Sabal Lake, Boca West: 46 condominium units, sale approval in 20 days and a pool shared with Sabal Lake West

The association's approval, then the master's Certificate of Compliance and the Country Club's approval of the buyer. "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 4424/1358). Gifts and any other transfer need approval too.

• The notice. The seller tells the association of the sale, with the buyer's name and address and whatever else it reasonably asks for. No fee is stated in the declaration.
• The deadline. "Within twenty (20) days after receipt of such notice and information, the Association must either approve or disapprove" (Art. XVI.B(2)(a), OR 4424/1360). The declaration does not say what happens if it does neither.
• The certificate. An approval is "stated in a certificate … in recordable form" that "shall be recorded". We record it with the deed.
• A company or trust buyer. Approval is conditioned on the association also approving the "Primary Occupant" (Art. XVI.B(3)).
• A refusal. Only if the seller's notice demands it must the association produce a buyer at the contract price, in cash, closing within 30 days. Otherwise the sale "shall be deemed to have been approved" (Art. XVI.C(1), OR 4424/1361). Without that demand, a refusal simply stands.
• Void without approval. "Any sale, mortgage, or other transfer which is not authorized pursuant to the terms of this Declaration shall be void unless subsequently approved by the Association" (Art. XVI.F, OR 4424/1362).
• Exempt. An institutional or approved lender taking title through its mortgage, and its own resale; and a buyer at a foreclosure, execution, judicial or tax sale (Art. XVI.E).

Yes, with approval. "Entire Units, but not less than entire Units, may be leased", for single-family use and "for a period of one (1) month or more" (Art. XV.E, OR 4424/1357). The owner sends the association the lease, which must say it is subject to approval, and the association has 20 days to decide (Art. XVI.B). The declaration sets no cap on leases a year and no waiting period after purchase.

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)). Sabal Lake's leasing text is the 1984 original, so it binds every owner, and any later amendment we find on the file would bind a buyer after it. The master's rules are stricter, with no lease in the first 12 months and none under four months.

Sabal Lake's owners swim on Sabal Lake West's land. Arvida sold the unbuilt phases in 1986 and recorded easements over the whole "Sabal Lake Condominium Development Area". Sabal Lake's unit owners hold "the non-exclusive right to use and enjoy all swimming pools, recreational buildings and all related facilities" on that land, with its drives, walks and parking (OR 5048/1036, ¶ 2). The upkeep is shared by number of homes (¶ 4).

A 1987 amendment to the cost-sharing agreement simplified this. Sabal Lake pays only its pro rata share of the "Pool and Recreation Building Expenses" for the pool on the former Phase XVI, now Sabal Lake West's. No other shared cost changes hands, because per unit it was "approximately the same for each of the 108 condominium and residential units" (OR 5189/853, ¶ 3). Unit owners may cancel the agreement after turnover under § 718.302 (¶ 5).

In 2016 the association recorded a notice under the Marketable Record Title Act to keep the 1986 easements and the agreement alive over Sabal Lake West's land (OR 28590/1667, re-recorded at OR 28645/1953). The pool share is billed monthly to the association, not to owners (OR 5189/853, ¶ 4), so a buyer meets it through Sabal Lake's assessment.

The declaration body creates no capital contribution or transfer fee. The by-laws and articles, which might, were not read. The buyer pays the master's capital contribution and the Club's Joining Fee, plus whatever the association's estoppel shows.

"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, OR 4424/1367). Chapter 718 says the same, so the estoppel figures are cleared at closing.

The master bills Sabal Lake $29,334 for 2026/2027, down from $30,367 (master's adopted 2026/2027 budget, not recorded). Sabal Lake owners also carry the master's per-unit charges. The declaration lets the association collect the master's assessments for it (Art. XVIII.F, OR 4424/1365).

• Unit numbers interleave. Sabal Lake holds Units 5011–5046, 5101–5108 and 5141–5148. Sabal Lake West's numbers fall between them, on the same street. We read the deed's condominium name against the Property Appraiser's folio.
• The amendments adding Phase III (OR 4430/1801) and Phases II and IV (OR 4479/1912) are recorded. The one adding Phases X and XIV was not found, though the 1987 amendment recites that Arvida "elected to submit" them (OR 5189/853). For a unit in those buildings we look for that instrument.
• Only an "Institutional Lender" may take a mortgage without approval; any other lender's "may be arbitrarily withheld" (Art. XVI.D, OR 4424/1362). Seller financing needs the association's consent.
• The declaration's lien runs from a recorded claim of lien and yields to earlier mortgages (Art. XVIII.K, OR 4424/1366). Its rule on a foreclosing lender's liability now gives way to Chapter 718.

The buildings are two stories; the declaration grants a stairway "to each second story Unit" (Art. V, OR 4424/1343). Fla. Stat. § 553.899 requires milestone inspections only for buildings of three or more habitable stories, so it should not reach them. The buyer is still owed the resale documents.