Tuscany at Heron Bay: HOA rules, fees and closing points

• Tuscany's estoppel. Tuscany levies its own assessments — a share of general Association Expenses plus Townhouse or Single Family Assessments — secured by its own lien (Declaration Art. IX §§ 1–4, pp. 31–35). The association must give an owner a signed certificate of payment on demand, "conclusive evidence of payment", and may charge "a nominal processing fee" (Art. IX § 11, p. 36). Chapter 720's estoppel statute sets its own delivery time and fee limits (Fla. Stat. § 720.30851; see HOA approvals and estoppels).
• Ask whether the $100 Capital Contribution is due. The declaration charges $100 "Upon acquisition of record title to a Site". The 2020 amendment struck the words "from Developer" that followed, but left the last sentence: "Capital Contributions shall only be paid once for each Site in the Property at the time of conveyance of title by Developer" (Art. IX § 8 as amended, Instr 116284268, p. 16). Whether it is charged on a resale is for the association to state on its estoppel, and a question for underwriting if disputed.
• Written notice of the sale, with a copy of the contract, from the seller to the association — not an approval (Art. XVIII § 1, p. 54).
• The master's Capital Payment, paid by the buyer on every resale (master page), and, for a townhouse, the association's certificate of insurance on the roofs (below).

Yes. Every lease must be in writing, "for a term no less than six (6) months", and bind the tenant to the association's documents; while it runs, the owner gives up use of the Common Areas (Declaration Art. XVIII § 2, p. 54). The association does not approve tenants, but gets a copy of the lease (Art. XVIII § 1, p. 54).

The 2020 amendments struck a second six-month sentence from Article V and the Developer's exceptions for its own leasing, but did not amend Article XVIII, so the six-month minimum still applies (Instr 116284268, pp. 5–6). They added no cap, waiting period or approval, and were recorded on 13 January 2020, before the 1 July 2021 date that Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h) uses for rental amendments.

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

• Townhouse roofs. The "Shared Roofing" — the entire roof of each townhouse building, with its structure — is not Common Area, but the association maintains, repairs, replaces and insures it, and townhouse owners share the cost equally (Declaration Art. VIII § 1.C, pp. 28–29). The association insures the Shared Roofing and Party Walls for full replacement cost, including flood (Art. XI § 13, p. 43).
• Party walls. Each owner maintains his own face. After a casualty not caused by one owner, the two neighbors rebuild at joint expense within 30 days, using a "qualified licensed and insured contractor"; the association may step in and lien a defaulting owner (Art. VIII § 3.B as amended, Instr 116284268, p. 14).
• Exterior walls of every home, townhouse and single family, are maintained, repaired and replaced by the association, each group paying for its own (Art. VIII § 1.E, p. 29).
• Yards. The association handles landscaping, irrigation and drainage outside the townhouse Units, and mows the front, rear and side yards of Single Family Sites; single-family owners keep up their own landscaping and irrigation (Art. VIII § 1.B, Second Amendment, Instr 101178530, p. 2).
• Everything else is the owner's — the Site, structures, driveway and sidewalks (Art. VIII § 2, p. 29) — and the owner insures the Unit itself (Art. XI § 2, p. 41). After a casualty the owner must rebuild to the original plans, or the association may specially assess, rebuild and lien the Unit (Art. VIII § 4, Instr 116284268, p. 15).

• The lien dates itself from 2000. It covers assessments, fines, interest, costs and attorneys' fees, with a late charge of up to $25.00, and is stated to be "effective from and after the time of recordation … of this Declaration", ahead of everything but taxes and Institutional Mortgagees (Declaration Art. IX §§ 1, 9, pp. 31, 36; Art. X §§ 1–3, pp. 37–38). The master's lien attaches only when a claim of lien is recorded. Which rule governs against a particular mortgage or buyer is a question for underwriting; the estoppel shows what is owed, and the buyer is jointly and severally liable for it either way (Art. X § 1, pp. 37–38; Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(2)(b)). The remedies clause reads "within [blank] days after the same becomes due" (Art. X § 3, p. 38).
• Bank-owned resales. An Institutional Mortgagee or other purchaser taking title under the mortgage is not liable for assessments that came due before it took title (Art. IX § 14, p. 37).
• A majority can now amend. The owners' 2020 amendments, adopted 23 October 2019, removed the Developer's rights, consents and power to amend, moved to one voting class and a five-member board, and cut the vote to amend the declaration from two-thirds to a majority of the total votes, plus any Institutional Mortgagee materially and adversely affected (Art. XVII § 1(B) as amended, Instr 116284268, p. 21; Instr 116284256, pp. 2–3). Search from 15 January 2020 forward.
• Two easements reprinted in their original form. The Developer's First Amendment rewrote the owner access easement over adjoining Single Family Sites and moved the driveway easement from Single Family to Townhouse Sites (Instr 100524805, pp. 1–2). The 2020 amendment reprints the original 2000 wording of both, with nothing marked as a change (Instr 116284268, pp. 11–12). Whether the owners meant to restore it is a question for underwriting where either easement matters to a Site.
• Joining the master. The Tuscany land was brought under the master declaration by a supplement recorded 11 January 2001 (OR 31181/1190, Instr 100765306). Our copy is the one attached to the master's 2024 preservation notice (Instr 119854426, pp. 41–44).
• A public drainage parcel inside the declaration. The land description includes "all of Parcels G and H" of Heron Bay Four (Exh. A, pp. 61–62), but the Heron Bay Four plat dedicates Parcel H "to the public for drainage and maintenance purposes" (PB 160/1, sheet 1). Whether any Site lies in Parcel H, or the declaration merely covers a public drainage parcel, is a survey question.
• The Heron Bay Four school impact lien. A 1995 Educational Impact Lien Agreement between Broward County and WCI liens all the Heron Bay Four land to secure school impact fees, allocating $307,920 to Parcel F, which Tuscany shares with Villa Sorrento; it binds WCI's grantees, subordinates mortgages, and is released only by a recorded County satisfaction or partial release (OR 24291/831, Instr 95564740, pp. 2–3). None is in our set. For a Site on Heron Bay Four land, the title search should turn up the County's release; if it does not, it goes to underwriting before we insure.
• Loose ends in the declaration. The association's joinder is headed "TUSCANY AT HERON BAY ASSOCIATION, INC." above a Homeowners' Association signature block (p. 58). The Developer's lender, Fleet National Bank, agreed its mortgage "shall be subordinate to the Declaration" and then that its consent would not "affect the priority of the Mortgage lien" (p. 60); that matters only to its mortgage (OR 30462/207), so confirm the release. Not in our set: that mortgage and assignment of rents (OR 30462/492), the City plat exemption and site plan, and the Heron Bay One plat (Plat Book 159, Page 34).
• Preservation. We found no Marketable Record Title Act notice for this declaration, and the master's 2024 notice does not list it. How Fla. Stat. § 712.04 and § 712.05 apply turns on each Site's chain of title (master page).