Heron Cove at Heron Bay: leasing rules, fees and closing points

• The Heron Cove estoppel, as well as the master's. Heron Cove levies its own assessments, backed by its own lien (Declaration Arts. IX–X, pp. 33–38). The association must also sign a "Certificate of Payment" on demand and may charge "a nominal processing fee" for it (Art. IX § 7, p. 37). Chapter 720 gives the association 10 business days from a written or electronic request to issue an estoppel certificate (Fla. Stat. § 720.30851). For a request made under the statute, that is the deadline that counts.
• Notice of the sale. The owner must tell the association in writing of an intended sale and give it a copy of the contract. The declaration gives the association no right to approve the buyer (Art. XVIII § 1, p. 54).
• No resale fee to Heron Cove. Its $100 Capital Contribution is due only when a lot is bought from the developer (Art. IX § 5, p. 36). The master's Capital Payment still applies.
• The seller's unpaid balance. The buyer is jointly and severally liable for it (Art. X § 1, p. 38; Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(2)(b)), and under the 2021 rules a new owner "shall not be entitled to occupancy of the Lot or enjoyment of the Common Areas" until it is paid, first mortgagees in the Chapter 720 "safe harbor" excepted (Instr 117801910, p. 10).
• An entity buyer. For the first 24 months only its officers, managers, general partners or trustees in office at the purchase may live there, designated in writing first; a change in them or in the entity's ownership restarts the 24 months (Instr 117801910, p. 4).

The declaration allows leasing, subject to it and the association's rules (Art. V § 1, p. 18). Every lease must be written and "for a term no less than one (1) year" (Art. XVIII § 2, p. 54), which is stricter than the six-month floor in Art. V § 2(B) (p. 19). The 2019 rules had no leasing rule (Instr 116034817).

The rules recorded on 14 December 2021 changed that (Instr 117801910, pp. 4–8):

• No lease for 24 months after a transfer. No lot may be leased to or occupied by a tenant "during the first twenty-four (24) months after a full or partial transfer of ownership", by any means, including foreclosure, gift and inheritance. Adding or replacing anyone on the title starts a new 24 months (p. 4).
• A lease already in place when the lot is sold may run to its original expiration date but may not be extended or renewed (p. 4).
• Every lease needs approval. "All tenants require approval from the Association to occupy a Lot", and a renewal or extension counts as a new lease (p. 5).
• Apply 45 days ahead, $100 per applicant. The complete application and lease go in at least 45 days before the lease starts, with $100 per applicant unless the Board sets another amount; the association may run background checks and interview each applicant (p. 5).
• Silence is a denial. "Failure of the Association to approve the lease within thirty (30) days constitutes a denial of the application", and moving in before approval is prohibited (p. 7).
• Short-term rentals are leases and need approval too; a seller staying on for 90 days or less after closing is not (p. 5). Tenants must be natural persons and a single family (p. 5).

The master's rule of one lease in any 12 months applies as well (master leasing rules).

That is a question for underwriting, and the facts that bear on it are these:

• They were adopted as rules, not as an amendment to the declaration. The recorded certificate says the Board of Directors passed them at a meeting on 8 December 2021 (Instr 117801910, p. 2). The cover notice says they were adopted at "a duly called and noticed meeting of the membership" on "12-8-21" (p. 1). Neither states a vote count.
• The declaration says two things. It says: "Except as provided below, it is not the intention of this Article to grant to the Association a right of approval or disapproval of purchasers or lessees" (Art. XVIII § 1, p. 54). But it also lets the Board "make and enforce standards and restrictions governing the use of the Properties", binding until "overruled, canceled or modified in a regular or special meeting of the Association" (Art. V § 2, p. 18), and makes leasing subject to the rules (Art. V § 1).
• The 2021 date matters under Chapter 720. A rental amendment enacted after 1 July 2021 generally binds only owners who take title after it or consent to it; limits on leases shorter than six months, or on leasing more than three times a calendar year, bind everyone (Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h)). Chapter 720 defines "governing documents" as the recorded declaration and its amendments, and the articles and by-laws (§ 720.301(8)). Board rules are not among them, and § 720.306(1)(h)1 speaks of governing documents and their amendments, though (h)5, on entity owners, mentions an "amendment or rule". Whether a Board rule counts as a rental amendment is itself a question for underwriting. A buyer closing now takes title after the rules either way.

For a buyer who plans to lease, the association's written position on whether the rules apply to that buyer is worth having before the contract is binding.

• The association maintains the common areas and "may maintain" property it does not own, including mowing yards (Art. VIII § 1(B), p. 31). The 2021 rules list what it provides: landscaping and pruning, grass cutting, swale trees, sidewalk planing and replacement, "Basic Alarm Monitoring", and roadway pothole repair and resurfacing (Instr 117801910, p. 9).
• The owner is responsible for everything else, including driveway repair, sod, irrigation and "all exterior portions of the home" (Instr 117801910, p. 9; Art. VIII § 2). The declaration itself puts all landscaping and irrigation on the lot on the owner (Art. VIII § 1(B), p. 31); the 2021 list is what the association says it now provides.
• Insurance. "Each Owner shall maintain a policy or policies to insure his or her Unit from all casualty losses" (Art. XI § 2, p. 41); the association insures only the common areas (Art. XI § 1).
• Lake-bank lots. An owner whose rear yard borders a lake or canal maintains the adjoining slopes and banks (Declaration p. 24), and no trees are allowed in the lake-bank easement (Instr 117801910, p. 4).

• The 2021 leasing rules, above.
• The lien dates from the declaration. Heron Cove's lien "shall be effective from and after the time of recordation … of this Declaration" and is superior to all other liens except taxes and the lien of Institutional Mortgagees (Art. X § 2, p. 38). The master's declaration, by contrast, makes its lien effective only when a claim of lien is recorded. Chapter 720 makes an association's lien relate back to the recording of the original declaration; against a first mortgage of record, it runs from the recorded claim of lien (§ 720.3085(1)). How Heron Cove's clause works alongside Chapter 720 is a question for underwriting; the estoppel is what to rely on.
• Bank-owned resales. An Institutional Mortgagee that takes title is not liable for assessments that came due before it did (Art. IX § 10, p. 37). Chapter 720 separately caps what a first mortgagee owes when it takes title by foreclosure or deed in lieu (§ 720.3085(2)(c)). It owes the lesser of the unpaid common expenses and regular periodic or special assessments that came due in the 12 months before it took title, or 1% of the original mortgage debt. The cap applies only if the lender "filed suit against the parcel owner and initially joined the association as a defendant", unless the association was dissolved or had no office or agent the lender could find. Underwriting decides which governs a given sale.
• A blank in the remedies clause. The number of days before the association's remedies begin is left out: "within days after the same becomes due" (Art. X § 3, p. 38).
• Certificates of non-compliance. Where an owner breaks the declaration or rules, the association may record a Certificate of Non-Compliance against the unit (Art. XII § 3(J), p. 48). The search should look for one under the owner's name.
• The plat citation is right here. The declaration describes the land as Heron Bay Central, Plat Book 171, Page 23 (Exhibit A, p. 60), and the plat copy attached to it bears that book and page (p. 81). The master's supplement for Heron Bay Central cites it wrongly (master title points).
• The private road. The Property Appraiser records the Heron Cove association as owner of Parcel R-3, the private road serving all 148 lots. It cites a 2006 multi-parcel quit-claim deed (OR 42667/1362) and then a re-recorded corrective deed dated 27 June 2024 (Instr 119676045, recorded about July 2024). We have not read either deed; the 2024 one is later than the December 2021 rules, where this page's documents end.
• No preservation notice in our set. The declaration turns 30 on 15 July 2033. The Marketable Record Title Act, though, runs from each lot's root of title, the last title transaction recorded at least 30 years earlier (Fla. Stat. § 712.01). So 2033 is only the earliest date a lot could lose the covenants (§ 712.04). A notice can preserve them (§ 712.05), as can an amendment indexed under the association's legal name that cites the declaration's recording information (§ 712.05(2)(b)). So can a deed in the chain that cites the declaration by book and page or instrument number (§ 712.03(1)).