Automated Summary
Key Facts
De Soleil South Beach Association, Inc. (Master Association) appealed an amended final order and judgment in favor of unit owners Amber Perrin and Susan Rainone. The building in Miami Beach consists of three parcels (condominium, commercial space, and parking garage) governed by the Master Declaration. In 2016, the Master Association amended the Master Declaration (Second Amendment) to grant itself rights over common elements at the expense of unit owners, including restricting unit owners' access to the garage, requiring notice for unit rentals, and asserting control over external structures. The trial court found the Second Amendment violated the Condominium Act by removing condominium unit owners' collective rights to common elements. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision, holding that the statute must prevail over private agreements that conflict with the Condominium Act.
Issues
- Whether the Second Amendment to the Master Declaration, which reclassified condominium property defined as 'common elements' for the collective benefit of unit owners as Master Association property, violated the Condominium Act by removing unit owners' collective control over common elements without conveying title to the units.
- Whether the trial court properly interpreted the Condominium Act and relevant caselaw in determining the propriety of the Second Amendment and the relation between the three parcels (condominium, commercial space, and parking garage) of the De Soleil South Beach building.
- Whether the Master Association, through the Second Amendment, impermissibly removed from condominium control common elements under section 718.108, including condominium property not included within the units, along with certain easements and infrastructure required to furnish utilities and services to those units, in contravention of the Condominium Act.
Holdings
The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's amended final order and judgment in favor of Unit Owners in a dispute involving De Soleil South Beach Association, Inc. The court held that the Second Amendment to the Master Declaration violated the Condominium Act by removing condominium unit owners' collective right to common elements, as the amendment reclassified common elements as Master Association property without conveying title to the units.
Remedies
The appellate court affirmed the trial court's amended final order and judgment which found that the contested provisions of the Second Amendment to the Master Declaration violated the Florida Condominium Act. The Second Amendment had removed condominium unit owners' collective right to common elements by reclassifying them as Master Association property, which contravened section 718.107 and 718.108 of the Florida Statutes. The court held that the Master Association could not take away rights that unit owners cannot convey absent conveying title to their units.
Legal Principles
The Condominium Act confers condominium unit owners with an undivided share in, and collective control over, common elements appurtenant to the units. Private agreements or declarations cannot supplant rights conferred by the Condominium Act. Where private agreements conflict with the statute, the statute must prevail. Members of a condominium association cannot alienate common elements defined by statute without conveying title to the units.
Precedent Name
IconBrickell Condo. No. Three Ass'n, Inc. v. New Media Consulting, LLC
Cited Statute
- Condominium Act
- Florida Statutes
Judge Name
- Judge BOKOR
- Judge GOODEN
- Judge GORDO
Passage Text
- In IconBrickell, this court held that a 'recharacterization' of common elements as shared facilities subject to control of the hotel owner and the 'resultant expropriation of undivided common ownership[] indubitably contravene[d] the edict of the [Condominium] Act.' We agree that the governing structure of the building differs from IconBrickell, but we reach a similar result based on our interpretation of the rights appurtenant to a condominium under the Condominium Act.
- The Condominium Act confers condominium unit owners with an undivided share in, and collective control over, common elements appurtenant to the units. The Master Association, through the Second Amendment, reclassified condominium property, defined as 'common elements' for the collective benefit of the unit owners, as Master Association property.
- The removal of common elements from condominium control by the Second Amendment similarly contravenes section 718.107 by separating, conveying or encumbering common elements appurtenant to the condominium units, without conveying the title to the units. It impermissibly removes from condominium control common elements under section 718.108, including 'condominium property which is not included within the units,' along with certain easements and infrastructure required to furnish utilities and services to those units.