Sabal Lake West, Boca West: 62 condominium units, sale approval, a five-day lease decision and parking kept off the record

Three approvals: the association's, the master's Certificate of Compliance and the Country Club's. "No Unit Owner may dispose of a Unit or any interest therein by sale without approval of the Association except to another Unit Owner" (OR 5955/1967). Gifts and other transfers are covered as well.

• Who gives notice. The seller gives the association notice with the buyer's name and address and any information it reasonably requires.
• Twenty days. The association "must either approve or disapprove the proposed transaction" within 20 days of the notice and information (OR 5955/1969). An approval is a certificate in recordable form, recorded in the public records.
• Trust and company buyers. Approval of the owner is conditioned on approval of the "Primary Occupant" (OR 5955/1970).
• A substitute buyer on demand. If the seller's notice demands it, a refused sale must be met within 20 days by an offer at the contract price, in cash, closing within 30 days. If none comes, the sale is deemed approved (OR 5955/1970–1971).
• Void. "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" (OR 5955/1972).
• Who is exempt. An institutional or approved lender that takes title through its mortgage, its own resale, and a buyer at a foreclosure, judicial, execution or tax sale (OR 5955/1972).

The declaration's text names the association "Sabal Lake West of Boca West Association, Inc." (OR 5955/1941, /1946–1947). DBPR's list and the master's budget call it a "Condominium Association". The certificate should carry the name the association uses on its Articles.

Yes. "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" (OR 5955/1965). The owner sends the association the proposed lease. The association has only five days to approve or disapprove (OR 5955/1969), and on the owner's demand must offer a substitute tenant if it refuses (OR 5955/1971).

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)). No Sabal Lake West amendment was found, so the 1989 text binds every owner. The master's rules still bar a lease in the first 12 months and any lease under four months.

Each unit has one assigned space. The developer assigned it by an "Assignment of Use of Parking Space", entered in a "Book" the association keeps (Art. XXIII, OR 5955/1986). On a sale the buyer shows the association its title, and two officers sign a new Assignment in the buyer's name. "There shall be no recordation amongst the Public Records of the County of the transfer or assignment of a Parking Space" (OR 5955/1987).

A space passes only with its unit and may not be sold or leased apart from it. No unit may be left without one. So the deed need not mention the space, and the buyer's proof of it is the association's new Assignment.

No capital contribution or transfer fee appears in the declaration pages read. A Sabal Lake West buyer still owes the master's capital contribution and the Club's Joining Fee. "In any voluntary conveyance of a Unit, the grantee shall be jointly and severally liable with the grantor for all unpaid assessments against the grantor" (OR 5955/1980). The association's estoppel sets the payoff.

The pool and recreation building on Sabal Lake West's land, once proposed Phase XVI of Sabal Lake, serve both condominiums. Since 1987 Sabal Lake pays its pro rata share of their upkeep to the owner of this land. Nothing is paid the other way for the drives, walks and other shared areas (OR 5189/853, ¶ 3).

The master bills Sabal Lake West $38,956 for 2026/2027, down from $39,637 (master's adopted 2026/2027 budget, not recorded). The master's per-unit charges come on top.

• In November 1989 the partnership quit-claimed 60 unsold units to Flagler Federal Savings and Loan Association of Miami "in consideration of the release of the debtor" (OR 6256/1913). The deed's list leaves out only Units 5055 and 5115. Most chains therefore run through that lender, and we read its conveyances.
• The declaration takes the land subject to the reciprocal easements in OR 5048/999 (OR 5955/1946). Sabal Lake's 2016 notice preserves them, and lists this condominium's owners in its exhibit (OR 28590/1667).
• Sabal Lake West's units are 5051–5098, 5111–5136 and 5151–5156; Sabal Lake's fall between them on the same street. We match the deed's condominium name to the folio.
• A lender other than an "Institutional Lender" needs approval, which "may be arbitrarily withheld" (OR 5955/1972).
• The association's lien runs from a recorded claim of lien and yields to earlier mortgages (OR 5955/1978–1979). A foreclosing lender's liability now follows Chapter 718.

The declaration grants stairways to second-story units (OR 5955/1944), so the buildings are two stories. Fla. Stat. § 553.899 applies to buildings of three or more habitable stories, so the milestone rule should not reach them. The resale documents are still owed.