Seaside, Fisher Island: resales, open leasing and the Seaside Villas pool

Seaside's own association supplies these, on top of FICA's estoppel and the seller's resale disclosures.

• Seaside's estoppel, its statement of what the seller owes on its assessments and lien (§§ 13.1–13.2).
• The first-refusal certificate. Section 18.5 makes an officer's acknowledged certificate that the right was met or waived "conclusive with respect to all persons who rely on such certificate in good faith". Recording is optional, and we record it with the deed.
• Parking and storage. At its sale, the Developer gave each unit exclusive use of one or more parking spaces in an unrecorded writing. The association may keep any fee it charges to assign a space (§ 3.3(c)(ii)), and it assigns the survey's storage spaces to units as Limited Common Elements (§ 3.3(d)). Ask for both assignments.
• The names. Deeds, commitments and estoppel requests should use "Seaside, A Condominium" and "Seaside at Fisher Island Condominium Association, Inc." (§§ 1.3, 2.4).

Seaside approves no buyer. Instead, its association can match the deal and buy the unit on the outside buyer's terms, which is its right of first refusal. Section 18 reaches only an owner who means to "sell his Unit", so leases are outside it.

The time runs from the owner's registered-mail notice of a bona fide outside offer they intend to accept, plus any information the association requests (§ 18.1). Section 18.1 gives the association 30 days to elect, then later speaks of 20, so we allow 30 and wait for the certificate. An association purchase closes within 45 days, and the seller bears the documentary stamps and the abstract or title binder due 30 days ahead. If the association lets the time pass, the owner may sign with the outside buyer, but only within 60 days.

A purchase needs the approval of a majority of the units present and voting at a meeting with a quorum (§ 18.2). Family transfers, gifts, devises, the Developer's units and an Institutional First Mortgagee (a bank holding a first mortgage) taking title by foreclosure or deed in lieu are exempt (§§ 18, 18.7–18.8). A sale in breach is voidable at any time (§ 18.1), as on the shared form.

The owner alone. Under § 17.8 nothing limits how often a Seaside unit is leased, the length of a lease or the choice of tenant. The association approves no lease and asks for no deposit, notice or minimum term. The owner answers jointly and severally to the association for a tenant's breach of the declaration or rules. A corporate owner's officers, directors, designees and employees may stay in the unit without it counting as a lease.

Changing the rule would take 90% of all unit owners. Under Chapter 718, a rental limit adopted that way binds only consenting owners and later buyers. None was recorded through 9 October 2026, and for an investor we search again from that date. Tenants still register with FICA, which may deny the ferry to a tenant lacking a required association approval, and Seaside's declaration requires none.

Section 22 gives them a non-exclusive easement over the pool and related facilities of the "Adjacent Condominium". It depends on the Seaside Villas declaration providing for it, as its § 22 does (Official Records (OR) Book 13564, Page 1160). Seaside Villas' association regulates the pool without discriminating against Seaside owners. Costs follow unit count, so the declared 58 units here and 52 there put about 53% on Seaside. Seaside Villas has had 26 units since a 2023 amendment, so both associations should confirm the split.

Rule 22, if it still stands, bars "remodeling, construction or material improvements to the condominium property between the dates of November 21 through March 31". The board adopted it on 7 November 2003 and announced it by unrecorded letter on 10 November. The board must also approve plans.

Between 1 April and 20 November, work runs "from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.", with jack-hammering "from 11:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m.". Unfinished work "shall be suspended" on 20 November until the next 1 April. The board adds unrecorded rules to the by-laws' Schedule "A", and no rule on renovation seasons is recorded. Ask for the current set and check FICA's work rules.

Above the first floor, hard flooring outside kitchens and bathrooms needs "sound-absorbing backing meeting the requirements of the Association" (§ 17.10). Before storm shutters, awnings, screens, signs, window tinting or anything else goes on the exterior, the association must consent in writing (§ 17.9).

Philadelphia National Bank consented to the declaration as holder of a mortgage dated 11 April 1988, recorded on 13 April (OR 13642/1789). We have read neither it nor a release, so the examiner must find one covering the unit.

Seaside's assessment clauses follow the shared form (§§ 13.1–13.2), so buyer and seller each owe unpaid assessments in full, which bear interest at the highest lawful rate after 15 days. Seaside's lien dates from the declaration's 1989 recording, evidenced by a recorded claim of lien, and no fine may top $50 or become a lien (By-Laws § 5(m)).

Section 13.5 frees an Institutional First Mortgagee that took title by foreclosure or deed in lieu from earlier assessments, unless Seaside's claim of lien was recorded first. Chapter 718 limits a first mortgagee taking title that way to the lesser of 12 months' assessments before it took title or 1% of the original mortgage debt, but only if it joined the association as a defendant. Seaside's estoppel shows what it claims, and underwriting picks the rule.

Termination takes 80% of the interests and the lender the declaration calls the "Primary Institutional First Mortgagee" (§ 20). FICA's Master Covenants, which bind every Seaside owner, override the declaration where they differ (§§ 11.1, 23), so we check which text is of record.

We searched the Miami-Dade Clerk's Official Records index, current through 9 October 2026, for Seaside's instruments recorded after its declaration. The declaration is indexed only as "SEASIDE CONDO", and the index shows no later amendment and no rule on renovation or construction seasons.