Marina Village, Fisher Island: condominium rules, fees and closing points

• The association's estoppel. "Within fifteen (15) days after request by a Unit Owner or mortgagee", the association must certify the assessments and other moneys owed on the unit, and a person relying on the certificate "shall be protected thereby" (§ 13.7). Chapter 718 now requires that "Within 10 business days after receiving a written or electronic request therefor … the association shall issue the estoppel certificate" (Fla. Stat. § 718.116(8)(a)). FICA's estoppel is ordered separately (master page).
• The right-of-first-refusal certificate. The association's certificate that its right was satisfied or waived is the document that clears the sale (see below).
• Notice of the sale. The notice the declaration requires is the first-refusal notice: before accepting an outside offer, the seller sends it to the Board by registered mail (§ 18.1).
• No fee is set. The recorded documents have no transfer fee, capital contribution or working-capital charge. The association may charge nothing for the first-refusal certificate "in excess of the charges reasonably required for same", and never more than the Condominium Act allows (§ 18.5).
• Entity buyers need no approval. "a corporate Unit Owner may allow its officers, directors, designees, and employees to use the Unit without it constituting a lease" (§ 17.8).
• Parking. Parking-space assignments are made in writing and are not recorded (§ 3.3(c)(ii)). Ask the association for the unit's assignment.
• Rules. None adopted after 1989 is in our set. Ask the association for its current rules.

Yes, on sales. "No Unit Owner other than the Developer may sell his Unit except by complying with the following provisions" (§ 18):

1. A seller who receives a bona fide outside offer he intends to accept must give the Board notice by registered mail, naming the offeror and stating the terms and any other information the Board reasonably asks for. The notice is itself an offer to sell to the association on the same terms (§ 18.1).
2. "Not later than thirty (30) days after receipt of such notice", with any further information requested, the association or its designee may elect to buy. If it does, the sale closes "within forty five (45) days" (§ 18.1).
3. A later sentence of the same section says that if the association fails to accept "within twenty (20) days", the owner may accept the outside offer "within sixty (60) days". The 30-day and 20-day periods conflict; allow 30, and rely on the certificate rather than on either period running.
4. The association may not exercise the option "without the prior approval of Owners of a majority of the Units present in person or by proxy and voting at a meeting at which a quorum has been obtained" (§ 18.2).
5. A sale made in breach of § 18 "shall be voidable at any time at the election of the Association" (§ 18.1).
6. A certificate "executed and acknowledged by an officer of the Association" that § 18.1 was satisfied, or that the right was released or waived, "shall be conclusive with respect to all persons who rely on such certificate in good faith" (§ 18.5). We record it with the deed.

The right does not reach leases. It does not apply to units owned by the Developer, or to an Institutional First Mortgagee acquiring title by foreclosure or deed in lieu (§ 18.1). Section 18.7 also excepts a transfer to the owner's spouse, adult children, parents, parents-in-law or adult siblings, or to a trustee, corporation or other entity of which the owner or those relatives "are and continue to be the sole beneficiary or equity owner"; transfers by or to the Developer or the association; a foreclosure sale or deed in lieu; and an Institutional First Mortgagee taking title. Gifts, devises and intestacy are free (§ 18.8), and a unit may be mortgaged without restriction (§ 18.9). Each later owner stays bound by § 18.

Yes, without limits. "There shall be no restrictions on the frequency of the leasing of Units, on the duration of any tenancy thereof nor on the persons to whom a Unit may be leased" (§ 17.8). The section sets no approval, minimum term, deposit or notice to the association, and says nothing of subleases; the first refusal does not reach leases. The owner is jointly and severally liable to the association for a tenant's violations, and § 17.8 "may be amended only by the affirmative vote of ninety percent (90%) of all Unit Owners".

FICA's rules apply on top. Tenants register with FICA, and FICA may refuse the ferry to a tenant when a required association approval was not obtained; this declaration requires none (master page).

No leasing amendment is in our set. One adopted since 1989 that limits rentals "applies only to unit owners who consent to the amendment and unit owners who acquire title to their units after the effective date of that amendment" (Fla. Stat. § 718.110(13)), so it would bind a buyer. For an investor buyer we search the records forward from 1989 first.

• The buyer owes what the seller did not pay. "the grantee shall be jointly and severally liable with the grantor for all unpaid Assessments" (§ 13.1), and "A unit owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for all unpaid assessments that came due up to the time of transfer of title" (Fla. Stat. § 718.116(1)(a)). The estoppel shows what is owed.
• The lien. Assessments unpaid "fifteen (15) days" bear interest "at the highest lawful rate", and the lien is effective "as of the date of the recording of this Declaration", evidenced by a claim of lien (§ 13.2). How that stands against a particular mortgage is a question for underwriting; rely on the estoppel.
• A foreclosing first mortgagee. An Institutional First Mortgagee that takes title by foreclosure or deed in lieu is not liable for earlier assessments "unless such share is secured by a claim of lien that is recorded prior to the recording of the foreclosed mortgage" (§ 13.5). Chapter 718 now makes such a first mortgagee liable for the lesser of the unpaid assessments "which accrued or came due during the 12 months immediately preceding the acquisition of title" or "One percent of the original mortgage debt" (§ 718.116(1)(b)). Which applies to a bank-owned resale is for underwriting.
• Fines are capped at $50.00, need notice and a hearing, and "No fine shall become a lien upon a Unit" (By-Laws § 5(m)).
• Amendments need owners of more than 50% of the units together with at least 66 2/3% of the Board, or owners of more than 80% of the units (§ 6.1); § 17.8 needs 90% of all unit owners. The declaration may not be amended or enforced in a way that discriminates against commercial or residential units without the consent of a majority of the owners of that type (§ 24.1).
• The commercial units. "Unit" includes both commercial and residential units, and each unit's share of the common elements and common expenses is set in Exhibit 2 (§§ 2.24, 5.1). Commercial units "may be used for such retail, service or other commercial purposes as may be permitted by applicable zoning", and no pets may be kept in them (§§ 17.1, 17.3). Under § 24.1, an amendment or enforcement that discriminates against the residential units needs the consent of a majority of the residential owners. The documents we hold do not say who owns the commercial units or what occupies them, and none mentions the Fisher Island Club.
• A missing survey sheet. Our copy lacks OR 13512/962, sheet 5 of 5 of Exhibit 3, which shows "the horizontal boundary of each unit". Pull it, or the condominium plans (Condominium Plans Book 209, Page 18; the last digit is uncertain on our copy), before relying on a unit's boundaries.
• The Developer's rights. The Developer may alter or recombine units it owns (§ 10), and it and its units are exempt from § 17, apart from §§ 17.3 and 17.8, and from § 18 (§ 17.12). Nothing we hold shows whether Island Developers, Ltd. or a successor still owns a unit.
• Since 1989. The association has "The power to operate condominiums other than the condominium" (§ 11.1(g)). Nothing we hold shows whether units have been combined, whether the owners have taken control from the Developer, or whether the three Marina Village associations have merged. The records need searching forward from 3 February 1989.
• Cited but not in our set: the Master Covenants recorded at OR 13008/2052 (which version now governs is on the master page), the Lindisfarne on Fisher Island, Section 1 plat (Plat Book 128, Page 59), the condominium plans, and the missing survey sheet.