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The firm’s Michael L. Hyman wrote an article that appeared in today’s edition of the Daily Business Review, South Florida’s only business daily and official court newspaper, about the recent decision by the First District Court of Appeal in the case of Silver Shells v. St. Maarten at Silver Shells Condominium Association. His article reads:
The First DCA’s decision in the case of Silver Shells v. St. Maarten at Silver Shells Condominium Association stems from a lawsuit by the Destin condominium association for one of the towers in a multi-building property against the developer.
The suit sought to require the developer to turn over control of the master association to the unit owners and convey a “beach property” that was initially included in the common properties which it was required to convey to the master association at the time of turnover.
The appellate court found that the association’s claim that the developer improperly amended restrictive covenants to effectively remove the beach property in question from the common properties is barred by the statute of limitations.
The opinion held that the five-year limitations period began to run when the association for the building was turned over to the unit owners, and the association’s action had not been filed within five years of that date.
Michael’s article concludes:
The takeaway from this ruling for this condominium association as well as other new condo associations in similar master-association communities is that the clock starts ticking on their limitations period to challenge any of the developer’s actions on the date in which their building’s association is turned over by the developer to the unit owners.
The developer will continue to have the “power of the pen” to implement any amendments that it sees fit to the covenants for the master association while it maintains control during the build out of the community, so it is incumbent on the associations for the individual towers that have already been turned over to the unit owners to maintain a careful eye on all of the developer’s amendments and, when necessary, challenge them before their limitation periods expire.
In this case, the association’s challenge to the developer’s amendment that enabled it to retain ownership of the beach property, which apparently included a lucrative ongoing revenue stream for the rental of beach chairs and umbrellas, may have prevailed had it been filed before the five-year limitations period had expired.
Our firm congratulates Michael for sharing his insight on this new appellate decision with the readers of the Daily Business Review. Click here to read his complete article in the newspaper’s website (registration required).
