Tampa Palms HOA: the master association, its villages and what matters at closing

The master association's estoppel on every home, and a second one from the village association where the home is in a village that has one. Find the village from the plat in the legal description.

• The master, Tampa Palms Owners Association, Inc. Its estoppel information sheet sends closing agents to its financial agent, University Properties, Inc., 813-980-1000, and gives its fees as $299 for a response in 5–7 days, $418 for one in 2 days, and $478 for an account in collection, answered within 10 days. University Properties works Monday to Thursday and offers no same-day service (the association's estoppel information sheet, not recorded). We weren't able to confirm these fees, hours and turnaround with University Properties itself. Those fees are within the caps in force since 1 July 2022 — $299, plus $119 for delivery within three business days and $179 where the account is delinquent; the caps, and what happens when an association is late, are on our page about HOA approvals and estoppels. A homeowners' association must issue the certificate within 10 business days of a written or electronic request (Fla. Stat. § 720.30851).
• What it should show. The General Assessment, any Subdistrict Assessment the master levies for the home's village (Declaration Art. I § 21, OR 4753/1345, p. 10; Art. X § 1, OR 25697/265, p. 2), any special assessment, interest, late fees and fines. The sheet says the certificate also confirms whether any right of first refusal exists and that the association does not approve buyers, and notes a form required only in The Sanctuary (the association's estoppel information sheet, not recorded).
• The village association, where there is one. University Properties also issues the estoppels of The Sanctuary and Turnbury Wood (the same sheet); for the other villages we weren't able to confirm who issues the estoppel, so we find out when we order.

The six villages whose documents we hold, read across:

A village can change managers without recording anything, so we confirm who issues its estoppel when we order.

The master's 2019 collection policy says a buyer's failure to request an estoppel certificate "will not establish a basis for waiver of any debt" (Board collection policy, not recorded). The estoppel is how a closing finds what is owed.

To the master, nothing under the recorded documents. The 1986 declaration charged one-sixth of a year's General Assessment when a buyer took title from the Declarant (Declaration Art. X § 8, OR 4753/1345, p. 26). The members deleted that section in 2018 (OR 25697/265, p. 6), and no resale or transfer charge has been recorded since. The "capital contribution" in Article X § 5 is the reserve part of the annual budget, collected through the assessments, not a charge at closing (OR 25697/265, p. 5). The master's estoppel should confirm that none is charged.

The assessment. The Board's disclosure summary form gives the master assessment as "$310.00 PER YEAR", with no special assessment (Board rule on the HOA disclosure summary, signed 28 August 2024, not recorded). We weren't able to confirm the current figure. Assessments fall due on 1 October and are late after 31 October (Board collection policy, not recorded). The village's assessments come on top, and so may a Subdistrict Assessment levied by the master for a village's own expenses (Declaration Art. I § 21, OR 4753/1345, p. 10).

To the village, whatever its own documents charge; see the village's page.

Community development district assessments. Tampa Palms is served by community development districts, and the association may contract and cooperate with the Tampa Palms Community Development District (Declaration Art. XIII § 12, OR 25531/1175, p. 5). We weren't able to confirm any district assessment from the master's documents, which state none; we check the property tax bill.

Yes, with a minimum term in the single-family villages:

• No rentals under 180 days. "Rental or listing or electronic advertising of a Residential Units for lease or rent for a period of less than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days is prohibited in Villages comprised of single family housing", and the declaration names those villages: Asbury, Ashmont, Cambridge I, II and III, Canterbury, Coventry, Enclave, Estates of River Park, Faircrest, Huntington, Kensington, Manchester, Nottingham, Palma Vista, The Reserve, The Sanctuary, Sterling Manor, Stonington, Tremont, Turnbury Wood, Wellington, Westover and Wyndham (Declaration Art. XII § 14, OR 24716/383, p. 2). It does not apply to the commercial units it names — Amberly Place, The Hamptons, Mezzo and the Golf & Country Club.
• Villages may go further. "Any sub-association, which includes Residential Units may adopt more restrictive covenants concerning rentals" (the same page). Read the village's documents.
• No approval of a lease or tenant is required by the master documents.
• Two tracts have recorded rental terms of their own. The apartments on Tracts M-4 to M-12 of the Replat of Unit 1B are to be "held and used for rental purposes only", unless converted to condominium (OR 5237/757, p. 1; OR 5720/646, p. 1), and the units on Tract 7B of Area 2 Unit 6A/7B were "constructed and held for sale, not for rent", though later owners may rent them (OR 5516/1326, p. 1).

The 180-day rule was recorded in 2016 and rewritten in February 2017 (OR 24461/867, p. 2; OR 24716/383, p. 2). A rental amendment 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)); this one predates that, so it binds every owner. Anything recorded after 9 December 2022 is not on this page, so for an investor buyer we search forward before saying what applies.

No. The recorded master documents contain no approval, right of first refusal or notice requirement for a sale or a lease, and the association's estoppel sheet says the certificate confirms that the association does not approve buyers. A village may require its own notice or approval; The Sanctuary, for one, requires notice of a sale on its Board's form. Membership in the master passes when the deed is recorded and the association is given written notice (Articles of Incorporation Art. 4(c), p. 2, not recorded), so we send the master the recorded deed after closing.

This is the first question on a Tampa Palms file. The 1986 declaration itself covers only Units 1A and 1B and listed lots and tracts of Unit 3 (Declaration Exhibit A, OR 4753/1345, p. 44). Everything else came in, if at all, by a "Subsequent Amendment" recorded by the Declarant (Declaration Art. VIII, pp. 20–21). Twenty-seven instruments recorded between 1986 and 1995 submit units and tracts or restrict particular land, but most describe their land by unit, tract or plat rather than by village name, so a lot's instrument is found from its plat. These are the ones that can be tied to a village:

The others, by unit, are 2C Units 1 and 2 and Unit 3C, Units 2A and 2B-1, 2B Unit 2, Area 2 Units 5B, 5C and 7C, tracts of the Replat of Unit 1B, Tracts 6A and 7B of Area 2 Unit 6A/7B, Tract 6B and later the whole of Area 2 Unit 6B/7A, Tract E of Unit 3B, and an Area 4 church site (OR 4754/925 through OR 7689/1882). Lot 3A of Area 4 – Unit 2/3A was annexed in 1994 and withdrawn in 1996 (OR 7417/1287; OR 8036/1640), and the right to annex the Area 4 USAA Building Site, Parcel 2 was waived (OR 5588/1634, p. 1). If a lot's plat is in none of these, we look for the instrument that submitted it before treating the lot as bound — or as free of the master.

Two more points for older lots:

• Unit 3 was replatted. The lots of Unit 3 in Exhibit A are described by a plat the City vacated "in its entirety" in October 1986 (City Resolution 1154-I, OR 4943/1136, p. 2), so a lot there has to be matched from its present plat to the 1986 list.
• Minimum sizes come from the unit's instrument. The 1986 Supplemental Declaration sets 1,800 to 2,200 square feet in Units 1A, 1B and 3 by parcel (OR 4754/925, p. 1); several later instruments set none, and the 1994–95 certificates set no use or size restriction of their own, so the village's documents govern there.

• The buyer and the seller's unpaid assessments. The declaration makes a new owner liable for what was due at the conveyance only "to the extent expressly assumed" (Declaration Art. X § 1, OR 25697/265, p. 3), but Chapter 720 makes a parcel owner jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for all unpaid assessments that came due up to the transfer of title (Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(2)(b)). The estoppel, not the lien search, shows what is owed.
• The lien needs nothing recorded. Since 2018, "There shall exist a perfected lien for unpaid assessments on the respective Unit which is effective from and shall relate back to the date on which the original Declaration was recorded", ahead of every lien but taxes and a good-faith first mortgage of record; assessments carry 18% interest and a $25 late fee on each late installment (Declaration Art. X §§ 1, 4, OR 25697/265, pp. 3–5).
• Bank-owned resales. Since 1 November 2021 a first-mortgage foreclosure "shall not extinguish the lien of such assessments as to payments which became due prior to such sale or transfer". The foreclosing first mortgagee owes the lesser of a year's assessments or 1% of the original mortgage debt, and a third party who takes directly is liable as § 720.3085 provides (Declaration Art. X § 7, Instr 2021550646, pp. 3–4). Before it, a foreclosure extinguished the lien for assessments that came due before the sale (OR 25697/265, p. 6). Which rule governs a particular sale is for underwriting.
• Fines. Up to $100 a violation, or a day for a continuing one, capped at $1,000, after at least 14 days' notice and a hearing before the Covenants Committee. A fine under $1,000 cannot become a lien; an unpaid fine over $1,000 becomes a Special Assessment and a lien (Declaration Art. XIII § 14, OR 25531/1175, pp. 2–3; Fla. Stat. § 720.305(2)). The Board's 2019 collection policy treats any fine unpaid 90 days as a Special Assessment (not recorded), so ask the estoppel to list fines separately.
• How the 2018 lien amendment was adopted. The April 2018 certificate, which brought in the relation-back lien, the 18% interest and the deletion of the capital contribution, says it was approved on 19 September 2017 by 60% of the total votes; on that date the declaration still required 75%, and the 60% threshold came only with a certificate approved in January 2018 (OR 25697/265, pp. 1–2; OR 25531/1175, pp. 1, 4). It recites objection from one mortgagee among 35 notified, and the declaration requires eligible first-mortgage holders of 51% of the mortgaged units to approve amendments of that kind (Declaration Art. XIV § 3, OR 4753/1345, p. 37). Whether its changes bind is a question for underwriting.
• Who could annex land. The developer's rights passed through several hands. Tampa Palms Development Corporation, the original Declarant, assigned them in 1990 to two partnerships only for the land in each assignment's exhibits (OR 5905/1207; OR 5905/1226), and merged away in 1991. 75/275 Corp., which signed alone as Declarant the 1994–95 certificates for Kensington, The Estates at River Park, Area 2 Unit 6B/7A and Turnbury Wood, took such declarant's rights as two partnerships had "to the extent assignable, if any" (OR 6844/932, pp. 1, 4; OR 6928/476, pp. 1, 4). We weren't able to confirm any instrument passing the original Declarant's rights for land outside the 1990 exhibits, and no annexing instrument recites the Veterans Administration approval the declaration required before a unilateral annexation (Declaration Art. VIII § 1, OR 4753/1345, p. 20). Whether those annexations bind is a question for underwriting.
• What the preservation notices leave out. Covenants older than a lot's root of title are extinguished unless preserved (Fla. Stat. § 712.04); an association preserves them by recording a notice (§ 712.05). The association recorded one on 3 February 2016 (OR 23859/1594), and more with the amendments of 2021 and 2022. They preserve the declaration and its amendments, but between them they list only four of the 27 annexing instruments — not those for the Westover, Sanctuary and Huntington land, the rental-only tracts or the 1994–95 certificates (OR 23859/1594, p. 2; Instr 2022575347, pp. 2–3). Whether the use, size and rental terms in the unlisted instruments survive is a question for underwriting.
• The 1984 Declaration of Restrictions. An earlier, separate scheme, recorded 20 November 1984 (OR 4452/1217), bound Units 1A, 1B, 2, 3 and 4, with its own architectural committee, house minimums and association. Three days after the master declaration, Tampa Palms Development Corporation alone recorded an amendment striking it "in its entirety" (OR 4754/911, pp. 1–2). The 1984 instrument gave no one the power to end it that way, and the district and the association that signed it in 1984 did not sign the strike. On a lot in those units, or a replat of them, whether to except the 1984 restrictions is a question for underwriting.
• Home businesses. A 1988 "Clarification", recorded by the Declarant without a vote, defines a home as "only a residence for single family" that excludes "business activities, such as home occupation" (OR 5388/995, p. 1). Whether it binds is a question for underwriting; the 2016 preservation notice lists it.
• Tract I. In 1991 the FDIC foreclosed on "Tract I", 784.78 acres north of the TECO line between County Road 581 and I-75, and the judgment quieted its title free of "any and all reservations, covenants, restrictions, claims, or interests whatsoever" of the defendants, the association among them (OR 6399/1938, pp. 1–3; OR 6472/239, pp. 1, 4). We weren't able to confirm whether any land under the master declaration lies in Tract I; for a lot in that area it is a question for underwriting.
• Inside the City of Tampa. The City annexed about 12,138 acres, including land of Tampa Palms' first developer, in 1985 (City Ordinance 8768-A, OR 4494/1661), and its City Council has approved the Tampa Palms plats since 1986. Code enforcement and other government liens are the City's, and we run the municipal lien search with the City of Tampa. We weren't able to confirm from the documents that every Tampa Palms parcel lies inside the City, so we check each property's jurisdiction before the search.
• The declaration runs to 2036. Its first 30-year term ended on 28 February 2016, and it renews for 10 years at a time unless a majority of owners records an instrument changing or ending it within the year before a renewal (Declaration Art. XIII § 1, OR 4753/1345, p. 32). It is amended by 60% of the voting interests present through their Voting Members and voting at a meeting (Declaration Art. XIII § 2, Instr 2022575347, pp. 6–7).

• No club membership. Owning a home gives no right to use the golf course or club, and the club may be sold or reorganized without owners' consent (Declaration Art. II, p. 11; Art. XVI § 1, p. 40, OR 4753/1345). Homes next to the course carry an easement for stray golf balls (Art. XIII § 10, p. 35).
• Exterior changes need the Residential Modifications Committee's approval, which may be delegated to a village committee; plans it does not act on within 45 days are deemed approved (Declaration Art. XI § 2, OR 4753/1345, pp. 27–28), and since 2022 the Board may fine an owner who does not comply (Instr 2022575347, p. 5).
• Parking. Commercial vehicles, boats, trailers, campers and mobile homes must be parked entirely within a garage, and no garage may be altered to hold fewer cars (Declaration Art. XII § 2, Instr 2021526831, p. 4).
• Pets and signs. No more than two household pets, dogs leashed outside, and no sign without the Board's written consent (Declaration Art. XII §§ 1, 4, OR 4753/1345, pp. 29–30).
• Upkeep. Owners must keep roofs, walls and fences free of dirt and mildew, paint and stucco sound, and lawns and beds kept (Declaration Art. XII §§ 5–6, Instr 2021526831, pp. 4–5).
• Parks. Compton Park and River Park are for residents of Areas 1 and 2, renters included (the association's and district's park rules, updated 19 November 2025, not recorded); we weren't able to confirm that these rules are current.

• Faircrest II, a Condominium. A condominium declared in 1987 (OR 5153/492), to which Tampa Palms Development Corporation gave the master Declarant's consent (OR 5197/1774). We hold its declaration but have no page for it yet; on a closing there we order the condominium association's estoppel as well as the master's and read its documents.
• The other villages. The master's estoppel sheet lists 27 residential villages (not recorded). Besides the six with pages and Faircrest, they are Amberly Place, Asbury, Ashmont, Cambridge, Cambridge II, Cambridge III, Canterbury, Coventry, Enclave, Henley, Manchester, Mezzo, Nottingham, Palma Vista, Sterling Manor, Stonington, Tremont, Turnbury Wood, Wellington and Wyndham. We weren't able to obtain or confirm any of their documents. On a closing there we identify the village from the plat, find the recorded instrument that brought its land under the master declaration (see below), and order the village's estoppel.