Plantation Colony, Boca West: a right of first refusal, no company buyers, and one lease in 24 months

Not on the record we read. The Property Appraiser shows "Plantation Colony HOA Inc" owning the Rain Forest Drive road parcel, but the recorded documents put that land in the condominium association:

• Arvida dedicated Planters Boulevard, the first 147.99 feet of Rain Forest Drive and drainage Parcels A and B to the Boca West Maintenance Association. It dedicated "the remainder of Rain Forest Drive", Trevi Way and recreation Parcel C to "Plantation Colony of Boca West Condominium Association, Inc." as its "perpetual maintenance obligation" (PB 44/162, sheet 1).
• In 1991 Arvida/JMB Partners quit-claimed "PARCEL C and the roads shown on the plat as Trevi Way and Rain Forest Road, less the Westerly 147.99 feet" to the condominium association (OR 6812/492).
• The declaration lets the association collect for one other body only, the Boca West Maintenance Association (Art. XVIII.F, OR 3861/27). It mentions no Village-level declaration.

The Property Appraiser cites that same 1991 deed as the parcel's source of title, so its "HOA" name looks like a label, not a second association. A sale needs the condominium's estoppel and the master's. We ask the manager to confirm that no other association bills the unit.

Plantation Colony's approval, then the master's Certificate of Compliance and the Country Club's approval of the buyer. Approval itself is not new. The 1983 declaration required it for every sale except to another owner, and owed a substitute buyer only if the seller's notice demanded one (Art. XVI.A, C(1), OR 3861/20–23). The 2019 amendment replaced Article XVI in full. Under it, still, no owner may sell "without approval of the Association, except to another Unit Owner" (OR 30491/1121, pp. 4–10):

• The application. The seller applies on the association's form at least 30 days before the transfer, with the contract. Criminal, credit and financial checks may follow, and the fee is up to $100 an applicant (pp. 4–5).
• The decision. Within 20 days of a complete application the association "shall either approve the sale or transfer, or exercise its right of first refusal" (p. 4).
• The right of first refusal. If it does not approve, within 30 days it must deliver an agreement to buy, by itself or a buyer it approves, at the contract price, by official check or wire, closing within 30 days. If it does not, the sale is deemed approved (p. 5).
• Refusal for cause. No substitute buyer is owed for a buyer with a FICO score under 700, a disqualifying felony, a sex-offender registration or early possession, or where the seller is delinquent (pp. 5–6).
• Gifts and other transfers. Approval within 20 days on the same fee; the owner records the certificate (p. 9).
• Void without it. An unauthorized sale, mortgage or transfer "shall be void unless subsequently approved" (p. 10).

A person or a trust. After 22 March 2019 "no person may purchase or otherwise acquire title to a Unit in the name of a corporation, partnership, LLC, or other similar entity". The exceptions are the association and a lender taking title by its own foreclosure. "There shall be no prohibition on a Unit being owned in the name of a trust" (Art. XVI.E, OR 30491/1121, pp. 9–10). A mortgage to anyone but an Institutional Lender needs approval (Art. XVI.F).

The rules depend on when the owner bought (Art. XV.E, OR 30491/1121, pp. 2–4).

• Bought after 12 December 2006. A lease of 3 to 12 months, "only one (1) time in each consecutive twenty-four (24) month period", with a deposit of up to a month's rent.
• No transient renting. No subleasing and no listing on Airbnb, VRBO or similar sites. A non-family guest staying over 7 days without the owner counts as a tenant.
• Earlier owners. They keep the old rule: approval and a term of at least one month.
• Review. 20 days. A substitute tenant is owed on a refusal unless it was for cause (pp. 6–8).

In 1983 Phase I units could be leased for a week (OR 3861/19). 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)). A buyer today takes the 24-month limit in full. The master's rules add a first-year bar and a four-month minimum.

• The 2019 amendment struck "the effective date of this amendment" and wrote in 12 December 2006 (pp. 2–3). That points to an earlier leasing amendment, which the Clerk does not link and we have not found. Whether owners who bought from 2006 to 2019 are bound is a question for underwriting.
• The 2014 amendment restates the statute: a unit owner is "jointly and severally liable with the previous Unit Owner for all unpaid assessments". For mortgages recorded after that date, § 718.116(1) sets the lender's liability (OR 26776/370, pp. 3–4). Delinquent assessments carry 18% and a late fee of $25 or 5%, whichever is greater (p. 2).
• Roofs are the association's to maintain and replace; skylights are the requesting owner's cost (OR 22970/1444, p. 2).
• Each address has one assigned, numbered space under the parking plan of 2023 as modified in 2024 (OR 34124/769; OR 34887/1013, pp. 2–5). We note the space in the closing file.

The master bills Plantation Colony $89,452 for 2026/2027, up 18.17% (master's adopted 2026/2027 budget, not recorded). Each unit also bears the master's per-unit charges. We found no capital contribution in the association's own documents.