EASTWOOD SHORES PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC. v. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

264 So. 3d 264
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided January 25, 2019·No. 17-3467·Published

Opinion

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA

SECOND DISTRICT

EASTWOOD SHORES PROPERTY ) OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., )

)

Appellant, )

)

v. ) Case No. 2D17-3467 )

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC ) OPPORTUNITY, )

)

Appellee. )

)

Opinion filed January 25, 2019.

Appeal from the Department of Economic Opportunity.

Tiffany A. Grant of Cianfrone, Nikoloff, Grant & Greenburg, P.A., Dunedin, for Appellant.

Peter L. Penrod, General Counsel, and Ross Marshman, Jon F. Morris, and Christina A. Shideler, Assistant General Counsels, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

BLACK, Judge.

In this appeal from a final agency order, Eastwood Shores Property Owners Association, Inc., challenges the Department of Economic Opportunity's

determination that the Association is not entitled to revive its declaration of covenants and restrictions pursuant to the covenant revitalization statutes, §§ 720.403-.407, Fla. Stat. (2016), because it is not a "homeowners' association" as defined by the Marketable Record Titles to Real Property Act (MRTA), §§ 712.01-.11, Fla. Stat. (2016). We reverse. I. Background In April 1979, Eastwood Shores Condominiums recorded its declaration of covenants and restrictions in the public record of Pinellas County. The Association is the Florida not-for-profit corporation which maintains and operates various properties and improvements within Eastwood Shores, as stated in Eastwood Shores' declaration and in the Association's articles of incorporation. The Association is comprised of unit owners in Eastwood Shores.

By operation of MRTA, specifically section 712.02, Eastwood Shores'

declaration of restrictions and covenants ceased to govern one or more of the units within the community in 2009.1 Pursuant to the covenant revitalization statutes, the Association sought approval from the Department of Economic Opportunity (the Department) of a proposal to revive Eastwood Shores' declaration, submitting the documents required by section 720.406.

1The units for which the declaration of covenants and restrictions are no longer governing are those in which the "muniments of title," the deeds, do not reference the declaration of covenants and restrictions. See § 712.03(1) (providing that MRTA does not extinguish "easements and use restrictions disclosed by and defects inherent in the muniments of title on which said estate is based beginning with the root of title").

The Department denied the proposed revival, finding that "the parcels in the Association are classified as condominiums," that chapter 720 does not apply to the Association, and that therefore the Association may not revive the declaration of covenants and restrictions under the covenant revitalization statutes. The Association sought review of the Department's decision.

Following an administrative hearing, the hearing officer recommended that the Department affirm the denial of the Association's proposal to revive its declaration of covenants and restrictions, finding that the Association did not dispute that it is governed by chapter 718, Florida Statutes (2016), Florida's Condominium Act; that 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. It is that order which we review. II. Analysis The issue before us is whether the Association, whose members are unit owners within a condominium community, is a "homeowners' association" as defined by MRTA and is therefore entitled to revive its declaration of covenants and restrictions

2Section 720.302(4) provides, in pertinent part: "This chapter does not apply to any association that is subject to regulation under chapter 718 . . . except to the extent that a provision of chapter 718 . . . is expressly incorporated into this chapter for the purpose of regulating homeowners' associations."

pursuant to sections 720.403-.407. The issue presented is one of statutory interpretation, and our review is de novo. Lutheran Servs. Fla., Inc. v. Dep't of Children & Families, 199 So. 3d 286, 288 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015) ("An appellate court may set aside an agency action where the court finds that the agency erroneously interpreted a provision of law and a correct interpretation compels a particular result." (citing Metro. Dade Cty. v. Dep't of Envtl. Prot., 714 So. 2d 512, 515 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998))); see also § 120.68(7)(d), Fla. Stat. (2016).

The Association does not dispute that it is governed by chapter 718 or that section 720.302(4) unambiguously states that chapter 720 applies to associations regulated by chapter 718 only when a provision of chapter 718 has been "expressly incorporated into [chapter 720] for the purpose 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. § 712.02.

3Interestingly,

although the Association's declaration of covenants is titled "Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions for Eastwood Shores Condominiums," the declaration does not reference chapter 718 or its predecessor, chapter 711. Nonetheless, the Association appears to have conceded that although the Association was created in 1979 as a chapter 720 association, it is governed by chapter 718.

4The Association alternatively argues that MRTA is unconstitutional as applied to it. Because the constitutional issue was not sufficiently raised below and our resolution based on the plain language of the applicable statutes renders it unnecessary, we do not address the Association's constitutional question. See In re Holder, 945 So. 2d 1130, 1133 (Fla. 2006) ("[W]e avoid considering a constitutional question when the case can be decided on nonconstitutional grounds.").

However, MRTA also recognizes that covenants and restrictions can 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. MRTA defines a homeowners' association as (1) "a homeowners' association as defined in [section] 720.301, or [(2)] an association of parcel owners which is authorized to enforce use restrictions that are imposed on the parcels." § 712.01(4). There is no dispute that MRTA effectively terminated the declaration as to certain units within Eastwood Shores. Whether MRTA also permits revival of the declaration is at issue. In that respect, the Association does not contend that it is a homeowners' association as defined in section 720.301; only the latter definition of homeowners' association in section 712.01(4) is at issue.5 Thus, in order for the Association to be eligible to seek revival of Eastwood Shores' declaration of covenants and restrictions, the Association must be comprised of owners of residential real property which is subject to exclusive ownership.

MRTA does not define "parcel owner"; it does, however, define a "parcel"

as "real property which is used for residential purposes that is subject to exclusive ownership and which is subject to any covenant or restrictions of a homeowners'

5Had the Association argued that it meets the definition of a homeowners'

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

EASTWOOD SHORES PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC. v. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, 264 So. 3d 264 (Fla. Ct. App. 2019).

264 So. 3d 264 (EASTWOOD SHORES PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC. v. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Tower House Condominium, Inc. v. Millman
410 So. 2d 926 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1981)
Village of Doral Place Ass'n v. RU4 Real, Inc.
22 So. 3d 627 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2009)
Sunshine Vistas Homeowners Ass'n v. Caruana
623 So. 2d 490 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1993)
Manatee Cty. School Bd. v. Nationsrent, Inc.
989 So. 2d 23 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)
Daytona Development Corporation v. Bergquist
308 So. 2d 548 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1975)
Overstreet v. State
629 So. 2d 125 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1993)
State v. Burris
875 So. 2d 408 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2004)
Rogers & Ford Const. v. Carlandia Corp.
626 So. 2d 1350 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1993)
Ocean Trail Unit Owners Ass'n v. Mead
650 So. 2d 4 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1994)
In Re Estate of Cleeves
509 So. 2d 1256 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1987)
LEE COUNTY ELEC. CO-OP., INC. v. Jacobs
820 So. 2d 297 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2002)
CHACKAL v. Staples
991 So. 2d 949 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)
In Re Holder
945 So. 2d 1130 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2006)
Brindise v. U.S. Bank National Association
183 So. 3d 1215 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2016)
City of Oldsmar v. Trinh
210 So. 3d 191 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2016)
WHITNEY BANK, a Mississippi state v. Von Daniel Grant Jr., and Lisa D. Grant
223 So. 3d 476 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2017)
BLOK BUILDERS, LLC d/b/a IKON BUILDERS v. PEDRO KATRYNIOK, MASTEC NORTH AMERICA, INC
245 So. 3d 779 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)
Clark v. Bluewater Key RV Ownership Park
197 So. 3d 59 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2012)
Lutheran Services Florida, Inc. v. Department of Children & Families
199 So. 3d 286 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2015)
Gordon v. Fishman
253 So. 3d 1218 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)