Stratford Green, Woodfield: under the master, a two-quarter contribution and strict 2021 leasing rules

Yes. The declaration says so in four places:

• It defines the "Master Association" as "Woodfield Country Club Homeowners' Association, Inc., a Florida corporation not-for-profit", and the "Master Declaration" as the one "recorded in the Public Records of Palm Beach County, Florida, at Official Records Book 5037, page 1571, et seq., as may be amended from time to time" (Art. I(g)–(h), OR 5933/427, p. 1).
• "By taking title to a Unit, each Owner becomes subject to the terms and conditions of the Master Declaration for Woodfield Country Club" (Art. VII § 1, p. 15).
• "All Owners are members of the Master Association and bound by its Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws, as well as the Woodfield Country Club Documents" (Art. IX § 1, p. 19), and the declaration is "subordinate to the Woodfield Country Club Documents" (Art. IX § 2).
• Its land is "Parcel "B", Woodfield Country Club according to the Replat thereof as recorded in Plat Book 60, Pages 155-156" (Exhibit A, p. 21).

The master association also joined the 2021 amendment and consented to it (OR 33165/1132). So the master's requirements apply to every Stratford Green home: Club membership, the Certificate of Compliance, the master's working capital contribution and its leasing rules.

Yes, and then the master does. We saw no sale approval or right of first refusal on the pages of Stratford Green's declaration we read (OR 5933/427). The 2017 consolidated declaration requires approval of leases only (Art. VI § 12, OR 29488/1923, p. 18), the 2018 Amended and Restated Articles and By-Laws have no sale or lease approval (OR 30205/318, pp. 2–15), and the 2021 amendment adds none. The 2017 text has no sale-approval clause; a new member's voting rights begin only once "the new Member presents the Association with a copy of the recorded deed" (Art. III § 9, OR 29488/1923, p. 8). 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 Stratford Green whatever its own documents say. The master's Certificate of Compliance and Club membership are required as well.

Since December 2021, working capital of two quarterly assessments, collected from each purchaser at conveyance; "This does not include transfers made for estate planning purposes" (Art. IV § 5, OR 33165/1132, p. 1). The 1989 text charged only buyers from the developer, three months' assessments (OR 5933/427, p. 8). A 2006 amendment struck that and charged every purchaser at conveyance "an amount equal to one quarterly assessment", excluding estate-planning transfers (Art. IV § 5, OR 20579/1193, p. 1). That amendment's own date line and the notary's date are left blank on p. 2 ("___ day of _____, 200"); it was recorded on 10 July 2006. The 2017 restated declaration kept one quarterly assessment, "collected ... at the time of closing of the sale", estate-planning transfers excluded (Art. IV § 5, OR 29488/1923, p. 10). The 2021 amendment, the latest, raised it to two quarters, and that is the figure that governs now. The buyer also owes the master's working capital contribution.

Only narrowly. The 2021 amendment rewrote Art. VI § 12 (OR 33165/1132, pp. 1–2):

• Extended absence, with approval. Leasing only during the owner's extended absence, with the association's prior written approval after a 30-day review.
• Two years' residence first. The owner or the owner's family must have lived in the home two years before the first lease.
• Term and number. Six to twelve months, once in any 12 months, no extensions, and no more than four times in eight years.
• A contribution per lease of two quarterly assessments.
• "The Unit may not be used for transient occupancy under any circumstances."

The 1989 declaration allowed leasing during extended absence, with approval, for six to eighteen months (Art. VI § 12, OR 5933/427, pp. 14–15). The 2017 consolidated declaration kept prior written approval during extended absence, approval "which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld", for "six (6) consecutive months, nor greater than twenty-four (24) months", once in any 12 months, with a working capital contribution of one quarterly assessment collected "at the time of the Lease application" (Art. VI § 12, OR 29488/1923, p. 18). The 2021 amendment, the latest, replaced those terms with the ones above, and its terms govern now. The amendment was recorded on 23 December 2021, after the 1 July 2021 cutoff in Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h). Its new limits bind owners who took title after it or who consented; the bar on leases shorter than six months binds everyone. Every buyer now takes title after it. The master's leasing rules apply on top.

"In any voluntary conveyance, the Grantee shall be jointly and severally liable with the Grantor for all unpaid assessments made prior to the time of such voluntary conveyance" (Art. IV § 9, OR 5933/427, pp. 8–9); late payments carry a $25 charge and 18% interest. The lien is subordinate to an institutional first mortgage recorded before the claim of lien (§ 10, p. 9). The 1989 declaration was amended by "Owners holding not less than two-thirds vote of the membership", and no amendment took effect "until the Association has received the written consent of the Master Association" (Art. VIII § 5, p. 18). The 2017 restatement keeps "not less than a two-thirds of the membership", but requires the master's consent only where an amendment would "materially affect the rights and obligations" under the master documents (Art. VIII § 5, OR 29488/1923, pp. 21–22).

• The association's name. Its exact legal name is "Stratford Green Homeowners Association, Inc.", without an apostrophe, as Article II of the Amended and Restated Articles states it (OR 30205/319). The 2017 restatement prints it with an apostrophe (Art. I(a), OR 29488/1923, p. 2) and its certificate without (p. 1); the Property Appraiser lists both "Stratford Green Hmowners Assn Inc" and "Stratford Green HOA Inc".
• Lot 67. The association owns Lot 67, which the Property Appraiser classes as residential common area, 0.22 acres (deed OR 9924/1369). It is not a home.
• Earlier amendments. The instruments of 1989 to 2018 are summarised in the table. The 2006 contribution amendment (OR 20579/1193) leaves its date line and notary date blank on p. 2; we note it on the title review.
• The chain. After a 1992 foreclosure, a 1993 quit-claim from JEDI, Inc. to Reflections Development at Stratford conveyed most of the lots and states "THIS DEED IS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY" (OR 7808/1897). It sits in the chain of most lots, and we review it on each file.
• A similar name. The Clerk's index also holds an unrelated "Stratford Greens LLC" in Boynton Beach; we exclude it from the search.