Links Estates, Fisher Island: HOA rules, fees and closing points

• The association's estoppel. "No Owner shall sell or convey its interest in a Lot or Villa unless all sums due to the Association have been paid in full and an estoppel certificate shall have been received from the Association by such Owner." It is due "Within fourteen (14) days of receipt of a written request", the owner pays "a reasonable sum" for it, and it is conclusive for anyone other than an owner who relies on it without knowledge of error (§ 15.12). Chapter 720's estoppel statute sets its own delivery time and fee limits (Fla. Stat. § 720.30851; see HOA approvals and estoppels). FICA's estoppel is ordered separately (master page).
• No right of first refusal, and no approval of the buyer. The declaration has neither, and FICA approves no buyer (master page).
• No resale fee. The "Initial Contribution", "equal to two times the quarterly assessment", is paid by "The first purchaser of each Lot from the Declarant" (§ 15.11). Section 15.8 mentions "Resale Contributions", but no section creates or sets one; ask the estoppel to confirm none has been adopted.
• The buyer's liability insurance. Owners are required to "procure general liability insurance in an amount not less than Two Million Dollars", in a policy that cannot be cancelled or substantially modified without 30 days' written notice to the association and, until the Community Completion Date, the Declarant, both of whom are named as additional insured (§ 13.2). Bind it at closing.
• Entity buyers. An owner that is not a natural person "shall, prior to occupancy of the Villa, designate one or more persons who are to be the occupants of the Villa and register such persons with the Association" (§ 7.4).
• The release of the developer's mortgage. FI Properties Limited consented only to the declaration and its recording; each lot needs its own partial release (see the title points).
• Architectural approvals. Ask for the review board's approvals and any certificate of compliance for the Villa (§ 17.15), and search for a certificate of non-compliance, which the association or the board may record against a lot (§ 17.14).
• Rules and amendments. No rules are in our set, and the Declarant may amend the declaration alone until Turnover (§ 4.3), so ask the association for everything adopted since 1 June 2022.

Yes, without the association's approval (§ 12.9):

• "Villas may be leased, licensed or occupied only in their entirety and no fraction or portion may be rented";
• every lease or occupancy agreement must be in writing, and "A copy of all Lease Agreements shall be provided to the Association";
• "No Lease Agreement may be for a term of less than six (6) months unless otherwise approved by the Association in the case of hardship";
• the tenant agrees to the declaration, the rules, "the FICA Documents" and the association's policies;
• the owner collects from the tenant and remits to the association a security deposit in an amount the association sets.

The declaration sets no limit on how often a Villa may be leased. FICA's rules let it refuse a tenant the ferry only where an association approval is required and was not obtained, but tenants still register with FICA (master page). No leasing amendment is in our set; one adopted after 1 July 2021 would be read against Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h), so for an investor buyer the records need searching forward from 2022.

• The developer's mortgage chain. FI Properties Limited joined the declaration as owner and holder of the Declarant's "Loan Documents": mortgages from the one recorded 22 December 2004 at OR 22930/4585, consolidated, assigned and restated through the Third Amended and Restated Mortgage recorded 8 August 2016 at OR 30183/816, with UCC filings. Its consent is to "the terms, conditions, easements and provisions of the Declaration and the recordation thereof" only, and it "makes no warranty" about the declaration (Joinder and Consent of Mortgage Holder). Each lot therefore needs a recorded partial release; none is in our set.
• The lien relates back. The lien for assessments "is effective from and after recording a Claim of Lien", but "shall relate back to the date that this Declaration is recorded", 1 June 2022 (§ 15.14).
• The buyer owes what the seller did not pay. "The record title owner of a Lot is jointly and severally liable with the previous record title owner of the Lot for all unpaid Assessments that came due up to the time of transfer of title" (§ 15.7), and the seller remains liable too (§ 7.2). Chapter 720 makes the same rule (Fla. Stat. § 720.3085).
• Lenders. The lien is subordinate to a bona fide first mortgage held by a Lender and recorded before the Claim of Lien; a buyer through its foreclosure or deed in lieu is liable for earlier assessments "to the extent provided in Section 720.3085, Florida Statutes", and what it does not owe may be reallocated to all owners (§ 15.15).
• Late fees and fines. An installment not paid within 10 days carries "a late fee of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per quarter (or such greater amount established by the Board)" and interest at the highest lawful rate, and payments go first to fines, then interest, late fees, costs and fees, and only then to the oldest assessment (§ 15.17). Fines are $100.00 a violation, each day a separate violation, "and there is no cap on the aggregate amount", and "Any fine in excess of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) shall constitute a lien against the applicable Lot" (§ 18.6.4). Ask the estoppel to show every fine.
• Assessments are not guaranteed. Before Turnover the Declarant may fund the deficit instead of paying assessments on its lots, and "THE DECLARANT DOES NOT PROVIDE A GUARANTEE OF THE LEVEL OF ASSESSMENTS" (§ 15.8).
• Declarant control. Before Turnover "the Declarant shall have the right to amend this Declaration as it deems appropriate, without the joinder or consent of any person or entity whatsoever" (§ 4.3); after it, an amendment needs a majority of the Board and "fifty-one percent (51%) of the Voting Interests present" at a meeting with a 30% quorum (§ 4.4), and no amendment may alter provisions benefiting Lenders without their approval (§ 4.1). Turnover comes three months after 90% of the lots are conveyed, on the Declarant's election, or when Chapter 720 requires (§ 7.3.2). The use restrictions do not apply to the Declarant's lots (§ 12).
• The architectural review board's decisions. No change to a Lot or Villa, or to the Declarant's landscaping, may be made without the written approval of the Links Estates Homeowners Association Architectural Review Board (§ 12.1.1), and plans it does not answer within 30 days "shall be deemed disapproved" (§ 17.6.3). Unapproved work must be removed at the owner's cost, which becomes an Individual Assessment (§ 17.12).
• The FICA definition. The declaration, recorded in June 2022, defines the "FICA Documents" as "the Amended and Restated Master Covenants for Fisher Island recorded April 23, 2009 in Official Records Book 26838, Page 4363", as amended and supplemented, with FICA's articles, by-laws and rules — not the 2022 restatement. Which version governs is on the master page.
• Cited but not in our set: the Links Estates plat (PB 176/46), the FI Properties Limited mortgage chain and any partial release, the 2009 master covenants, the rules, and anything recorded after 1 June 2022.