Victoria Isles, Woodfield: 64 homes with approval of every sale and lease

At OR 6089/154, 37 pages, made by Victoria Isles, a Florida joint venture, and indexed by the Clerk under a condominium name, though the lots are fee-simple platted lots. It is made subject to the Master Declaration at OR 5037/1571 (p. 1). The first developer lost the lots to foreclosure in 1990 (OR 6669/1896), and the Resolution Trust Corporation, as conservator, quitclaimed Lots 1 through 65 to Reflections Development of Boca, Inc. in 1991 (OR 6993/914). The association preserved the declaration by a notice recorded in 2016, which lists no amendments to that date (OR 28586/1928).

The association's consent. The 2018 amendment added Paragraph XIII: "No Owner may transfer any interest in a Lot by sale, lease, transfer, conveyance, gift or any other manner without the prior written consent of the Association through its Board of Directors. Approval shall not be unreasonably withheld" (OR 30220/331, p. 3). It took effect 60 days after recording.

• Review. The association has 30 days, with an interview if required and background and credit checks (p. 3).
• Fee. "No less than $100.00 and no higher than that which is allowed by Florida law" (p. 4).
• Grounds to disapprove. Unresolved violations, a delinquency, sex-offender listing, a violent felony within 10 years, failure to attend the interview, and a credit score below "good" (pp. 4–5).
• A substitute purchaser, not a right of first refusal. The owner's notice of a sale may include "a demand by the Owner that the Association furnish a purchaser of the Lot if the proposed purchaser is not approved" (p. 3). The association need not furnish one where it disapproves on the listed grounds (p. 5).

The 2018 certificate was first recorded without the amendment text (OR 30044/919) and re-recorded with it (OR 30220/331).

Since 22 March 2022 the master declaration has also 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 (Art. X § 19, OR 33401/264, pp. 29–30). That binds every Neighborhood whatever its own documents say; here it adds the master's final approval to Victoria Isles' own consent, and Victoria Isles' substitute-purchaser demand and grounds still apply. The master's rule also needs its Certificate of Compliance, with the buyer's Club membership.

What about the 2000 consent and the "Pledge Agreement"?

Consent agreements were recorded with sales in 1999 and 2000 on a pre-printed form, signed by the managing agent, that cites only "the SPECIFIED ARTICLE" of a "Declaration of Homeowners", a blank never filled in (OR 11590/1150, p. 2; OR 11402/1272; OR 11539/361; OR 11758/640). The recorded declaration had no sale-approval clause then: none appears in the pages we read, including pp. 2, 26 and 28–32 (Art. X, architectural control, and the restrictions) and pp. 34–37, which are the May 1989 signatures, acknowledgments and the mortgagee's consent and joinder (OR 6089/154). So the forms had no sale-approval article behind them; the wording reads as a condominium form. They are history: today's approval rests on the 2018 amendment and the master's 2022 rule. The 1999 form says the sale is subject to the declaration, its exhibits "and the Pledge Agreement heretofore executed, all of which have been recorded in the Public Records of Palm Beach County" (OR 11402/1272, p. 1). A name search under "VICTORIA ISLES" from 1900 to 28 October 2026 found no instrument indexed as a Pledge Agreement or as a pledge; the only agreements indexed are the one-page consent forms. We also read the declaration's exhibit pages: the mortgagee's consent and joinder lists the lender's mortgages and security agreements (OR 5864/175 and OR 5864/203) and UCC financing statements (OR 5864/200 and OR 5864/227), and no Pledge Agreement (OR 6089/154, p. 36). Neither UCC statement mentions one, and the 1988 assignment of the developer's purchase, option and marketing agreements does not list one among them (OR 5864/244, pp. 1–2; pp. 3–5 not read). The only "pledge" wording in the declaration lets the Board pledge the association's revenues as security for loans (Art. V § 4, OR 6089/154, p. 13). Our working rule: our reading of the record is that the reference is a leftover of the pre-printed form and no Pledge Agreement of record encumbers a lot; the examiner still asks the association in writing whether one exists and raises an exception or seeks the underwriter's sign-off if it cannot be ruled out.

Since 2024, "the party acquiring title shall pay a capital contribution to the Association in an amount equal to two (2) quarterly installments of the annual assessments" (Art. VIII § 10, OR 35202/344, p. 7). It is due at transfer and secured by the lien. It is not charged where a lot is "transferred from an existing Owner to another for nominal consideration", including a transfer to an owner as trustee, to a family member, or for estate planning. The 1989 declaration had a working capital fund of three months' assessments (OR 6089/154, p. 23). The buyer also pays the master's working capital contribution.

With the association's consent, on the 2018 terms (OR 30220/331, p. 3):

• "Lots may not be leased until the Owner has held title for a minimum of one (1) year", except for title taken by inheritance or intestacy.
• "A Lot shall not be leased for a term of less than six (6) months and not more than once during any twelve (12) month period."
• Since 2024 the owner pays a capital contribution of one quarterly installment for each lease and each renewal (OR 35202/344, p. 7).

The leasing rules were recorded in 2018, 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 2024 per-lease charge came after that date. Our working rule: every buyer now takes title after it, so we treat the contribution as applying to them and ask the estoppel to state any amount owed; how it applies to earlier owners is for underwriter and counsel sign off on the file. The master's leasing rules apply on top.

Since 2024 the lien is "effective from and shall relate back to the date on which this Declaration was originally recorded", but as to a first mortgage of record, only from the recording of a claim of lien (Art. VIII § 12, OR 35202/344, p. 8). A first mortgagee's liability, and that of other owners including buyers at a foreclosure sale, follows Fla. Stat. § 720.3085 (§ 13, p. 9). Fines may run to $100 a day, capped at $5,000, and are lienable (§ 16, p. 10). We ask the estoppel to show any fine.

With "the approval of two-thirds (2/3) of the members present in person or by proxy at any regular or special meeting ... at which a quorum is present", and the consent of the Master Association's Board (Art. XII § 2, OR 30220/331, p. 6). The 1989 text had required three-fourths of the members (OR 6089/154, p. 31).

A sliver of Lot 49 is still owned by the developer (PA parcel 06424704070000492); we check whether a Lot 49 closing involves it.