Seaside Villas, 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 other than the owner who relies on it "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 approval fee. The first-refusal certificate may cost no more than "the charges reasonably required", and never more than "the maximum amount allowed under the Act" (§ 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. Each unit has the exclusive use of "one or more parking spaces to be assigned by the Developer at the closing of the purchase of the Unit from the Developer". The assignments are written but "not recorded in the Public Records", and extra spaces may be assigned, and reassigned by an owner, in unrecorded writings too (§ 3.3(c)). Ask the association for the unit's written assignments, and have the deed or a written assignment carry them over. The declaration has no storage-space clause.
• The construction mortgage. Philadelphia National Bank consented to the declaration as mortgagee, but its consent leaves the mortgage's date, book and page blank. Confirm the mortgage has been released as to the unit. The same bank's consent to the neighboring Seaside declaration cites a mortgage at OR 13642/1789.

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

1. The seller gives the Board notice "by registered mail" of a bona fide offer that he intends to accept, with the offeror's name and address and the terms. 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 the notice and any further information requested, the association or its designee may elect to buy. If it does, title closes "within forty five (45) days": the seller conveys by statutory warranty deed, pays the documentary stamps, and delivers an abstract or title binder at least 30 days before closing (§ 18.1).
3. "In the event the Association or its designee shall fail to accept such offer within twenty (20) days", the owner may accept the outside offer "within sixty (60) days"; if that sale does not close, the process starts again (§ 18.1). 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 without complying "shall be voidable at any time at the election of the Association" (§ 18.1). The deed to an outside buyer is deemed an assumption of the declaration, by-laws, articles, rules and Master Covenants.
6. The certificate, "executed and acknowledged by an officer of the Association", that § 18.1 was satisfied or the right released or waived, is "conclusive with respect to all persons who rely on such certificate in good faith" (§ 18.5). The declaration does not require it to be recorded; it is acknowledged, so it can be, and we record it with the deed.

The right does not reach leases. Units owned by the Developer, and Institutional First Mortgagees taking title by foreclosure or deed in lieu, are exempt (§ 18.1). Section 18.7 excepts transfers to a spouse, adult children, parents, parents-in-law or adult siblings, or to a trust or 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; foreclosure sales; and mortgagees taking title. Gifts, devises and intestacy are free (§ 18.8), and mortgages are unrestricted (§ 18.9).

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 the first refusal does not reach leases. The owner is jointly and severally liable for the 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 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 1988 first.

• Missing survey sheets. Our copy lacks OR 13564/1180, 1181 and 1185, sheets 13, 14 and 18 of the survey. It has two copies of a second-floor plan of Building 5 with no recording stamp or sheet number, which cannot be shown to be the recorded sheet 13. For a unit in Building 6 or 8, or on the second floor of Building 5, pull certified copies or the condominium plans before relying on its boundaries; the plans reference reads "BK 210 PAGE 21" on our copy, handwritten, with the book's last digit faint.
• The share schedule. Exhibit 2 sets six unit types, with shares of 1.63% (types A and B), 1.76% (C), 2.03% (D), 2.17% (F) and 3.23% (E), totalling 100.00%. Two entries in its unit list are hard to read on our copy, so confirm the unit's type and share against a certified copy.
• No joinder by the association. The recorded declaration runs straight from the Developer's acknowledgment to the mortgagee's consent, with no joinder by the association. After decades of operation this is probably harmless; we note it for title counsel.
• The buyer owes what the seller did not pay. In a voluntary conveyance "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 lien. Assessments not paid "within fifteen (15) days" bear interest "at the highest lawful rate"; the lien "is effective as of the date of the recording of this Declaration" and is evidenced by a recorded claim of lien (§ 13.2). After 30 days' written notice of default the next three months' installments may be accelerated. How the lien stands against a particular mortgage is 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 assessments that fell due before, "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 and borrowing. "No fine shall exceed $50.00"; fines need notice and a hearing and never become a lien (By-Laws § 5(m)). Borrowing that takes the association's total debt over "$10,000.00" needs two-thirds of the units represented at a meeting (By-Laws § 5(o)).
• 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. Capital additions costing over "$50,000.00 in the aggregate in any calendar year" need a majority of owners at a meeting (§ 8).
• The pool. The pool lies within this condominium: the survey notes "Pool, Spa Pool and Pool Deck are all Common Elements", and § 22 gives Seaside's owners a non-exclusive easement to use it (see below). Expect the easement as an exception on the commitment.
• The surveyor's certificate, dated 18 January 1988, certifies that "the proposed construction improvements, together with the provisions of the Declaration describing the Condominium Property, is an accurate representation"; it does not certify that construction was substantially complete. The point is now historic; it matters only if a question about the plans arises.
• Cited but not in our set: the missing survey sheets, the Philadelphia National Bank mortgage, the condominium plans, the Lindisfarne on Fisher Island, Section 2 plat (Plat Book 133, Page 22), and the Master Covenants recorded at OR 13008/2052 (which version now governs is on the master page).