The Florida Senate

A unit owner, regardless of how title is acquired, including, without limitation, a purchaser at a judicial sale, shall be liable for all rents and assessments coming due while the unit owner is in exclusive possession of a unit. In a voluntary transfer, the unit owner in exclusive possession shall be jointly and severally liable with the previous unit owner for all unpaid rents and assessments against the previous unit owner for his or her share of the common expenses up to the time of the transfer, without prejudice to the rights of the unit owner in exclusive possession to recover from the previous unit owner the amounts paid by the unit owner in exclusive possession therefor.

The liability for rents and assessments may not be avoided by waiver of the use or enjoyment of any common areas or by abandonment of the unit for which the rents and assessments are made.

Rents and assessments, and installments on them, not paid when due bear interest at the rate provided in the cooperative documents from the date due until paid. This rate may not exceed the rate allowed by law, and, if a rate is not provided in the cooperative documents, interest accrues at 18 percent per annum. If the cooperative documents or bylaws so provide, the association may charge an administrative late fee in addition to such interest, in an amount not to exceed the greater of $25 or 5 percent of each installment of the assessment for each delinquent installment that the payment is late. Any payment received by an association must be applied first to any interest accrued by the association, then to any administrative late fee, then to any costs and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in collection, and then to the delinquent assessment. The foregoing applies notwithstanding any restrictive endorsement, designation, or instruction placed on or accompanying a payment. A late fee is not subject to chapter 687 or s. 719.303(3).

The association has a lien on each cooperative parcel for any unpaid rents and assessments, plus interest, any authorized administrative late fees, and any reasonable costs for collection services for which the association has contracted against the unit owner of the cooperative parcel. If authorized by the cooperative documents, the lien also secures reasonable attorney’s fees incurred by the association incident to the collection of the rents and assessments or enforcement of such lien. The lien is effective from and after recording a claim of lien in the public records in the county in which the cooperative parcel is located which states the description of the cooperative parcel, the name of the unit owner, the amount due, and the due dates. The lien expires if a claim of lien is not filed within 1 year after the date the assessment was due, and the lien does not continue for longer than 1 year after the claim of lien has been recorded unless, within that time, an action to enforce the lien is commenced. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a lien may not be filed by the association against a cooperative parcel until 30 days after the date on which a notice of intent to file a lien has been delivered to the owner.

Liens for rents and assessments may be foreclosed by suit brought in the name of the association, in like manner as a foreclosure of a mortgage on real property. In any foreclosure, the unit owner shall pay a reasonable rental for the cooperative parcel, if so provided in the cooperative documents, and the plaintiff in the foreclosure is entitled to the appointment of a receiver to collect the rent. The association has the power, unless prohibited by the cooperative documents, to bid on the cooperative parcel at the foreclosure sale and to acquire and hold, lease, mortgage, or convey it. Suit to recover a money judgment for unpaid rents and assessments may be maintained without waiving the lien securing them.

Within 15 days after request by a unit owner or mortgagee, the association shall provide a certificate stating all assessments and other moneys owed to the association by the unit owner with respect to the cooperative parcel. Any person other than the unit owner who relies upon such certificate shall be protected thereby. Notwithstanding any limitation on transfer fees contained in s. 719.106(1)(i), the association or its authorized agent may charge a reasonable fee for the preparation of the certificate.

The remedies provided in this section do not exclude other remedies provided by the cooperative documents and permitted by law.

The specific purposes of any special assessment, including any contingent special assessment levied in conjunction with the purchase of an insurance policy authorized by s. 719.104(3), approved in accordance with the cooperative documents shall be set forth in a written notice of such assessment sent or delivered to each unit owner. The funds collected pursuant to a special assessment shall be used only for the specific purpose or purposes set forth in such notice or returned to the unit owners. However, upon completion of such specific purposes, any excess funds shall be considered common surplus and may, at the discretion of the board, either be returned to the unit owners or applied as a credit toward future assessments.

If the unit is occupied by a tenant and the unit owner is delinquent in paying any monetary obligation due to the association, the association may make a written demand that the tenant pay the future monetary obligations related to the cooperative share to the association and the tenant must make such payment. The demand is continuing in nature, and upon demand, the tenant must pay the monetary obligations to the association until the association releases the tenant or the tenant discontinues tenancy in the unit. The association must mail written notice to the unit owner of the association’s demand that the tenant make payments to the association. The association shall, upon request, provide the tenant with written receipts for payments made. A tenant who acts in good faith in response to a written demand from an association is immune from any claim from the unit owner.