Condominium Terminations

July 18, 2022

Firm’s Laura Manning-Hudson Quoted in Condominium Terminations Article on Front Page of Today’s Sun Sentinel

by Siegfried Rivera

Siegfried Rivera

Firm partner Laura Manning-Hudson is quoted in an article on the rise in condominium terminations in South Florida, and the disputes that often arise in communities considering such buyouts of all the units by developers hoping to raze the building and raise a new one its place. The article reads:

. . . The process is known in Florida as a condominium termination. In other states, it’s called a deconversion and it’s happening in cities like Chicago where apartment-to-condo conversions during the early 2000s haven’t succeeded as planned.

According to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, terminations of 336 condominiums encompassing 24,761 units were approved by the state Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes over the decade beginning July 1, 2012. They ranged in size from two units to 544. Thirty-nine were in Broward County, 86 were in Miami-Dade County, and 24 were in Palm Beach County.

Between 2013 and 2019, the annual number of terminations ranged from 32 to 43. During the pandemic, as eviction moratoriums were imposed, the number of terminations fell to 19 in 2020 and 22 in 2021. Eleven terminations have been approved by the division so far in 2022.

But real estate experts predict that terminations will increase in Florida as condo associations seek to avoid strict and costly requirements enacted in May in the wake of the Champlain Towers collapse last year in Surfside. The new laws require associations with buildings at least 30 years old and over three stories high to, before 2025, conduct structural inspections and amass enough money in their reserves to fund necessary structural repairs.

July 17, 2022

Firm’s Latest Miami Herald Real Estate Column by Lindsey Thurswell Lehr: “Condo Terminations Require Ample Consideration by Association Directors and Unit Owners”

by Siegfried Rivera

Siegfried Rivera

The firm’s latest “Real Estate Counselor” column in the Miami Herald appears in today’s newspaper and is again authored by partner Lindsey Thurswell Lehr. Her column, which is titled “Condo Terminations Require Ample Consideration by Association Directors and Unit Owners,” focuses on the rise in South Florida in condominium terminations involving building-wide purchases of all the units by developers. While such terminations may be inevitable for some buildings, Lindsey writes that they are typically contentious with some owners steadfastly opposed to the forced sale of their property. Her column reads:

. . . Florida’s condominium termination statute is one of the most controversial aspects of the state’s condo laws. The current statute, which has seen several significant changes over the years, enables owners to work together in the bulk sale of their units to a developer hoping to demolish a condominium and build a new one in its place.

Currently, the statute allows for an optional termination with a vote of 80 percent of the unit owners, but it also enables five percent or more of the owners to block a termination from proceeding for a period of 24 months by rejecting it in writing or via a negative vote.

As my fellow firm partner Oscar Rivera wrote in this column in February, condominium developers are now setting their sights on many potential targets for termination bids in South Florida’s red-hot real estate market.

For aging properties that are now uncovering potential structural life-safety issues, the lessons from Surfside cannot be ignored. They must either immediately ratify a plan to fund and execute the necessary repairs and remediation, or they must work to secure the best possible condo termination exit strategy for all the unit owners as expeditiously as possible.

February 13, 2022

Firm’s Latest Miami Herald Real Estate Counselor Column: “Condo Terminations Take Hold as an Exit Strategy for Owners at Aging Towers”

by Siegfried Rivera

Siegfried Rivera

The latest edition of the firm’s exclusive Real Estate Counselor column in the Miami Herald appeared in today’s Neighbors section and was authored by managing shareholder Oscar R. Rivera. Titled “Condo Terminations Take Hold as an Exit Strategy for Owners at Aging Towers,” the article focuses on the legal termination of older condominium communities and buyout of all the unit owners to make way for new construction. Oscar writes that the owners of units in aging condo communities near the water are receiving more offers from industry-leading developers than ever before, and some of these offers are coming just as the 40- and 50-year recertifications for their towers come due. His article reads:

. . . The costs for repairs, even at the 40-year mark, can be too much for many unit owners to afford. Some associations’ financial reserves are woefully inadequate, or even nonexistent, so they would need to impose significant special assessments to pay for major repairs.

In such cases, offers that are sometimes two to three times over market value for each unit can become a very appealing exit strategy for owners, and Florida has a legal mechanism for such condominium terminations that has proven to be effective. Terminations led to the development of the Armani/Casa tower in Sunny Isles Beach and the Una Residences now under construction in the Brickell area.

For developers, the math is even simpler than that of the unit owners. Once the value of the land for redevelopment becomes greater than that of the combined property values of all the existing units in a community, a condominium termination presents a fruitful opportunity.

June 19, 2017

Legislative Update: Condominium Terminations Bill Signed Into Law

by Siegfried Rivera

Siegfried Rivera

Senate Bill 1520 was signed by Governor Rick Scott on June 16, 2017. The following is a summary of the bill, which will take effect on July 1, 2017:

SB 1520 amends 718.117, Florida Statutes, regarding the optional termination of condominiums, making it more difficult for a Plan of Termination to be passed without full consent of the unit owners. The changes to the law reduce the amount of unit owners required to reject a plan, postpone the time until another plan can be voted on, and requires that the plan be approved by the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (“Division”) based on factual and public policy reasons. Further, it guarantees that an optional termination will not result in a unit owner receiving less than his or her purchase price of the unit.

Changes to 718.117(1), (3) and addition of (21):

Applicability

The statute contains language indicating it is controlling over language in a condominium’s declaration and applies to all condominiums in the state in existence on or after July 1, 2007. The phrase: “Unless the declaration provides for a lower percentage” has been stricken indicating that the threshold established in the statute is the minimum vote required for optional termination.

Optional Termination

Prior to the effective date of the amendment, in order to approve a plan of termination, 80% of unit owners must approve the plan, and no more than 10% of unit owners can object. The changes to the statute now require an 80% unit owner vote approving a plan of termination; with less than 5% objecting. Additionally, the changes to the statute now provide that once the plan of termination passes a unit owner vote, it would then need to be approved by the Division.
The Division will have 45 days to review the Plan of Termination and notify the association of any deficiencies, or if it is rejected. If the Division does not respond within 45 days, the plan is deemed accepted. Under the new law, plans of termination will now need to include factual circumstances that show that the plan complies with Section 718.117, Florida Statutes, and supports the public policies of the section, which are listed below.
If a plan of termination is rejected by 5% or more of the total voting interests of the condominium, then a new plan may not be considered for 24 months, as opposed to the current period of 18 months.
Under the current law, a condominium owner who purchased a unit from the developer must be made “whole” upon termination. In other words, the plan of termination could not provide for paying the unit owner less than the original purchase price. SB 1520 removes the language that restricts this requirement only to the original unit owner, meaning that an owner who purchased a resale condominium would also be entitled to receive a minimum of the purchase price upon optional termination. The bill applies this section to all unit owners, not just the ones who object to the plan.

November 23, 2016

Firm’s Attorneys Discuss Ramifications of Thwarted Condominium Termination with Reporters from Daily Business Review, The Real Deal

by Siegfried Rivera

Siegfried Rivera

The firm’s Helio De La Torre and Lindsey Thurswell Lehr were interviewed during the last few days by reporters from the Daily Business Review, South Florida’s exclusive business daily and official court newspaper, and The Real Deal, one of South Florida’s leading sources for real estate news and analysis. They were asked by the journalists for their insights into the ramifications of a decision last week by the Third District Court of Appeal that has significant implications for the future of condominium terminations in Florida.

The case pitted the Tropicana Condominium Association against the developer of the neighboring Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sunny Isles Beach. The appellate court ruled in favor of the developer, which had ties with a group of five unit owners at the Tropicana, finding that the property’s bylaws required unanimous approval for a sale, despite the 80 percent threshold in the amended condominium termination legislation from 2007. It agreed that the five holdouts’ refusal to sell was enough to block the termination that was favored by the association because the property’s 1983 governing documents predate the legislative amendment and require all unit owners to approve termination.

The Third DCA ruled that the 2007 changes to the Florida statute don’t apply retroactively to condominium declarations from prior to 2007 unless they contain certain language that incorporates amendments to the state’s Condominium Act.

The appellate court said in its ruling that “when referencing Florida’s Condominium Act, the declaration [for Tropicana] did not contain the words ‘as amended from time to time.’ Absent this language in the declaration, changes by the legislature to the Condominium Act subsequent to the effective date of the declaration do not become part of the declaration automatically.”

As Helio explains in the article from The Real Deal that appeared on Nov. 18:

“The statute seemingly had language that suggested the intent was to make it retroactive,” said law firm partner Helio De La Torre, who has represented condo associations in similar cases centering on termination of associations through votes by unit owners. He is a partner of Coral Gables-based Siegfried Rivera, P.A.

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