Palazzo del Mare, Fisher Island: condominium rules, fees and closing points

• The association's estoppel. The declaration promises a certificate within fifteen (15) days of a written request, for "a reasonable fee" (§ 13.7). Chapter 718 now requires it sooner: "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)). The fee caps are on our page about HOA approvals and estoppels. FICA's estoppel is ordered separately (master page).
• An information fee. For good-faith answers to a prospective purchaser's or lienholder's requests beyond what the law requires, the association may charge a reasonable fee, which shall "not exceed $150.00 plus the reasonable cost of photocopying and any attorney's fees" (By-Laws § 18). No transfer fee, capital contribution or working-capital payment is set.
• No right of first refusal, and no approval of the buyer. The declaration has neither. The articles give the association a power "To approve or disapprove the leasing, transfer, ownership and possession of Units as may be provided by the Declaration" (Articles § 5.2(g)), but the declaration provides for no such approval. FICA approves no buyer either (master page).
• Notice of the sale. Each owner files with the association "a copy of the deed or other document showing his ownership" (By-Laws § 11).
• Entity buyers. Where a corporation owns a unit, the person who votes for it is designated by a certificate signed by an officer and filed with the association's Secretary (By-Laws § 3.6(c)).
• What goes with the unit. Storage spaces, parking and golf-cart spaces, Supplemental Quarters and Cabanas become limited common elements of a unit when they are assigned to it, and the assignments are made in writing that is not recorded in the Public Records (§ 3.3(b)–(e)). Parking and golf-cart spaces were assigned "at the closing of the purchase of the Unit from the Developer" (§ 3.3(c)(ii)). Get the association's record of every assignment to the unit, so the deed and the closing statement match it.
• The current rules. The By-Laws say initial rules are "Attached hereto as Schedule "A"" (By-Laws § 14), but no Schedule "A" is among the recorded pages. Ask the association for the rules it applies.

Yes. "Leasing of Units shall not be subject to the prior written approval of the Association" (§ 17.8). The terms (§ 17.8):

• the whole unit only, under a written lease of at least six (6) months;
• no more than one lease, renewals included, may commence in a calendar year;
• the owner notifies the association each time the unit is to be occupied by a tenant, and is jointly and severally liable for the tenant's violations;
• "If so required by the Association", a deposit "not to exceed the equivalent of one month's rental";
• leases are subordinate to the association's lien, and while the unit is leased the tenant, not the owner, has the use of the amenities.

No Cabana may be leased, although visiting guests may occupy one temporarily (§ 3.3(e)). 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 would need a Majority of Institutional First Mortgagees (§ 20.2). An amendment "prohibiting unit owners from renting their units or altering the duration of the rental term or specifying or limiting the number of times unit owners are entitled to rent their units during a specified period 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)).

• The lien. Unpaid assessments bear interest at "fifteen percent (15%) per annum" after ten days and a late fee of "the greater of $25.00 or five percent (5%)". The lien relates back to the recording of the declaration, 7 August 2007, but against a first mortgage of record it runs only from the recording of a claim of lien, and installments may be accelerated after 30 days' notice (§ 13.3).
• The buyer owes what the seller did not pay. The grantee is "jointly and severally liable with the previous Owner for all unpaid Assessments that came due up to the time of the conveyance" (§ 13.1), and so is a buyer under Fla. Stat. § 718.116(1)(a), which makes a unit owner "jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for all unpaid assessments that came due up to the time of transfer of title".
• Bank-owned resales. Under the declaration a first mortgagee that takes title owes the lesser of six (6) months' assessments or 1% of the original mortgage debt, and only if it joined the association in the foreclosure (§ 13.6). Chapter 718 now sets the limit at the lesser of the 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)1.). Which governs a sale is for underwriting.
• Fines are capped at $100 per violation and $1,000 in total, and "No fine shall become a lien upon a Unit" (By-Laws § 5.1(m)). Borrowing above $250,000.00 needs two-thirds of the units at a meeting (By-Laws § 5.1(o)).
• The share table adds to 100.005%. Exhibit "3" gives types A and D 2.765% each, B and C 2.622%, E 5.263%, Tower Suites One (7191) and Two (7193) 4.218%, and the Penthouses (7102, 7192) 5.263%; the 29 shares total 100.005%. No amendment correcting it is in our set. Use the association's figure for the unit.
• The building's design is tied to a 2005 arbitration agreement. "Each Unit Owner understands and agrees that the design of the Building shall be in at all times in accordance with the terms of the Arbitration Agreement" (§ 17.4). The agreement, attached as Exhibit 6, records design revisions agreed with Fisher Island Holdings, LLC — to the penthouse gazebos, a Level 10 balcony and a second "Guest Cottage". Ask about it before planning any change to the building's design.
• Post-tension slabs. The post-tension cables and rods are common elements that "MAY NOT BE DISTURBED OR ALTERED WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE BOARD" (§ 3.2(c)); the drywall at the unit's boundary is part of the unit (§ 3.2(b)).
• Amending the declaration takes more than 66 2/3% of all voting interests, with the joinder of affected owners and lienholders for material amendments; the developer could amend alone while it elected a majority of the board (§§ 6.1, 6.2, 6.5). A Majority of Institutional First Mortgagees must approve amendments on fourteen listed subjects, including "(j) imposition of restrictions on leasing of units" and "(k) imposition of restrictions on the selling or transferring of title to Units" (§ 20.2). Special and capital assessments that "exceed $125,000.00 or cause the total Assessments levied to exceed 115%" of the year before need a majority vote (§ 13.2(c)).
• The developer's mortgage. Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas subordinated its mortgage to the declaration; its recording reference is not given. Confirm a release of the unit in the chain.
• Cited but not in our set: the plat of Lindisfarne on Fisher Island Section 9 (PB 149/86), the Deutsche Bank mortgage, the By-Laws' Schedule "A" rules, and anything recorded after 7 August 2007.