Cambridge Park, Woodfield: 94 townhouses, lease approval and a capital contribution

Many townhouses sit on parts of two platted lots. A unit may be described as "Lot 12 (less the northerly 6 feet) and the northerly 6 feet of Lot 13", or "the west 10.33 feet of Lot 95 and Lot 96" (Property Appraiser). The descriptions do not always agree: for one unit the Property Appraiser's description and a 2024 deed's description of the same land differ (OR 35095/454, p. 1). Our working rule: the examiner runs the legal description back through the chain of title on every unit and insures the description the vesting deed and plat support, raising an exception or seeking the underwriter's sign-off where they differ. Party walls and roof and exterior maintenance should also be checked against the declaration and plat. The declaration's exhibits, pp. 24–41, are the association's Articles (Exh. A, pp. 25–28), its By-Laws (Exh. B, through p. 39) and the legal descriptions of Parcel R, Plat Book 58, Pages 22–23 (Exhs. C and D, pp. 40–41).

Approval by the association, then by the master. Cambridge Park's own documents set no approval of sales and no right of first refusal: the 2002 amendment's approval covers leases only, and none of the instruments in the association's 2016 preservation notice adds a sale approval. Since 22 March 2022, though, the master declaration has required that every sale, transfer or conveyance of a Woodfield lot, including a gift, devise or inheritance, be approved by the Neighborhood association within 30 days and then sent to the master for final approval, with a fee of at least $100 (Art. X § 19, OR 33401/264, pp. 29–30). That binds Cambridge Park whatever its own declaration says. A certificate recorded with a 2024 deed, stating that the buyer "has been approved as the buyer/tenant" and signed by the property manager, rests on that rule (OR 35095/454, p. 3). The master's rule also needs its Certificate of Compliance, with the buyer's Club membership.

On a voluntary sale, the buyer is "jointly and severally liable with the grantor for all unpaid assessments" made before it (Art. V § 7, OR 5577/1660, p. 9). The 2002 amendment of that section, joined by the Master Association (OR 13915/406), raised the late charge from $25 to $50 and states: "In any voluntary conveyance, the grantee shall be jointly and severally liable with the grantor for all unpaid assessment" (Art. V § 7, OR 14196/1459, Exhibit A).

Two quarters of the maintenance assessment. An amendment recorded on 26 January 2024, adopted by a majority of the members at a meeting on 18 January 2024, replaced Art. V § 10 with a "New Owner Capital Contribution": "Upon recording this amendment, the New Owner Capital Contribution shall be equal to the sum of two quarters of the Association's maintenance assessment" (OR 34796/1848, pp. 1–2). It is two pages and ends "No further changes."

The 2024 amendment was recorded without the Master Association's written joinder, which Art. XI § 5 still requires for any amendment (see below). It is signed and notarized by the association's president and secretary only; neither page mentions or attaches a master joinder or consent, and its Doc Links field in the Clerk's index is blank. Searches of the Clerk's index from 1 January 2024 to 28 October 2026 under "CAMBRIDGE H" and under the master's name found no joinder or consent recorded separately; the master's filings in that period are per-lot Certificates of Compliance. Our working rule: the estoppel certificate must state the amount charged, and we collect what it states; if it is silent, we ask the association in writing before closing. Whether the amendment is effective is for underwriter and counsel sign off on the file.

Before 2024 the charge was the Capital Contribution Assessment added in 2011: "an amount equal to two-thirds of the quarterly assessment installment amount in effect at the time of the transfer, or if assessments are collected on a different schedule, then an amount equal to one-sixth (1/6) of the total budgeted annual assessment amount" (Art. V § 10, OR 24671/328, p. 2). It is due when the owner acquires an interest and is a lien on the lot from then. It does not apply to a lease, a transfer to immediate family, a transfer to a trustee who is the owner or family, or an institutional first mortgagee taking title by foreclosure or deed in lieu (§ 10(c)). The 2024 text replaces that section, and its two pages state no exemptions.

The original declaration had no working capital charge at all (Art. VI § 5, OR 5577/1660, p. 11). The buyer also pays the master's working capital contribution.

Yes, with the association's written approval. The 2002 amendment added Art. VIII § 27 (OR 14196/1459, p. 4):

• No owner may lease or renew a lease, and no tenant may live in the home, without the association's written approval first.
• No lot may be leased more than one time in any twelve-month period, or for less than three months.
• No subleasing.
• An application fee set by the Board, "not to exceed that permitted by law, initially $100.00" (OR 14196/1459, p. 5).

These rules date from 2002, well before 1 July 2021, so Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h), which limits later rental amendments to owners who take title after them or consent, does not narrow them. The master's leasing rules, with their own minimum term, apply on top.

Since 2003 the lien has priority and "relates back to and is effective as if recorded as of February 18, 1988", the declaration's recording date (Art. V § 8, OR 16296/387, p. 2). A first mortgagee that takes title is liable only "to the lesser of: A. the last six months of assessments; or, B. one percent of that mortgage's original principal value" (p. 2). Fla. Stat. § 720.3085 also sets a first mortgagee's liability. Our working rule: on a lender-owned sale we collect what the estoppel states and route any dispute over the mortgagee's share to underwriter and counsel sign off on the file. The late fee was raised from $25 to $50 in 2002, and fines were added (OR 14196/1459).

Since 2002, "upon the consent of those holding not less than a majority of the votes of the membership in the Association" (Art. XI § 5, OR 14196/1459, p. 6). The 1988 text had required two-thirds and the written joinder of the Master Association and Woodfield Country Club, Ltd. (OR 5577/1660, p. 22), The 2002 amendment rewrote § 5 but kept the joinder in its last sentence: "No amendment will be effective without the express written joinder and consent of the Master Association and Woodfield Country Club, Ltd., as long as it is the Owner of any Lot or any property within the Master Association or appoints a Director of the Master Association" (OR 14196/1459, p. 6). As recorded, then, the master's joinder is still required; no later amendment changes § 5 again. Whether the closing "as long as" clause qualifies only Woodfield Country Club, Ltd. or both parties is a reading question for the title examiner. The Master Association joined the 2002, 2003 and 2011 amendments (OR 13915/406; OR 16296/387, Exhibit B; OR 24671/328, p. 3); the 2024 amendment carries no joinder. The 1988 Articles and By-Laws also send their own amendments to the master: an amendment "shall be submitted to the Board of the Master Association for approval" and is deemed approved unless the master rejects it within 45 days (Exh. A, OR 5577/1660, pp. 27–28; By-Laws Art. XI, p. 38).

No "Second Certificate of Amendment" is of record, and the 2016 notice lists none; the association appears to have counted the 1992 developer amendment as its first, though no record says so.