Blogs & Resources

The Florida Condominium Act provides the process for a condo association to file a foreclosure action for recovering a unit owner’s unpaid assessments. That process includes sending the required statutory notices to unit owners and recording a claim of lien for those unpaid assessments in the county’s official records. Once those pre-suit actions are satisfied an association may move forward with a foreclosure action if a unit owner has not paid the past-due amount owed.

Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal issued an opinion in March of 2014 concerning properties governed by an association that are sold at a tax sale. The court, in A to Z Properties, Inc. v. Fairway Palms II Condo. Ass’n, Inc., held that when property with unpaid association assessments is purchased at a tax sale, the purchaser is not liable to the association for those unpaid assessments. No. 4D13-1267 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014). The court’s reasoning is that an assessment lien is extinguished by the issuance of a tax deed. Id. This post will analyze that case, including the ramifications that decision has on Florida’s community associations and what associations can do to avoid finding themselves on the wrong end of this situation.

The Florida Legislature, in 2014, amended the section of the Florida Condominium Act concerning liens for unpaid condominium assessments and who shoulders that liability. Specifically, Section 718.116(1)(a) was amended to make clear that an association’s temporary ownership of a certain unit does not wipe out the unpaid assessment balance which existed on that unit prior to the association’s ownership. This change was the legislature’s strong reaction to the 2013 case, Aventura Management, LLC v. Spiaggia. This Blog post will discuss how that case prompted this amendment to the Florida Condominium Act and explain how this revised statute greatly benefits and protects condominium associations going forward.

Representing real estate developers, we are often asked how damages are calculated when the State of Florida takes a building in eminent domain. The answer is that it depends (don’t you love lawyerly answers?), but for the most basic scenario, we’ll analyze a taking that will require destruction of the entire building and for round numbers, we’ll say that the building has a fair market value of one million dollars. In short, under applicable Florida statutes and case law, fair market value of land and any additional factor impacting the value of the condemned property are factors to determine full compensation. The specific facts of the case will determine if any other applicable compensation is awarded.

Every so often condo associations must deal with one or more abandoned units within their communities. Whether the result of owners unable to secure a tenant or lender foreclosure actions, abandoned units can create serious issues for an association such as the growth of hazardous mold, insect infestation and other forms of unit deterioration. Sometimes a prior owner will leave a unit in an uninhabitable condition or even purposefully destroy parts of the unit, which isn’t discovered until after a foreclosure sale. Abandoned units in poor condition can lead to damage to the common elements and limited common elements if not timely addressed. The Florida Condominium Act enables associations to be proactive when these circumstances arise and provides various remedies to associations dealing with these predicaments. This Blog post will discuss condo associations’ rights and remedies concerning abandoned and foreclosed units in disrepair.

Our recent Blog posts on real estate law have discussed the claims a seller of property can bring against a buyer who breaches a real estate sales contract and also the claims a buyer may bring against the seller when a breach has occurred. One post has also covered the seller’s disclosure obligations when entering into a real estate sales contract. These posts have peripherally mentioned the remedy of specific performance without giving much additional detail. This post will delve further into this remedy and discuss when specific performance is available to a buyer or seller when the other party has breached the real estate sales contract.

In a prior post, this blog discussed the legal claims a seller of real estate can bring against a buyer when that buyer breaches the real estate sales contract. A buyer, on the other hand, also has various legal and equitable claims against the seller of real estate when the seller is unable to convey marketable title or if the seller has a duty to disclose certain defects but fails to make those disclosures. When the seller breaches, the buyer’s claims will largely depend upon the terms of the sales contract, along with the buyer’s underlying goals. This blog post will describe the various legal actions that buyers of real estate can bring against a seller when that seller breaches the real estate sales contract.

Before entering into a contract to sell a piece of real estate to a prospective buyer, a seller is obligated to disclose certain things to the buyer. When the seller fails to make those proper disclosures, the buyer has available several legal and equitable remedies that he or she can bring against that seller. This is because, under Florida law, a seller’s failure to disclose certain conditions is considered a breach of the real estate sales contract. But a seller does not always have a duty to disclose, meaning the buyer is still subject to the doctrine of caveat emptor in some situations. This blog post discusses when the seller of real estate is under a duty to disclose, what the seller is required to disclose and under what circumstances the seller has no obligation to disclose.

A crucial section of the Florida Condominium Act, which directly and significantly affects the assessment revenue and yearly budget for all associations, is Section 718.116(1)(b), Florida Statutes.  That section has become known as the first mortgagee’s “safe harbor protection” because it limits the financial liability of a first mortgagee, or […]

It is not a situation that sellers of real property want to find themselves in, but it is a situation that could easily happen to anyone. After months of hard work getting a property in pristine condition to lure prospective purchasers, and then finally procuring a buyer, the entire transaction suddenly unravels. Despite signing the real estate sales contract, the buyer decides to walk away or, worse yet, fails to show at closing. What is the seller to do? This Blog post will discuss that very scenario and describe the legal actions that sellers of real estate can bring against a buyer when the buyer breaches the real estate sales contract.