Waterford Estates at Heron Bay: HOA rules, fees and closing points

A second estoppel, the seller's arrears cleared, and a check that a first-sale charge is not being collected on a resale.

• Two estoppel certificates, from Waterford Estates at Heron Bay Association, Inc. and from the master association. The declaration adds its own certificate of whether the owner is in default, due within 15 days of a written request, and anyone who relies on it in buying or lending "shall be protected thereby" (Declaration § 8.1.8, p. 18).
• 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 § 7.4, p. 16). Read literally it is a one-time charge on the first sale. The estoppel should show whether it is being charged; on a resale, ask the association what it relies on.
• The seller's arrears. Each owner is responsible for assessments the prior owner owed (Declaration § 7.1, p. 15). A buyer other than a foreclosing first mortgagee "shall be liable for all unpaid ASSESSMENTS and other moneys due and owing by the former OWNER" and may not occupy the home until they are paid (§ 8.1.6, pp. 17–18).
• Insurance. Each owner must insure the home at replacement cost, and the association may require its name on the policy. If proof is not given within 10 days of written demand, the association may buy the insurance at the owner's expense (Declaration § 6.15, p. 12).
• Architectural approvals for additions, fences or pools come from the Approving Party and under the master declaration (Declaration §§ 5.2, 5.12, pp. 8, 10). Ask about any open violation when ordering the estoppel.

Yes, for at least six months. Every lease must be in writing, made subject to the declaration, articles and by-laws, and delivered to the association before the tenant moves in. No lease may run less than 6 months without the Approving Party's consent, and the owner may be required to escrow up to one month's rent against damage by the tenant (Declaration § 6.18, p. 13). The tenant needs no approval.

The association may evict a tenant who materially violates the documents and charge the cost to the owner (Declaration § 8.6, pp. 19–20). The master's rule applies on top: one lease in any 12-month period, tenants registered before they move in — see the master page.

The six-month rule dates from 1999. A rental amendment adopted after 1 July 2021 generally binds only owners who take title after it or consent to it (Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h)), and under the declaration a material change to leasing needs two-thirds of the owners and lenders holding mortgages on at least half of the mortgaged lots (§ 10.4, p. 21). We hold nothing after 1999, so for an investor buyer we search forward before saying what applies.

Not in our set, which ends with the declaration itself. The declaration can be amended by two-thirds of the owners, with the Declarant's joinder while it owns any of the land (Declaration § 10.1, p. 20), and more than 25 years have passed since it was recorded. Before relying on this page for a closing, search the official records from 7 June 1999 forward for amendments, rules and notices recorded by the association, particularly any leasing change or transfer fee. The Pointe, the other Shelby Homes neighborhood in Heron Bay, whose declaration appears to be drafted from the same form, added a $500 transfer fee from the buyer in 2004.

• The lien needs a recorded claim; the buyer's liability does not. The Waterford lien covers assessments, late fees, interest and attorneys' fees and "is effective from and after recording a claim of lien" (Declaration § 8.1.3, p. 17). But a buyer takes on the seller's unpaid assessments under the declaration (§§ 7.1, 8.1.6) and under Chapter 720 (Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(2)(b)). The estoppel is what protects the buyer.
• Bank-owned resales. A person taking title by foreclosure of a first mortgage, or a first mortgagee taking a deed in lieu, is not liable for assessments that came due earlier, "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 § 8.1.6, p. 17). Chapter 720 has its own limit (§ 720.3085(2)(c)); which governs a particular sale is for underwriting.
• No mortgagee joined the declaration. Nothing in the declaration shows the consent or subordination of any mortgage on the land in 1999. The plat shows that in March 1998 Union Planters Bank of Florida, "formerly known as Capital Bank", held a mortgage on land in the plat (OR 27540/707) and consented to the plat as mortgagee (PB 165/18, sheet 2). Whether that mortgage encumbered Blocks D and E and was still open on 7 June 1999, and so whether the declaration is subordinate to it, is a question for underwriting; the search should pull the mortgage and its satisfaction.
• The lots came under the master on 13 January 1998. Heron Bay Seven & Eight came under the master declaration in two steps: Supplement No. 6, recorded 13 January 1998 (Instr 98020807), annexed a 19.037-acre tract described by metes and bounds and called "Heron Bay Seven"; the supplement recorded 5 February 2001 (Instr 100811009) annexed the rest of the plat except Parcel D, the drainage and maintenance areas and the Supplement No. 6 land. The plat shows the Supplement No. 6 tract is Waterford Estates: three coordinate points on the plat fall on the supplement's courses, and the plat's areas for Blocks D and E and Parcels B, F and B-6 to B-9 total 19.037 acres (PB 165/18, sheets 3–5; Instr 98020807, p. 3). So the lots were committed before the plat and before this declaration, and the 2001 supplement does not re-commit them.
• The street, lake and buffers are outside the declaration's legal description. Exhibit A lists only the lots (Declaration p. 24). On the plat, Parcel B is a private street over which the owners of lots in Blocks D and E, "and not the public", have an ingress and egress easement; Parcel F is a lake; and the drainage easements on the blocks serve Parcel B, Parcel F and the lots (PB 165/18, sheets 1, 4–5). No deed of Parcels B, F or B-6 to B-9 to the association is in our set; they are master Committed Property under Supplement No. 6. Confirm with the association who holds title and who maintains the street.
• Heron Bay Boulevard is private. Parcel A of the plat is Heron Bay Boulevard, a private street. All lot and parcel owners, and owners of master "Community Property" subject to the master declaration, have an easement over it (PB 165/18, sheet 1).
• The Declarant may still hold rights. The Approving Party for architectural and use approvals is the Declarant while it owns any lot, or until it assigns that role to the association (Declaration § 1.1, p. 1), and the Declarant must join any owner amendment while it owns any of the land (§ 10.1, p. 20). Nothing in our set shows that Shelby Homes at Heron Bay Seven, Inc. has sold out or assigned its rights; confirm with the association.
• Fines. Up to $50 a violation, and up to $10 a day for a continuing violation not cured within 30 days of notice, after notice and a chance for a hearing; a fine is deemed an assessment (Declaration § 8.3, p. 19). A fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien (Fla. Stat. § 720.305(2)), but it can appear on the estoppel.
• Preservation. 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 Waterford declaration turns 30 on 7 June 2029. No preservation notice for it is in our set, and the master's 2024 notice does not list it.
• Term. Fifty years from the date of the declaration unless every owner signs to end it sooner, then 10-year extensions until a majority of the entire membership signs to terminate (Declaration § 9, p. 20).
• The city is Parkland. The declaration states none, but the plat is in the City of Parkland (PB 165/18, sheet 1), as The Colony's declaration, on Blocks A to C of the same plat, also says. The 2001 master supplement's "City of Coral Springs" is wrong (Instr 100811009, p. 4). The plat's 93-home cap covers the 41 Waterford and 52 Colony lots and does "not operate as a restriction in favor of any property owner" (sheet 3, note 24).
• After closing, give the association a copy of the deed. Until it has one, it "shall not be obligated to recognize any change in membership or ownership" (By-Laws § 2.2, Declaration p. 31).