CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...chapter 720, Florida Statutes (2016), Florida's Homeowners' Association Act, does not
apply to the Association through application of section
720.302;2 that the Association
"does not fall within the definition of 'homeowners' association' as defined by MRTA"
such that section
712.11 of MRTA applies; and that, therefore, the Association is not
entitled to seek revival of its declaration under chapter 720.
The Department adopted the recommended order and issued its final
order....
...urpose of regulating homeowners'
associations."3 The Association maintains, however, that it is eligible to seek revival of
its declaration pursuant to the covenant revitalization sections of chapter 720 by virtue
of a specific provision in MRTA, section 712.11.4
MRTA provides for marketable record title to estates in land "free and
clear of all claims" except as to those exclusions expressly set forth....
...be revived: "[a]
homeowners' association not otherwise subject to chapter 720[, the Homeowners'
Association chapter,] may use the procedures set forth in [sections]
720.403-720.407 to
revive covenants that have lapsed under the terms of [MRTA]." §
712.11....
...- 11 -
LaROSE, Chief Judge, Dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The Association was not a "homeowners'
association" entitled to use sections
720.403-.407 to revive its lapsed declaration of
covenants under MRTA, section
712.11....
..."If the legislature did not intend the results mandated by the statute's plain
language, then the appropriate remedy is for it to amend the statute." Whitney Bank v.
Grant,
223 So. 3d 476, 479 (Fla. 1st DCA 2017) (quoting Overstreet v. State,
629 So.
2d 125, 126 (Fla. 1993)).
Section
712.11 provides that "[a] homeowners' association not otherwise
subject to chapter 720 may use the procedures set forth in [sections]
720.403-720.407
to revive covenants that have lapsed under the terms of this chapter." Section
712.01(4)...
...1993))).
- 14 -
The majority ignores the hybrid nature of the condominium parcel. Rather,
the majority's cabined analysis rests on the unit owners having exclusive ownership of
their respective units. Section
712.11 applies to associations of owners who own real
property "subject to exclusive ownership." See §
712.01(4), (5)....
...1993) (holding that the
thirty-one-year-old restriction was preserved when the muniments in the chain of title
identified the recorded restriction).
Finally, the Association has not presented, and I have not found, any
indication that the legislature intended for section
712.11 to apply to condominium
associations.13 If the legislature wishes to apply section
712.11 to facts like those in this
case, "it certainly has the capacity to do so with clarity and specificity."14 See Clark v.
Bluewater Key RV Ownership Park,
197 So. 3d 59, 60, 62 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) (adopting
en haec verba the trial court's order). "[W]e will not expand the statute to include
13To the contrary, the House of Representatives Staff Analysis noted that
the law prior to section
712.11 did not permit nonmandatory homeowner associations to
revitalize covenants under chapter 720, and then explained that section
712.11 "would
allow homeowners' associations that are not regulated by [chapter 720] to utilize the
covenant revitalization procedures available to mandatory homeowners' associations."
Fla....
