Opinion
No. 3D19-528
05-20-2020
OLD CUTLER LAKES BY THE BAY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellant, v. SRP SUB, LLC, Appellee.
Paige Law Group, P.A., and Robert E. Paige, for appellant. Tepps Treco, and William A. Treco (Sunrise), for appellee.
Paige Law Group, P.A., and Robert E. Paige, for appellant.
Tepps Treco, and William A. Treco (Sunrise), for appellee.
Before EMAS, C.J., and FERNANDEZ and HENDON, JJ.
HENDON, J.
Old Cutler Lakes by the Bay Community Association, Inc. ("Association") appeals from an amended final judgment entered against it and in favor of SRP SUB, LLC ("SRP SUB) on SRP SUB's action for declaratory relief and on the Association's counterclaim to foreclose its homeowners association lien. We affirm.
SRP SUB was the successful bidder at a foreclosure sale on a first mortgage held by Wells Fargo. After the Miami-Dade County Clerk issued the certificate of title, SRP SUB filed an action for declaratory relief, seeking a determination as to its liability for assessments that accrued prior to the issuance of the certificate of title. Thereafter, the Association filed a counterclaim to foreclose the homeowners association lien for assessments that accrued prior to the issuance of the certificate of title. SRP SUB had paid all assessments that have accrued after the issuance of the certificate of title.
At the non-jury trial, the parties agreed that SRP SUB's liability for assessments that accrued prior to the issuance of the certificate of title hinged on the trial court's interpretation of several provisions of the Declaration of Covenant and Restrictions of Old Cutler Lakes by the Bay ("Declaration"), specifically Article VI, Sections 1; Article VI, Section 10; and Article VIII(b), which provide as follows:
VI. COVENANTS FOR MAINTENANCE ASSESSMENTS.
Section 1. Creation of the Lien and Personal Obligation of Assessments. The Developer, for each Unit owned by it within the Development, hereby covenants and each member of a member association as an Owner of a Unit (by acceptance of a deed therefore, whether or not it shall be so expressed in any such deed or other conveyance) including any purchaser at a judicial sale, shall hereafter be deemed to covenant and agree to pay to the Association any annual assessments or charges, and any special assessments for capital improvements or major repair; such assessments to be fixed, established and collected from time to time as hereinafter provided. All such assessments, together with interest thereon from the due date at the rate of eighteen (18%) percent per annum and costs of collection thereof (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), shall be a charge on the land and shall be a continuing lien upon the Unit(s) against which each such assessment is made, and shall also be the personal obligation of the Owner. No Owner may waive or otherwise escape liability for the assessment provided for herein by non-use of the Common Areas or by abandonment.
....
Section 10. Subordination of the Lien to Mortgages. The lien of the assessments provided for herein shall be a lien superior to all other liens save and except tax liens and mortgage liens, provided said mortgage liens are first liens against the property encumbered thereby, subject only to tax liens, and said first mortgage secures an indebtedness which is amortized on monthly or quarter-annual payments over a period of not less than ten (10) years. The sale or transfer of any Lot pursuant to the foreclosure or any proceeding in lieu thereof of a first mortgage meeting the above qualifications, shall extinguish the lien of such assessments as to payments which became due prior to such sale or transfer. No sale or transfer shall relieve such Lot from liability for any assessments thereafter becoming due or from the lien thereof.
....
VIII. MORTGAGEE PROTECTION.
The following provisions are added hereto (and to the extent these added provisions conflict with any other provisions of the Declaration, these added provisions shall control):
....
(b) Each first Mortgagee of a Mortgage encumbering any Unit which obtains title to such Unit pursuant to the remedies provided in such Mortgage or by foreclosure of such Mortgage, shall take title to such Unit free and clear of
any claims of unpaid assessments or charges against such Unit which accrued prior to the acquisition of title to such Unit by the Mortgagee.
In addition to these provisions, SRP SUB also relied on this court's opinion in Beacon Hill Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Colfin Ah-Florida 7, LLC, 221 So. 3d 710 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017), which also addressed the Declaration of Covenant and Restrictions of Old Cutler Lakes by the Bay, and specifically, Article VI, Section 10. This court held as follows:
The case before us is exactly on point with Pudlit [2 Joint Venture, LLP v. Westwood Gardens Homeowners Association, Inc. 169 So. 3d 145 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) ]. The joint and several liability of section 720.3085(2)(b) was not incorporated into the terms of the [Association's] Declaration[ ]. Accordingly, under the language adopted by the [Association] in [its] Declaration[ ], Colfin was not liable for any past due assessments, attorney's fees, or costs of the prior owner when it purchased the property in question at the foreclosure sale, for the reasons set forth in Pudlit.
Beacon Hill, 221 So. 3d at 713 (footnote omitted).
In the instant case, the trial court's amended final judgment sets forth a thorough and well-reasoned analysis of the relevant provisions in the Declaration and the application of Beacon Hill. In our de novo review, we find no error in the trial court's interpretation of the relevant provisions, and agree with the trial court's determination that SRP SUB is not liable for any of the past due assessments, attorney's fees and/or costs that accrued prior to the issuance of the certificate of title. Accordingly, we affirm the amended final judgment. The remaining arguments raised by the Association do not merit discussion.
Affirmed.