residential "Unit" there is a member, and membership "may not be separated from ownership of any Unit" (Art. IV § 1, OR 2512/220, p. 2). Its assessments are "a charge on the land and a continuing lien", and also the owner's personal obligation (Art. V § 1, pp. 2–3).

The Gardens I declaration names that instrument and lets this association "collect for, and remit to" the Village (Art. XVIII.F, OR 2694/924, p. 27). The master's roll lists the Lakewood condominiums but not the Village of Lakewood (master's adopted 2026/2027 budget, not recorded; see the master page). We order its estoppel, or get written confirmation that the condominium's carries its share. The Village's certificate of payment "shall be conclusive evidence of payment" (Art. V § 7, OR 2512/220, p. 4).

The 1977 declaration charges no capital contribution or transfer fee. The buyer pays the master's capital contribution and the Club's Joining Fee.

The master bills the association $30,550 for 2026/2027, up 3.34% (master's adopted 2026/2027 budget, not recorded). Gardens I owners also carry the master's per-unit charges. Gardens I's own assessment and the Village's come from their estoppels.

"In any voluntary conveyance of a Unit, the grantee shall be jointly and severally liable with the grantor for all unpaid assessments" (Art. XVIII.M, p. 30).

"After approval by the Association, as elsewhere herein required, entire Units, but not less than entire Units, may be leased" (Art. XV.E, p. 19). The owner sends the lease, and the association decides within 20 days (Art. XVI.B, pp. 20–21). If the owner demands it, a refusal must come with a tenant on the same rent and terms (Art. XVI.C(2), p. 23).

The declaration sets no minimum term and no limit on leases a year, and we found no leasing amendment. The master's rules still bar leasing in the first 12 months and any lease under four months.

Owners keep up their own units, while the association insures the buildings through an Insurance Trustee and maintains the common elements. The 2007 amendment adds the entry door (Art. XII.A, OR 21515/995, pp. 1–2). The owner maintains and repairs it, with its framing, locks and mechanism. When the association decides doors need replacing, it replaces them "at common expense, as a one time special assessment" shared equally. Sliding glass doors are excluded.

A second-story unit's stairway is its limited common element, as are the unit's patio or balcony and the pad under its air conditioner (Art. V.C, p. 4).

• The declaration was recorded twice: at OR 2694/924 on 20 June 1977, and again at OR 2707/344 on 13 July 1977. DBPR's list gives 27 February 1976, the Village declaration's date, which is wrong.
• The developer had to add Phase II "Prior to October 1, 1977" and Phase III "Prior to April 1, 1978" by amendment (Art. III.C–D, p. 1). We did not find those amendments, though all 28 units are on the Property Appraiser's roll. We check the unit's percentage against the phases of record.
• The association's lien dates from a recorded claim of lien and yields to mortgages recorded before it (Art. XVIII.K, pp. 28–29). Section 718.116 now governs a lender's liability.
• The Village's lien needs no recording: an unpaid assessment becomes "a continuing lien on the Unit" (Art. V § 8, OR 2512/220, p. 4). It yields only to a first mortgage amortized over at least ten years, for amounts due before a foreclosure or a deed in lieu (§ 9, p. 4).