The Fairways at Heron Bay: HOA rules, fees and closing points

A second estoppel, the seller's arrears paid, the right insurance in place and, where there is a tenant, the association's approval of the lease.

• Two estoppel certificates, from The Fairways at Heron Bay Association, Inc. and from the master association. The declaration adds its own certificate of whether the owner is in default on assessments or the declaration, due within 15 days of a written request by an owner or Institutional Lender, which protects a buyer or lender who relies on it (Declaration § 12.1.8, p. 26).
• No transfer fee on a sale. Working capital of two months' assessments is due "upon the first to occur of the next conveyance of the LOT or the first occupancy of the UNIT" after the certificate of occupancy (Declaration § 11.4, p. 24) — as written, a one-time, first-sale charge. If the estoppel shows it on a resale, ask what the association relies on.
• The seller's arrears. Every owner is liable for "any ASSESSMENTS owed by the prior OWNER" (§ 11.1, p. 23), and a buyer other than a foreclosing first mortgagee "shall not be entitled to occupancy of the UNIT or enjoyment of the COMMON AREAS" until they are paid (§ 12.1.6, p. 26).
• Proof of insurance: the association's certificate, or the owner's own policy if the Board has moved insurance to the owners (see below).
• A tenant in place needs the association's Certificate of Approval of the lease; a new lease needs an application, and any fee and interview, before the tenant moves in (Instr 107924290, pp. 2–3).
• The master's estoppel and Capital Payment, as on the master page.

Yes, with the association's consent, for at least six months, and no more than once in any 12 months. Section 7.15 was rewritten by a certificate of amendment recorded 30 May 2008 (Instr 107924290, pp. 2–3):

• "All leases of a UNIT must be in writing", subject to the declaration, articles and by-laws, and copied to the association before the tenant moves in. "No lease shall be for a period of less than 6 months except as provided for herein. UNITS shall not be leased without the consent of the ASSOCIATION."
• "Subleases of UNITS are prohibited. UNITS shall not be leased more than once in any twelve (12) month period." The association may require a substantially uniform lease form.
• The owner gives notice with the proposed tenant's name and address and whatever else the association asks, which may include a personal interview. The association "may require the payment of a transfer fee in an amount not to exceed the highest allowed under the law", and no application is complete without the fee, interview and information.
• Within fifteen days of receiving all of that, the association must approve or disapprove. If it approves, it signs a Certificate of Approval; "If the lease is not approved, the lease shall not occur". If it gives no written notice, "the proposed lease shall be deemed approved".
• The Board may exempt a short-term sale and leaseback of less than three months.

The master's rules apply on top: one lease in any 12 months, tenants registered before they move in (master page).

The approval rule dates from 2008, before the 1 July 2021 date from which a new rental amendment generally binds only owners who take title after it or consent to it (Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h)). The 2022 amendment does not touch leasing, but a majority of owners can now amend the declaration, so for an investor buyer we search the records from 20 October 2022 forward.

The association insures the buildings, paints them and keeps up the grounds; the owner maintains the rest of the home; and structural repairs that affect the neighbors run through the association at the owners' cost.

• The association insures the buildings — unless the Board changes that. "All UNITS and all improvements upon the SUBJECT PROPERTY" are to be insured at 100% of replacement cost (§ 8.2.1, p. 18). The policy covers the structure — walls, doors, windows, drywall, and plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems up to the drywall — but not owner upgrades, fixtures, appliances, cabinets, finishes or furnishings (§ 8.2.1.3, p. 18), which owners may insure themselves (§ 8.1.5). The owner pays the deductible on damage to his Unit (§ 8.1.6). The Board may instead require owners to insure their own Units, on at least 45 days' notice to each owner; each then carries replacement-cost casualty insurance naming the association as an additional named insured, and gives the association a copy (§§ 8.3–8.3.3, p. 19). The association need not buy flood insurance; if a lender requires it and the association does not, the owner must (§ 8.2.5, p. 19).
• The association maintains all landscaping, including mowing, trimming and fertilizing (§ 5.1.2, p. 9); shared utility lines, sprinklers and the surface water system (§§ 5.1.3–5.1.6); and common sidewalks and street lighting (§ 5.1.7, p. 10). It periodically paints the exterior walls and the outside of the doors, garage doors included, and "shall also periodically clean the roofs of the UNITS"; beyond that it "will not be responsible for any maintenance or repair of any UNIT" (§ 5.1.5, p. 9).
• The owner maintains everything else, "including but not limited to roofs, walls, exterior doors, and garage doors, (except for periodic painting and cleaning …), windows, patio areas, pools, screenings, awnings", and the driveway and walks on the lot (§ 5.2, p. 10).
• Primary repairs. A repair to the exterior or a structural part — "slab floor, exterior walls, party walls, roof trusses or structure, and roof materials" — that would affect other Units in the building goes through the association, which hires the contractor unless it lets the owner do the work. The owners of the Units repaired pay, split by the part of the building bounding each Unit, within 10 days of written demand, or the association may advance the cost and lien the Unit (§ 5.2.1, pp. 10–11).
• Roofs are the question to ask. Section 5.1.5 speaks of "the foregoing roof maintenance" but states only cleaning, and § 5.2 puts roofs on the owner, so ask the association how it handles roof repair and replacement.
• Casualty. Damage that would affect other Units is repaired by the association from the insurance proceeds unless it lets the owner do it, with owners depositing any shortfall (§§ 9.6, 9.8, pp. 21–22). Casualty damage to a part the association maintains is the owner's to repair (§ 5.1.10, p. 10).
• Party walls. Each owner maintains the unfinished surface of the wall within his Unit, the cost of the structural and interior portions is shared equally, and a negligent owner pays all. No opening may be cut without both owners' agreement and the association's written approval (§ 10, p. 23).

• The school impact lien. The Heron Bay Four plat was recorded on 21 December 1995 with an Educational Impact Lien Agreement between Broward County and WCI (OR 24291/831, Instr 95564740). It imposes a County lien on all the plat's land for the school impact fees WCI agreed to pay before each home's building permit, allocating $252,531.00 to Parcel C; the lien runs with the land and binds WCI's grantees, and mortgages are subordinate to it (¶¶ 1–2, pp. 1–2). It is released by a County satisfaction recorded when it is paid, or by a partial release the County may grant (¶ 2(d), p. 3). No satisfaction or release is in our set. The title search should turn up the County's release; if it does not, it goes to underwriting (master page).
• The deed of Parcel C to the Declarant is not in our set. WCI's deed of Parcels B and P of the same plat attached WCI's own neighborhood covenants and made the buyer assume the school impact lien (OR 25078/30). A deed of Parcel C may do the same, so it should be pulled. The plat does not divide Parcel C into lots (PB 160/1, sheet 5), so check that the lot's legal description traces back to Parcel C.
• Does the association approve sales? The 2008 § 7.15 opens by making "the sale, gift, or leasing of UNITS by any OWNER other than the Developer" subject to the provisions that follow, but those provisions deal only with leases (Instr 107924290, p. 2). Whether the association claims a right to approve a sale is for the association to answer and, if it matters, for underwriting.
• How the 2008 amendment was adopted. The certificate says only that it "was duly adopted in accordance with the governing documents", with no vote or meeting date (Instr 107924290, p. 1). The declaration then required two-thirds of the owners and, while the Declarant owned any part of the property, its written joinder (§ 14.1, p. 29); none is shown. It is signed by the President and Secretary, as § 14.1 requires, but asks for copies of existing leases "by September 1, 2007", months before it was signed. Expect the association to apply it; its validity is a question for underwriting.
• The 2022 amendment cut the owners' vote to amend from two-thirds to "a majority" and deleted the Declarant's power to amend alone and its joinder right (§ 14.1, Instr 118471245, p. 2). It was adopted by written consent, without stating how many owners consented (p. 1), and without the Declarant's joinder, which § 14.2 requires for any change to the Declarant's rights (Declaration p. 29). That matters only if the Declarant or an assignee still holds rights; no assignment or turnover document is in our set.
• The lien needs a recorded claim; the buyer's liability does not. The lien is "effective from and after recording a claim of lien" (Declaration § 12.1.3, p. 25), but a buyer takes on the seller's unpaid assessments under the declaration (§§ 11.1, 12.1.6) and under Chapter 720 (Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(2)(b)). A late payment carries the greater of 10% or $25.00 after 10 days, plus interest (§ 12.1.1, p. 25), and the association's costs of correcting a violation, plus a 10% service charge, are liened the same way (§ 12.2, p. 27).
• Bank-owned resales. A foreclosing first mortgagee is not liable for earlier assessments "unless the payment of such funds is secured by a claim of lien recorded prior to the recording of the foreclosed or underlying mortgage" (Declaration § 12.1.6, p. 26). Chapter 720 has its own limit (§ 720.3085(2)(c)); which governs a particular sale is for underwriting.
• Fines run up to $50.00 per violation, and up to $10.00 a day for a continuing violation not cured within 30 days of notice, and are deemed assessments (§§ 12.3.1, 12.3.3, p. 27). A fine under $1,000 cannot become a lien (Fla. Stat. § 720.305(2)), so it shows on the estoppel, not in the search.
• The declaration turns 30 on 28 January 2029. Its own term is 50 years from its date, then automatic 10-year extensions (§ 13, pp. 28–29). Covenants that predate a lot's root of title are extinguished unless an exception applies (Fla. Stat. § 712.04), and an association preserves them by recording a notice (§ 712.05). No notice for The Fairways is in our set, and the master's 2024 notice does not list its declaration.
• Not in our set: any assignment of the Declarant's or Approving Party's rights, any association rules, and anything recorded for The Fairways after 20 October 2022. The declaration's second witness signed without a printed name (p. 32), a minor point.