This is usually a shocker to the Seller at Closing. The Seller is required to convey clear title and thus the Closing Agent requests “estoppels” from the Condominium Association. These basically show that the Seller is (or is not) current on their monthly fees, if a balance is due as a condition of the required association approval of the sale and so forth.

As of July 1, 2017, there is a cap on the amount an association can charge for an estoppel certificate on the property. An association can charge up to $250 to unit owners who are current in their assessments. They can charge an additional $100 for “expedited” estoppel certificates (delivered within three business days), and another $150 to owners who are delinquent in their assessments. This is a maximum of $500 for an expedited, delinquent estoppel certificate. The new law also requires certificates to be delivered within 10 business days and remain valid for 30 days. It also standardizes the information each certificate must include so that each estoppel contains the same information. 

First, this is for Condomiuns NOT Home Owners Associations. And the Contract Condominium Rider must have the correct box cheched “requesting” the following documents from the Seller. That said, the short answer is…there is no specified time for the Seller to provide these to the Buyer. BUT…

According to the rider, and state laws, the Seller must provide: CURRENT declaration of condominium, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and rules of the association, and a copy of the most recent year-end financial information, and the frequently asked questions and answers document. It is best to get these from the association or management company as if they are not complete the the Buyer could have an “out”. Also, the statute does NOT specify the format of these documents. If the Buyer accepts an electronic copy then great. Otherwise it must be a printed hard copy. And in either case get a Receipt of Condominium Documents form signed by the Buyer. Because…

The Seller of residential condominium resale does NOT have a set amount of time in which to provide condominium documents to the buyer. HOWEVER, note that the Buyer’s three-day right to cancel BEGINS once the Buyer has received a FULL and COMPLETE set of the documents, so it is in the best interest of the seller to provide these documents as soon as possible. And, make cure everything is up to dat and complete.

This came up on a recent sale. The Seller had the property listed for short term occupancies on AirBnB and VRBO and had taken reservations. The Buyer intended to be an owner occupant and live there. Thus, they did ot see the bookings as posative attribute. The question came up as to what happens to those after the sale?

First, we should know the difference between a “rental” and a “licensing” of a property. A “rental” NO MATTER WHAT THE DURATION is an assignment of property rights, the right to EXCLUSIVLY use and enjoy the property, for a defined period of time. And in Florida a residential lease, a rental, DOES survive a sale…

Note that it looks like there was an attempt at the last revision to include “short term vacation rentals” but a licensing of a property is very different from a rental. If the occupancy is a rental then it would require a court order to forcibly remove a person.

A licensing of a Property on the other hand is an agreement in which the owner ALLOWS certain actions, such as staying at the property for a day or a week or whatever, to occur on the property BUT they continue to own and have full control over. Think about a hotel, as that is a licensing. If you act up in the middle of the night they can revoke the license and thow you out. There is no need to go to court to have you “evicted”.

Here’s where the answer gets a bit “cloudy”. Florida Staute does define a Vacation Rental – “Vacation rental.