Willow Wood Mid-Rise II, Boca West: an unamended 1981 declaration and two 2026 tax-deed judgments

By the association first, then by the master's Certificate of Compliance and the Country Club's approval of the buyer. Article XVII covers sales, gifts, leases and "any manner not heretofore considered" (OR 3473/929, p. 21). Only a sale to another unit owner escapes it. In order:

1. Notice. The selling owner tells the association who the buyer is and supplies what it reasonably asks. The owner may demand a substitute buyer in case of refusal, attaching the signed contract (p. 22).
2. Decision. Within 20 days the association approves or disapproves. An approval of a sale is a certificate in recordable form, delivered to the buyer and recorded (p. 22).
3. Substitute. After a refusal, if demanded, the association has 20 days to deliver a contract to buy at the same price, in cash, closing within 30 days. If it fails, or its buyer defaults, the sale stands approved (pp. 23–24).
4. Company buyers. A corporation or trustee is approved only with the Primary Occupant who will live there (p. 23).

Two groups need no approval: an institutional lender acquiring through its mortgage, and a buyer at a public sale "such as but not limited to execution sale, foreclosure sale, judicial sale or tax sale" (Art. XVII.E, p. 24). A sale, mortgage or lease made without approval is "void unless subsequently approved" (Art. XVII.F, p. 25).

Mortgages to anyone but a bank, life insurer, savings and loan or real estate investment trust need approval, which "may be arbitrarily withheld" (Art. XVII.D, p. 24). The declaration fixes no application fee, so the association's form sets it.

A tax-deed buyer of one unit brought a quiet-title case in 2026, and two judgments are of record. Anyone buying or lending on that unit reads them together:

• OR 36775/479, recorded 4 September 2026, is an agreed judgment on the Country Club membership. It expressly preserves "the obligation of any titleholder of the Property to join and pay" the Club under the master declaration. Whether that obligation "runs with, survives in, or otherwise attaches to the Property following the Tax Deed" is "expressly reserved" (pp. 2–3).
• OR 36861/1516, recorded 16 October 2026, is a default judgment. It extinguishes this association's and the master's pre-deed claims, "including any claim or lien for regular or special assessments, interest, late charges, fines, attorneys' fees, or costs that accrued or came due before March 12, 2026" (¶ D, p. 3).
• The same judgment keeps the covenants "that survive the Tax Deed under Section 197.573". It also keeps both associations' right to assess the unit from 12 March 2026 (¶ E, p. 3).
• The Village of Willow Wood was not a party to the case. Neither judgment therefore deals with its claims for assessments that came due before the tax deed. Whether the tax deed itself cut them off is a question for underwriting.
• The first judgment's caption names a different condominium association from the one its body and the second judgment name. The Clerk indexes both judgments against this one.

The tax-sale buyer needed no association approval, but the next sale of that unit is an ordinary one under Article XVII.

Yes, whole units only, with the association's approval:

• Process. The owner sends the lease and the tenant's details, and the lease must say it is subject to approval. The association decides within 20 days and issues a certificate to the tenant (Art. XVII.B, p. 22).
• A substitute tenant. For a lease over one month, an owner who demanded it may require the association to supply a tenant on identical terms. Failing that, the lease stands approved (Art. XVII.C(2), p. 24).
• No term rules. We found no recorded minimum or maximum term, yearly cap or first-year wait. The master's leasing rules still apply.

Any future leasing amendment would follow the statute. 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 (Fla. Stat. § 718.110(13)). A Mid-Rise II buyer takes title after any amendment recorded before closing, so we search forward on every file.

Floors 2 to 8 must be carpeted wall to wall outside bathrooms, foyers and kitchens (Art. XVI.F, p. 20). The Board's regulations take effect only once 75% of the members approve them (Art. XVI.G, p. 21).

Both buildings date from 1981 and have eight stories. A building of three or more habitable stories needs a milestone inspection by 31 December of the year it turns 30, then every 10 years (Fla. Stat. § 553.899). Mid-Rise II is past that age, so its summary belongs in the resale documents.

Arvida's 1981 text sets no capital contribution or transfer fee of its own. The master's capital contribution and the Club's Joining Fee still fall due at closing. A grantee in a voluntary conveyance shares liability with the seller "for all unpaid assessments" (Art. XIX.M, p. 29). The master bills Mid-Rise II $55,176 for 2026/2027, up from $47,223 (master's adopted 2026/2027 budget, not recorded). Its own assessment and the Village of Willow Wood's come from the estoppels.

• Every owner is a member of Village of Willow Wood Association, Inc. (Art. IV § 1, OR 2990/611). Its assessments are a lien that needs no recording (Art. V § 8, OR 2990/614). The Mid-Rise II board may collect them for it (Art. XIX.F, OR 3473/929, p. 27), so we ask which estoppel carries them.
• The umbrella's lien yields to a first mortgage amortized over at least ten years, but only for amounts due before a foreclosure sale or deed in lieu (Art. V § 9, OR 2990/614).
• The declaration submitted Building 3000 alone; the pool and Building 4000 depended on developer amendments recorded before 1 January 1985 (Art. IV.C, E, p. 5). We did not read them, and check the unit's phase on the file.
• The 1981 lien and foreclosure clauses (Art. XIX.K–L, pp. 28–29) give way to the condominium statute.

The Clerk also links two single-unit instruments of 2002 and 2007 to the declaration (OR 13949/966, OR 21437/1493).