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

A second estoppel, and a New Owner Capital Contribution to the Falls association on top of the master's Capital Payment.

• Two estoppel certificates, one from The Falls at Heron Bay Association, Inc. and one from the master association. Each lot pays both associations' assessments (Declaration Art. IV ¶ 1, p. 10; Art. V ¶ 6, p. 12).
• A New Owner Capital Contribution, since 22 December 2025, "at an amount determined annually by the Board of Directors or $2,500.00 (Two-Thousand, Five Hundred Dollars) paid at closing if the annual determination is not made" (Declaration Art. II ¶ 12, as replaced by Instr 120608983, p. 2). No Board determination is recorded, so the Falls estoppel should state the amount in force on the closing date and whether the Board set one.
• Who owes it. It is "applied to any new owner(s)" and due "upon the sale or transfer of a Lot to a third party or upon the acquisition of a Lot by a mortgagee upon the foreclosure of its mortgage", and on a "Transfer of Control" of a lot owned by "an entity such as a corporation, LLC or trust" — "the transfer of any ownership interests or the transfer of any control through the replacement or addition of directors, officers, trustees, or beneficiaries", with no deed needed (p. 2). Transfers made to settle or plan an estate for the existing owner, such as by will, intestate succession, a life estate or a land trust, are exempt.
• The buyer is not named. "Any new owner(s)" and "paid at closing" point to the buyer without saying so, so the contract should settle it. The contribution is collectable "in the same manner as an assessment", by lien and foreclosure, with late fees, interest, attorneys' fees and costs, and "shall run with the land" (p. 2), so the buyer has a stake in seeing it paid whoever bears the cost.
• The history. From 30 June 2011 it was $1,000 on every transfer "by sale or gift", paid by "the OWNER(s)" within 10 days of closing, with the association and foreclosing lenders exempt (Instr 110123806, pp. 2–3). The replacing certificate was first recorded on 12 December 2025 without its exhibit (Instr 120593101), so the new text is of record only from 22 December 2025, and the amount at a closing turns on which text was of record on the closing date.
• Fines and enforcement costs. Ask the estoppel to list them. Since 2011 a fine may exceed $1,000 in the aggregate, a fine over $1,000 may be treated as a special assessment against the lot, and the costs and attorney's fees of bringing an owner into compliance are deemed one, whether or not the association sues (Instr 110123806, pp. 3–4). A fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien (Fla. Stat. § 720.305(2)).

No approval of a sale or lease is needed, and there is no right of first refusal. The master's own charges are separate; the master page sets them out.

Yes, on the master's terms: once in any 12-month period, with tenants registered before they move in (master page). The Falls documents add no minimum term, approval or cap, but they bind tenants as they bind owners, and the owner "shall be responsible for all violations" by them (Declaration Art. V ¶ 5, p. 12).

No Falls leasing amendment is in our set. One adopted after 1 July 2021 would generally bind only owners who take title after it or consent to it (Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h)), and anything recorded after 22 December 2025 is not on this page, so for an investor buyer we search forward before saying what applies.

• How the Capital Contribution was adopted is an open question, in 2011 and again in 2025. As recorded, the declaration lets only the Declarant amend it, and only by "minor modification or enlargement of existing covenants" (Declaration Art. V ¶ 9, p. 12); lot owners appear only in Art. V ¶ 10, on the 10-year extensions. The 2011 certificate says only that the amendments "were duly adopted in accordance with the governing documents" (Instr 110123806, p. 1); the 2025 certificate, that the amendment "was passed by the members pursuant to its provisions, the Association's other Governing Documents, and applicable Florida law" at a meeting on 19 November 2025 (Instr 120608983, p. 1). Neither states a vote. The by-laws, and any assignment of the Declarant's rights to the association (which Art. V ¶ 11 allows), are not in our set. Whether either contribution is enforceable is a question for underwriting.

• Execution and citation slips. The 2011 acknowledgment leaves the Secretary's name blank, though a Secretary signed as "Attest" (Instr 110123806, p. 1). Both December 2025 certificates cite the declaration as "Official Records Book 48009, Page 1533", which is page 2 of the 2011 amendment; the caption and the paragraph number, "12. CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION", identify the provision. Their notary's "My Commission Expires" line is blank, though the stamp gives an expiry (Instr 120608983, pp. 1–2).

• The Falls lien needs no recorded claim. Assessments, late charges, collection costs and "reasonable attorneys' fees" are "a continuing lien upon the LOT" and the owner's personal obligation (Declaration Art. IV ¶ 1, p. 10). The declaration does not require a claim of lien to be recorded for the lien to attach. A buyer is also jointly and severally liable with the seller for assessments due up to the transfer (Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(2)(b)). The estoppel, not the lien search, shows what is owed.

• Bank-owned resales. The Second Amendment makes the Falls lien subordinate to an "INSTITUTIONAL MORTGAGE" — a bona fide first mortgage held by the Declarant or by a bank, insurer or other listed lender — that is "arms-length, made in good faith and not intended to avoid said lien, and recorded prior to the date on which a notice of lien is recorded"; a foreclosure or deed in lieu of one extinguishes the lien, and the new owner's personal liability, for sums that came due before the transfer (Declaration Art. I ¶ 10 and Art. IV ¶ 1.1, OR 25575/854, pp. 1–2). The 2025 amendment deleted the 2011 lender exemption and charges the contribution when a mortgagee acquires by foreclosure (Instr 120608983, p. 2), so a lender's acquisition, and its resale, may each be charged. Chapter 720 separately limits a first mortgagee's liability (§ 720.3085(2)(c)). How these fit on a particular sale is a question for underwriting.

• The 2025 preservation notice has form problems. Covenants that predate a lot's root of title — a title transaction at least 30 years old — are extinguished unless an exception applies (Fla. Stat. § 712.04); an association preserves them by recording a notice (§ 712.05). The Falls association recorded one on 22 October 2025 (Instr 120504878), before the declaration turned 30 on 14 December 2025. But:

  • it names the declaration as "originally recorded in Official Records Book 24242, Page 652 and Book 24258, Page 0220" (item 6, p. 1), citing the master and Falls declarations as if they were one;
  • its legal description reads "See attached Plat as Exhibit 'A' and 'B'" (item 7, p. 2), but no plat is attached — Exhibit A is a copy of the master declaration and Exhibit B a copy of the Falls declaration, whose Art. I ¶ 5 describes the land (pp. 3–131);
  • it extends to "all amendments", but none of the three then of record is attached.

  Whether the notice's form satisfies chapter 712 is a question for underwriting.

• The covenants' first term ended on 14 December 2025. They now extend in 10-year periods unless owners of a majority of the lots record an instrument changing or terminating them (Declaration Art. V ¶ 10, p. 12). Neither December 2025 certificate is such an instrument, and none is in our set; we look for one in the search.

• The plat matches the declaration. Parcel A is the centre parcel inside the ring of lots, Parcels C and D are berm and planting areas, and Parcel F is a private street. The owners of lots in Blocks A and B, "and not the public", have an easement of ingress and egress over Parcels F and G (PB 159/39, sheets 1, 3, 4, 8). Parcel G, the street shared with Long Cove, is master Committed Property, not Falls common area (master declaration Exhibit A).

• Conflicts with the master. The declaration does not say the master controls. WCI, as Declarant, "reserves the right and the power to resolve any such conflict, and its decision shall be final" (Declaration Art. V ¶ 8, p. 12). One live difference is fence height in the setbacks: 5 feet here (Art. II ¶ 2.B(ii), p. 5), 6 feet under the master's Third Amendment (OR 29036/664).

• Slips that leave the operative text alone. The Second Amendment miscites the declaration ("Official Records Book 2458") and the First Amendment ("Official Records Book 20427, at Page 0903") (OR 25575/854, p. 1). The articles define 90% of the lots as "six (6) LOTS" (Declaration p. 21), which cannot be right for 54 lots; an owners' board has signed since 2011, so turnover has evidently happened.

• Not in our set: the association's by-laws, any deed of Parcels A, C, D and F to the association, any assignment of the Declarant's rights, and any Board determination of the contribution amount.

• After closing, send the association the recorded deed. A new member's rights "shall not become effective until the new MEMBER presents the NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION with a recorded copy of the deed of conveyance" (Articles Art. V, Declaration p. 20).