Mayfair, Woodfield Country Club: sale approval and two quarters' assessments on each resale and each lease

A capital contribution to Mayfair of "two (2) quarterly installments of Common Assessments", paid by the purchaser on each resale (Art. V § 12, OR 33460/1604, p. 2, recorded 8 April 2022). It was one quarterly installment under the 2001 restatement (OR 12436/1578, p. 11). The amended text lists no exemption for family or trust transfers.

The buyer also pays the master's resale working capital contribution. We take both amounts from the estoppels.

Yes. Since 22 March 2022 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 Mayfair whatever its own declaration says.

Mayfair's declaration has an approval right of its own: "No Owner may dispose of his or her Lot and Dwelling Units or any interest herein by sale or lease (except to the spouse, parents or children of such Owner) without approval of the Association" (Art. XX § 1, OR 12436/1578, p. 30). The 1995 form made all of Article XX depend on a recorded notice of election (OR 8651/402, p. 32). The 2001 restatement narrowed that: notice must be recorded only if the association elects to "establish restrictions other than those set forth in this Declaration" (OR 12436/1578, p. 30). On that wording, the approval in § 1 applies without a separate recorded notice. That is our reading of the text, not legal advice. We found no such notice, and the association's own 2023 preservation notice lists none (OR 34714/75, p. 2). Mayfair's terms run alongside the master's:

• The owner gives notice with the buyer's name and terms. Within 30 days the association approves or supplies a substitute purchaser on the same terms, which works as a right of first refusal. Silence is approval, and approval is signed by two officers in recordable form (OR 12436/1578, pp. 30–31).
• On a gift, devise or inheritance, the association has 30 days, and if it disapproves it must supply a buyer at appraised fair market value (p. 31).
• An institutional mortgagee taking title by foreclosure or deed in lieu is exempt (p. 31).

Mayfair may also require a transfer application and fee before it issues its estoppel (OR 12436/1578, p. 11). The master's Certificate of Compliance and Club membership are required in every case.

Yes. "No Dwelling Units may be leased, rented or occupied by any person other than the Owner for less than a thirty (30) day period or more than two (2) times in a calendar year" (OR 12436/1578, p. 30). A lease needs Mayfair's approval under the same Art. XX § 1 (OR 12436/1578, p. 30).

Since 2022 each owner who leases, including on each renewal, pays the association a lease capital contribution "in an amount equal to two (2) quarterly installments of Common Assessments, which will be due and payable at the commencement of the lease of the Lot" (Art. V § 12.b, OR 33460/1604, p. 2). Failing to pay it "will render the underlying lease null and void" (p. 2). The amendment's exhibit headings call the community "Mayfield at Woodfield Country Club", while its certificate says Mayfair (pp. 1–2); that looks like a scrivener's error. It was adopted after 1 July 2021, so it binds owners who took title after 8 April 2022 or who consented (Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h)). Our working rule: we tell a buyer who plans to lease that the contribution applies to them, since every buyer now takes title after 8 April 2022; whether it is a rental limit under that section for earlier owners is for underwriter and counsel sign off on the file. The master's leasing rules, six months to a year with two approvals, apply on top.

• Lien. Assessments with late charges, fines, interest, costs and fees are "a charge and a continuing lien upon the Lot", and "Each successor in title to such Owner shall be jointly and severally liable with any former Owner for any delinquent Assessments" (OR 12436/1578, p. 9).
• Foreclosing lenders. Under Art. XIII of the 2001 restatement, an institutional mortgagee that takes title by foreclosure "shall not be liable for Assessments pertaining to such Unit which became due prior to the acquisition of title unless such Assessments are secured by a Claim of Lien which was recorded prior to the recording of such mortgage"; the unpaid amount becomes a common expense of all owners (§ 1, OR 12436/1600, p. 23). The mortgage has priority over the association's lien if it was recorded before a claim of lien (§ 3). A mortgagee that takes title may sell, lease or mortgage the lot "without prior offer to or approval of the Board or the Association" (§ 2), and on written request is entitled to notice of defaults "not cured within sixty (60) days" (§ 4). That is a fuller exemption than the limited safe harbor in Fla. Stat. § 720.3085, which sets the statutory cap on a first mortgagee's liability. Which governs on a file is for underwriting to decide; this is not legal advice. The four later instruments the Clerk links to the 2001 restatement (OR 16665/1686, 16742/575, 19688/180, 22303/725) are claims of lien for unpaid assessments against single lots, each later satisfied or released; none changes Art. XIII or the leasing rules. The 2022 amendment (OR 33460/1604) and the 2023 preservation notice (OR 34714/75) are listed below.
• Fines. $25, $50 and $50 for continuing violations after a hearing, treated as a special assessment (OR 12436/1578, p. 29).
• Exterior maintenance. Since the 1999 Third Amendment the association maintains, repairs, replaces and restores the exterior of every home, including exterior surfaces, gates, driveways, walkways, patios, doors, windows, screening, swimming pools, pool decks, roofs, gutters and garage doors (Art. VIII § 1, OR 11445/922, p. 2). It also paints the exteriors and maintains mailboxes and street lights (Art. VIII § 2, p. 2). We ask the estoppel for any special assessment.
• Open space. Parcel E is still titled to Woodfield Partners Ltd (Property Appraiser).
• Deed restrictions. The developer's deed limits homes to two stories and 30 feet and caps Mayfair, Somerset and Kensington at 257 dwellings together (OR 8463/1397, pp. 8–10).