Palazzo del Sol / della Luna, 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 answering a prospective purchaser's or lienholder's requests beyond what the law requires, the association may charge a fee that "shall not exceed $150.00 plus the reasonable cost of photocopying and any attorney's fees" (By-Laws § 19). No transfer fee, capital contribution or working-capital payment is set. The rules let the association "impose a Fee Schedule" for moves (Rule 25(c)).
• No right of first refusal, and no approval of the buyer. The declaration, By-Laws and Articles provide for neither. 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).
• The lease approval, for a buyer who will lease. The approval, its background and financial check, and the one-month deposit all come before a tenant moves in (§ 17.8).
• What goes with the unit. Parking spaces, garages and golf-cart spaces were assigned by the developer "at the closing of the purchase of the Unit from the Developer", and assignments "shall be in writing (but not recorded in the Public Records of the County)" (§ 3.3(d)). Storage spaces are assigned the same way (§ 3.3(c)). Get the association's record of every assignment to the unit.
• The unit's share, from the Second Amendment. Use the replacement Exhibit "3", not the original (see the title points).

Not in any document we hold. The declaration reserved the right to add one more phase, on the "Subsequent Phase Land" of Exhibit "2-A", of "one (1) or more building containing forty-seven (47) Units, consisting of forty-six (46) Residential Units and one (1) Commercial Unit", within seven years after the earlier of the recording of the surveyor's certificate or the first conveyance of a unit, unless the owners extend the time (§ 19.1). Until an amendment adds it, the Subsequent Phase Land "shall be free and clear of all terms and conditions" of the declaration (§ 2.46). If it is never added, the Phase I owners own all of the common elements then subject to the declaration (§ 19.4).

The substantial completion certificate was recorded with the Second Amendment on 14 March 2016. On our reading, the seven years therefore ran out no later than 14 March 2023 unless they were extended; the documents themselves state no date. Our set holds no amendment adding Phase II and no notice that it will not be added. The answer decides how many units share the common expenses, each unit's share and the make-up of the board, so the records need searching before a closing. The declaration's text does not use the two names apart, but the sketch of the property in Exhibit "2-A" labels the Phase I parcel "PALAZZO DEL SOL" and the Subsequent Phase Land beside it "PALAZZO DELLA LUNA", with a "Phase-line boundary between Palazzo del Sol and Palazzo della Luna" (Exhibit "2-A", sheet 4).

Only with the association's approval. "Leasing of Residential Units shall be subject to the prior written approval of the Condominium Association, which approval may be conditioned upon an acceptable background and financial check" (§ 17.8). The terms (§ 17.8):

• the whole unit only: "No Unit may be leased for a term of less than twelve (12) months and no Unit may be leased more than one (1) time, including any renewals, in any calendar year";
• if a tenant leaves early, the unit "cannot be re-leased until the passage of the twelve (12) month period";
• "a security deposit equal to one month's rent must be paid to the Condominium Association prior to the commencement of each lease";
• the owner notifies the association each time a tenant occupies the unit and is jointly liable for the tenant's violations, and the association may collect the rent from the tenant while the owner is delinquent;
• while the unit is leased, the tenant has the use of the common elements and the owner does not, except as a guest;
• a Guest Studio may not be leased apart from its unit, and these restrictions do not apply to the Commercial Unit.

Ask the association for its approval procedure, timing and any fee. Because approval is required, FICA "may deny access to the Transportation System" to a tenant whose owner did not obtain it (master page). No leasing amendment is in our set. 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 the highest rate permitted by law" 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, 30 December 2015, 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 and a claim of lien (§ 13.3).
• The buyer owes what the seller did not pay. A unit owner "shall be 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 Fla. Stat. § 718.116(1)(a) says the same: "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."
• Bank-owned resales. Under the declaration a first mortgagee that takes title owes the lesser of "twelve (12) months" of assessments or "One percent (1%) of the original mortgage debt", if it joined the association in the foreclosure (§ 13.6). Chapter 718 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.
• A call that disagrees with the survey. Exhibit "1" calls "S65°13'00"E for 104.69 feet". Sheet 5 of the survey, in the original Exhibit "2" and in the Second Amendment's replacement, says 104.39 feet, and on our check the description closes on 104.39. The Second Amendment replaced Exhibits "2" and "3" but not Exhibit "1". We convey by unit number and the declaration's recording reference, and flag the discrepancy to the underwriter if a metes-and-bounds description is used.
• The share table prints fractions as percentages. The column headed "% Share" in the Second Amendment's Exhibit "3" shows Unit 7001 as "0.0311%"; with 7,188 of 231,132 square feet, its share is 3.11%. Shares follow square footage (§ 5.1(a)). Quote a unit's share as a percentage, not as printed.
• A page is blank in our copy. OR 29908/491, which holds the end of Article 15 (casualty) and §§ 16.1–16.2 (condemnation), printed blank. We pull the page to complete the copy before relying on those sections.
• The Army Corps of Engineers easement. The condominium property is burdened by the easement agreement at OR 16853/566 and OR 16853/593, which "reserves rights to the United States Army Corp of Engineers (and others) to utilize approximately fifty feet (50') in width of the Condominium Property along Government Cut and imposes limitations on the use and improvement of that property". Each owner accepts it and the listed encroachments: a beach path, jetty rocks, fences, paved areas, a catch basin and a golf path and fire access road (§ 3.4(n)). Expect it as an exception on the commitment.
• The Roadway. A non-exclusive easement over the Roadway is reserved for FICA and its members, guests and tenants, and the Roadway is to be part of FICA's Common Areas, maintained through FICA's assessments (§ 3.4(k)).
• The Commercial Unit. CU-1 may be used for any lawful purpose other than the declaration's "Prohibited Uses", and its owner may place signage and equipment on its external surfaces and terraces without the association's approval (§§ 2.43, 3.3(b), 17.1).
• The developer's guaranty and mortgage. The developer guaranteed assessments to the earlier of 31 December 2016 or turnover, extendable by up to two fiscal years (§ 13.10); ask the estoppel whether anything under it is still open. Tri-Star Capital Ventures Ltd. subordinated its mortgage to the declaration, but its recording reference is not given; confirm a partial release of the unit in the chain.
• 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)). Special or capital assessments over three percent of the budget need a majority vote, except for an "Extraordinary Financial Event" (§ 13.2(c)).
• Amending the declaration takes "in excess of two-thirds (⅔) of the voting interests of all Unit Owners", with the joinder of affected owners and lienholders for material amendments (§§ 6.1, 6.2). The developer could amend alone while it controlled the board (§ 6.5(a)), and both amendments in our set were made that way. Termination needs 80% of the owners and 67% of institutional first mortgagees (§ 20).
• Cited but not in our set: the Army Corps instruments (OR 16853/566 and 16853/593), the plat (PB 149/86), the Tri-Star mortgage, any amendment adding Phase II or notice not to add it, any instrument correcting Exhibit "1", and anything recorded after 14 March 2016.