Marina Village, Fisher Island: first refusal, open leasing and combined units in Building 41

Five instruments recorded from 2015 to 2021 deal with the unit count in § 3.1. The latest, recorded 3 September 2021 (OR 32719/1632), joins Units 41216 and 41218 and states six residential and seventeen commercial units, "for a total of twenty-three (23)" (§ 3.1). It is indexed as a By-Laws amendment, but its first two pages hold no By-Laws text.

The earlier ones need care. The first, recorded 2 January 2015 (OR 29451/841), cites the declaration as OR 14575/370 rather than OR 13512/915. The index holds no instrument at OR 14575/370, and OR 14575/379 is the declaration of Marina Village No. Three, recorded 6 June 1990. As written, the 2015 amendment takes the residential count from 10 to 9, the commercial from 17 to 12 and the total from 22 to 21. It was re-recorded with more pages on 20 August 2015 (OR 29746/2418). A certificate recorded 28 January 2016 (OR 29941/1937) then restates the current § 3.1 and Exhibits 2 and 3 after an earlier exhibit error. An amendment recorded 24 January 2019 (OR 31300/3533) takes the residential count from 10 to 7 and the total from 27 to 24.

The Property Appraiser's roll shows 7 residential parcels. Unit 41211 sits inside R-41212 under the note "AMEND DECL OR 29221-1913", but that instrument, recorded 8 July 2014, is a deed between companies, not an amendment. Unit 41215 is merged into 41216, and Units 41219, 41220 and 41221 into 41222, with nothing cited.

Our copy of the declaration lacks OR 13512/962, sheet 5 of 5 of Exhibit 3, which shows "the horizontal boundary of each unit". The condominium plans are at Condominium Plans Book 209, Page 18 (last digit unclear).

Every owner belongs to the Fisher Island Community Association (FICA) under its Master Covenants (§ 22), so FICA's estoppel, its statement of what the owner owes, comes separately. The seller delivers the Chapter 718 resale documents, and Building 41's association supplies three more items.

• Its estoppel, due in 10 business days under Chapter 718, though § 13.7 still allows 15. Anyone who relies on it is protected (§ 13.7).
• The § 18.5 certificate clearing the association's right to buy (how long that takes).
• The parking assignment and current rules. Assignments are written but unrecorded (§ 3.3(c)(ii)), and no later rule is among the instruments, so we ask the association for both.

Allow 30 days for the association to decide, and 45 more to close if it buys. The right lets the association take over a sale on the outside buyer's terms, though never a lease (§ 18). The clock starts when a seller who means to accept a bona fide outside offer writes to the Board by registered mail, naming the offeror and the terms. The letter doubles as an offer to the association on the same terms (§ 18.1). Because a later sentence of § 18.1 says 20 days, we allow the full 30 and rely on the § 18.5 certificate. Signed and acknowledged by an officer, it states that § 18.1 was met or the right released or waived, and it is conclusive for anyone who relies on it in good faith.

Under the shared Island Developers form, buying takes a § 18.2 vote, a sale made without notice can be voided (§ 18.1), and the Developer's units and family transfers are among the exemptions (§§ 18.1, 18.7–18.9). Every later owner stays bound. Building 41 was the first of three Marina Village condominiums on this form, ahead of Gardens No. Two in Building 40 and No. Three in Building 42, terminated in 2024.

Under § 17.8, nothing limits how often, how long or to whom a unit is leased. The section is silent on subleases and asks for no approval, minimum term, deposit or notice. For a tenant's violations, the association can hold the owner jointly and severally liable. Buying through a company needs no approval either, and the company's officers, directors, designees and employees may use the unit "without it constituting a lease" (§ 17.8).

Our Official Records search through 9 October 2026 found no amendment to § 17.8. A rental limit adopted later would still bind anyone who buys after it takes effect (§ 718.110(13) and FICA's tenant rules), so for an investor buyer we search for one first. FICA registers tenants but can refuse one the ferry only where an association approval was required, and Marina Village requires none.

Wherever zoning allows, the 17 commercial units are open to retail, service or other commercial uses (§ 17.1). Until the 1989 amendment, residential units were held to residence or guest use, with an occupancy limit. Now they may serve "any purpose as may be permitted by applicable zoning from time to time" (OR 13984/2487). Each kind is a "Unit" (§ 2.24) with its Exhibit 2 share of common elements and expenses (§ 5.1). Singling out either class, by amendment or in enforcement, takes the consent of a majority of that class's owners (§ 24.1).

Assessments and amendments follow the shared Island Developers terms (§§ 13.1, 13.2, 13.5 and 6.1). A fine requires notice and a hearing first, may not exceed $50.00 and cannot become a lien (By-Laws § 5(m)). The buyer becomes jointly and severally liable for the seller's arrears, and the lien, evidenced by a claim of lien, dates back to the declaration's recording. When a bank takes title by foreclosure or deed in lieu, § 13.5 excuses earlier assessments unless a claim of lien was recorded before its mortgage. If the bank named the association as a defendant, Chapter 718 limits what it owes to 12 months' assessments or 1% of the original debt, whichever is less. Underwriting picks between the two (the lender rules compared).

Island Developers, Ltd., the Developer, kept the right to alter or recombine its own units (§ 10). It and its units sit outside § 18 and all of § 17 except §§ 17.3 and 17.8 (§ 17.12). Neither the declaration nor its 1989 amendment shows whether it or a successor still holds a unit, or whether the owners have taken control of the association from it (turnover). The association may also run "condominiums other than the condominium" (§ 11.1(g)), though none of the instruments the search turned up merges the Marina Village associations.

Our October 2026 search of the Miami-Dade Clerk's Official Records index, current through 9 October 2026, covered Marina Village's instruments recorded after 3 February 1989. It found the five unit-count instruments of 2015 to 2021 below and showed that OR 29221/1913 is a deed.