Department of Business Regulation v. Granada Lakes Development Corp.

28 Fla. Supp. 2d 180
CourtState of Florida Division of Administrative Hearings
DecidedMay 22, 1987
DocketCase No. 85-4267
StatusPublished

This text of 28 Fla. Supp. 2d 180 (Department of Business Regulation v. Granada Lakes Development Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering State of Florida Division of Administrative Hearings primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Department of Business Regulation v. Granada Lakes Development Corp., 28 Fla. Supp. 2d 180 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

WILLIAM R. DORSEY, JR., Hearing Officer.

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter was heard by William R. Dorsey, Jr., the Hearing [181]*181Officer designated by the Division of Administrative Hearings on February 24, 1987 in Fort Myers, Florida. The parties submitted proposed Recommended Orders. No transcript of the proceeding was filed. The Respondent accepted the proposed Findings of Fact of the Department of Business Regulation, with certain limited exceptions. Rulings on the Proposed Findings of Fact made in the Proposed Recommended Orders of both parties are found in the Appendix to this Recommended Order.

ISSUES

The issue is whether Granada Lakes Development Corporation should be fined for alleged violations of the Florida Condominium Act, Chapter 718, Florida Statutes?

FINDINGS OF FACT

General Findings Pertaining to the Condominium

1. Granada Lakes Adult RV Resort Condominium is located in Fort Myers, Florida. It consists of 151 units; about 70 have been sold. It was to be developed in three phases. Each unit is a parcel upon which the purchaser may place a dwelling unit.

2. Granada Lakes Development Corporation is the developer of the condominium.

3. The declaration of condominium for Granada Lakes Adult RV Resort Condominium was recorded in the public records of Lee County on March 11, 1982.

4. The Respondents did not include in the original declaration of condominium which submitted Phase I to condominium ownership the time period within which Phases II and III would be completed.

5. The developer owned all condominium units during 1982. Sale contracts for the first units were executed in 1982. The first sales did not close until early 1983.

6. No units have been offered for sale at the Granada Lakes Adult RV Resort Condominium for approximately eighteen months preceding the day of the hearing.

7. Respondents ceased to be the developer of Granada Lakes RV Resort Condominium at the end of July 1985.

8. Granada Lakes Development Corporation was involuntarily dissolved by the Department of State on about November 1, 1985.

Distribution of Statements of Receipts and Expenses for 1983 and 1984

9. Morgan Lloyd closed the purchase of his unit in February 1983. [182]*182He served as treasurer for the condominium association from February 1983 until approximately Februar 1984. Mr. Lloyd prepared a financial statement showing receipts and expenditures for the calendar year 1983. Although this statement is for calendar year 1983, the association’s fiscal year for 1983 ended October 31, 1983. The statement of income and expenses for the year 1983 was prepared more than 60 days after the close of the fiscal year. The account balance was determined as of December 31, 1983, so the statement had to have been prepared after that date. It was distributed to unit owners at the first annual meeting of the unit owners, which occurred on February 23, 1984. (This disregards, for the moment, the unit owners meeting held by the developer when it was the sole owner of the units, see Finding of Fact 15, post.)

10. The annual financial report of the association for fiscal year 1984 was not distributed earlier than March 1985.

Proposed Budgets for 1982 through 1984

11. Proposed annual budgets for the years 1982 and 1983 had been prepared by the developer and were distributed with the prospects for the condominium units.

12. The proposed budget for 1982 (which was included in the prospectus) contained as line item 13 for operating expenses a reserve account for roof replacement, equipment replacement, building painting and pavement resurfacing. It called for an annual reserve funded by all 151 units of $3,415.

13. Copies of the 1985 proposed annual budget of common expenses were mailed to unit owners 13 days prior to the meeting at which the 1985 budget was to be considered.

Reserves

14. After the developer began conveying out units in 1983, there was never a meeting' of the condominium association at which the membership voted to waive or reduce the funding of reserves shown in the estimated budget in the prospectus of $1.88 per condominium unit per month. These reserve monies were placed in the reserve account quarterly as they were paid by unit owners.

15. The developer did not pay any reserves in 1983 or 1984 for units owned by the developer because, in the developers view, those payments were not due under the resolution passed during the January 5, 1983 membership meeting of Granada Lakes Adult RV Resort Condominium Association, Inc. That meeting had been held at a time when the developer owned all of the units that made up the association. The [183]*183meeting occurred after distribution of the prospectus, which disclosed the reserve account and showed all units contributing to the payment of common operating expenses, including reserves. That resolution states:

the President of the Association then brought up for consideration the proposal by the developer, Granada Lakes Development Corporation, that it guarantee the maintenance fee during the two-year period commencing January 5, 1983. Upon a motion duly made and adopted, the Association agreed that in lieu of the developer paying its maintenance assessments on unsold units that the developer could and did agree to guarantee that for the two-year period stated above the maintenance fee charged to unit owners other than the developer would not exceed the [sic] $31.61 per month and that any shortage that might be incurred in the maintenance of the Association during such period shall be covered by the developer. Such agreement was accepted by all concerned, including the Development Corporation, which is as of the time of this meeting the sole unit owner in the Condominium.
The matter of the reserves was also discussed and the Development Corporation, as the sole unit owner, agreed with the association to the waiver of the funding of reserves for the same two year period.

16. Based on the payment of $1.88 per unit per month the amount of money which should be in the reserve account from the date of recording of the declaration of condominium until the date the respondent was no longer the developer is $11,554. As of July 1985 the reserve account contained $3,227.35, having a deficit of $8,326.65. Since units began to be sold, there have been no withdrawals made from the reserve account.

17. Mr. Sharp, the president of the developer, testified that he spent approximately the $2,400 for reserve-type expenses but had sought no reimbursement from the reserve account because he wanted the reserve account going. No receipts verifying such expenditures were introduced into evidence. This attempt to offset developer expenses against amounts the developer should have paid into the reserve account of the Association is rejected as unpersuasive.

Association Records

18. While he served as Association treasurer, Morgan Lloyd asked on several occasions to see the bills for Association expenses. Mr. Sharp would only tell him the amount of the association’s bills, and refused to let Mr. Lloyd see the original bills.

[184]*184

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Bluebook (online)
28 Fla. Supp. 2d 180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-business-regulation-v-granada-lakes-development-corp-fladivadminhrg-1987.