Peppertree I, Boca West: 1979 sale approval, a seller's right to demand a buyer, and the Peppertree umbrella

Three approvals and an extra estoppel. Peppertree I, the master through its Certificate of Compliance, and the Country Club each approve the buyer, and the Village of Peppertree Association certifies its account. Under Article XVI the condominium approves every sale, lease, gift and other transfer, "except to another Unit owner" (Art. XVI.A, OR 3121/377–378).

• The seller's notice. The owner gives the association notice with the buyer's name and address and the information it reasonably requires (Art. XVI.B(1)(a), OR 3121/378).
• The decision. Within 20 days of the notice and information the association approves or disapproves. An approval is a certificate in recordable form that "shall be recorded" (Art. XVI.B(2), OR 3121/379).
• The seller's option. The notice may demand that the association furnish a purchaser if it refuses. The demand must come with the signed contract. Then, within 20 days, it must deliver an agreement to buy at the contract price, in cash, closing within 30 days (Art. XVI.C(1), OR 3121/380).
• Deemed approval. If the association fails to supply that buyer, or its buyer defaults, the sale "shall be deemed to have been approved". Without the demand, a refusal stands.
• A company or trustee. Ownership by a corporation or trustee is approved only with its Primary Occupant (Art. XVI.B(3)).
• Void if skipped. "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, OR 3121/382).

A mortgage to anyone but an "Institutional Lender" (banks, life insurers, savings and loans, REITs) also needs approval, which "may be arbitrarily withheld". A lender taking title, and a buyer at a foreclosure or tax sale, need none (Art. XVI.D–E, OR 3121/381).

An umbrella association over all of Peppertree of Boca West, the plat on which Peppertree I's land lies (Exhibit A, OR 3121/393). It was created by Arvida's Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions for Village of Peppertree (OR 2975/1222, recorded 15 December 1978). Every record owner of a unit is a member, and "Membership shall be appurtenant to and may not be separated from ownership of any Unit" (Art. IV § 1, OR 2975/1223).

Each owner covenants to pay its annual and special assessments, with 10% interest and collection costs. They are "a charge on the land and a continuing lien" and the owner's personal obligation (Art. V § 1, OR 2975/1224). The lien yields to a first mortgage amortized over at least ten years, for assessments due before a foreclosure or deed in lieu (Art. V § 9, OR 2975/1226). Its Board may let the condominium associations collect for it (Art. V § 7, OR 2975/1225).

Peppertree I's own declaration ties in. While the Village association maintains the condominium's roads, that cost is a Peppertree I common expense (Art. XII.B, OR 3121/368). Peppertree I's Board may also collect and remit the Village association's assessments (Art. XVIII.F, OR 3121/384). The umbrella owns Parcel F of the plat, quit-claimed to it in 1991 (OR 6812/491). It is not one of the master's 56 Villages.

So we ask in writing whether Peppertree I's estoppel already includes the Village share, and order the umbrella's own certificate if not. The umbrella must furnish one "upon demand" (Art. V § 7).

• Approval. Every lease needs it, on the same 20-day notice as a sale, and the owner may demand a substitute tenant (Art. XVI.A(2), B, C(2)).
• Term. "Greater than one month", for the entire unit, occupied only by the tenant's family, servants and guests (Art. XV.E, OR 3121/376).
• Pets. Tenants and guests may bring none. Owners and their immediate family may keep a dog under 25 pounds with the Board's and the abutting owners' written consent (OR 18477/1075, p. 2).

No later amendment adds a cap on how often a Peppertree I unit may be leased. The master's rules still apply: no lease in the first 12 months and none under four months. Should Peppertree I adopt leasing limits, 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)).

We found no capital contribution in Peppertree I's recorded documents, unlike Peppertree II and III. The buyer pays the master's capital contribution and the Club's Joining Fee, and any unpaid Peppertree I or Village balance comes off the estoppels.

The master bills Peppertree I $139,836 for 2026/2027, up 8.51% (master's adopted 2026/2027 budget, not recorded). The master's per-unit charges come on top. If an assessment is delinquent at a sale, the sale proceeds go "first to payment of any then delinquent assessment" (Art. XVIII.M, OR 3121/386). In any voluntary conveyance the grantee is also "jointly and severally liable with the grantor" for the seller's unpaid assessments (OR 3121/387).

• The 2005 instrument is certified as an amendment to the declaration, but its pet paragraph amends "Paragraph 5 of the Rules and Regulations" (OR 18477/1075, p. 2). It also lets a Board majority, not a unanimous Board, approve exterior alterations.
• The 1979 text says a foreclosure or judicial-sale buyer owes only later assessments (Art. XVIII.L, OR 3121/386). Chapter 718 now governs that liability.
• The umbrella declaration bars any "for sale" or "for rent" sign unless the Village association and then the master approve it (Art. VIII § 5, OR 2975/1228).
• The Property Appraiser groups all three Peppertree condominiums under one subdivision name. We read the deed's condominium number and declaration book and page, not just the street address.