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The CRCCA Declaration of Condominium does not speak to an intent to sell, or notifying the other owners of the intent to sell, only to the requirement that the owner/seller notify the Board of Directors of all the parameters of the sale prior to the date of the “sale or transfer”. In other words the Declaration of Condominium (DOC) requires that an owner notify the Board only after a bona fide offer to purchase has been excepted. The board is then obligated to approve or disapprove the proposed sale within ten (10) days, and shall notify the owner and the members in writing of its decision. The entire wording of Section XII Conveyances from the Declaration of Condominium may be reviewed below.
Essentially the seller is obligated to notify the Board regarding all parameters of the sale including the name of the buyer, price and the date, time and place of the sale/transfer. The board then approves or disapproves the sale and notifies the seller and other owners of the decision within ten (10) days of this notice. If the Board of Directors disapproves the sale/transfer and the owner still desires to do so, he shall provide written notice to the Secretary of the corporation of his intent to sell thirty (30) days prior to the date of the sale. The time lines set forth in the DOC dictate that the shortest time between an offer excepted by the seller to the closing date, given time for written notice by registered mail is a minimum of 45 days. The Board shall promptly notify the members of the date, price and terms of the sale when the 30 day notice, in writing, is given. Other owners have first right of refusal and may negotiate the purchase of the property with the seller but must also notify the Secretary of the Corporation in writing at least ten (10) days prior to the scheduled closing.
To comply with the DOC as filed by the developers you need to provide the Board written notice of all parameters of a sale. The Board then has ten (10) days to approve or disapprove the sale. If disapproved, you may go ahead with the sale, provided you have clear title to the properties, but must notify the Board 30 days prior to the date of the sale/transfer. The thirty (30) day requirement starts ticking AFTER you receive your reply notice from the Board. If you have a bona fide offer on the table, you need to notify the Board as soon as possible as this process could take much more than forty-five (45) days. If holidays interfere with notification requirements, the written notices could take a little longer. Once the owner/seller receives the notification/response from the Board, he/she may or may not be contacted directly by one of our other owners who wish to match the bona fide offer. If one of the other CRCCA owners presents the seller with an offer that matches the original bona fide offer he/she will need to notify the Secretary of CRCCA of the sale/transfer ten (10) days prior to the date of closing.
The above information simply assures that other owners are provided notice and opportunity to match a bona fide purchase price when a unit comes up for sale. This “approve/disapprove” process is in place to protect the property values of our association. Some types of businesses (e.g., auto body shops, auto repair shops) interfere with the activities of more desirable business by overloading common parking areas with vehicles staged for work or work in progress. Such activities lower the property values and/or rental opportunities for our owners.
A separate issue is the statement all real-estate brokers, attorneys and title insurance companies require from any condominium Board of Directors. Florida regulations require that the property title must be cleared of all liens and encumbrances prior to the sale/transfer. Late fees and penalties were instituted by the 2005 CRCCA Board (see “Notices” tab upper left). The Board will not be able to provide your agent/purchaser title insurance company with the State of Florida required release if the you, as the seller, have outstanding financial obligations to CRCCA for back maintenance fees, late fees and penalties. The 2006-2007 Board suspended late fees and penalties until accurate data could be tracked regarding the financial status of our Association. The late fees and penalties initiated by the 2005 Board were re-instituted by the 2007 board (see “Notices” tab upper left) after the Board determined the financial data were reliable. So that CRCCA could be brought into compliance with Florida Commercial Condominium regulations Late Fees became “Administrative Fees” and Penalties became “Interest on Outstanding Balances”. Our book keeping service GFBS tracks all payments and applies the Administrative fees and Interest charges initially instituted by the 2005 Board . The owner is required to pay all outstanding moneys owed the Association before the Board may issue the State of Florida required release. The Board will not provide the required document unless all obligations due CRCCA are current at the date of the sale/transfer/closing.
The Board is required to file a lien on the property of any owner meeting and/or exceeding the outstanding dollar or time limits set by unanimous vote of the membership. This directive has been followed by the Board on several occasions. Please attempt to stay current with the moneys owed CRCCA so any potential sale of your property is not impeded.
The Declaration of Condo Section XII Conveyances is presented below. Please allow a few moments for the file to appear. You may click on the file and copy it to your computer if you are not able to find your copy of the DOC.
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