SIDNEY ROTHENBERG, CHARLOTTE ROTHENBERG, ROBERT CUMMINGS AND JUNE CUMMINGS, APPELLANTS,
v.
PLYMOUTH # 5 CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, ETC., APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a foreclosure judgment against condominium unit owners who refused to pay an assessment for bus transportation services. The court held that a condominium association lacks statutory authority to assess unit owners for expenses related to bus transportation service that does not constitute condominium property or a recreational facility.
The court held that the bus transportation service cannot be assessed as a common expense because it is neither condominium property nor a recreational facility, and therefore falls outside the association's statutory authority to assess common expenses under Florida law.
[1] A condominium association may only assess unit owners for common expenses that are properly incurred and directly relate to the operation, maintenance, repair, or replace…
[2] Expenses for services not connected to the condominium property or recreational facilities cannot be assessed as common expenses against unit owners.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A condominium association may incur only those expenses which directly relate to the operation, maintenance, repair or replacement of the condominium property.”
Establishes the statutory limit on association authority to incur expenses under Section 718.111, Florida Statutes.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlymouth #5 Condominium Association contracted with UCO to provide bus transportation service to unit owners for travel outside the condominium proper…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Condominium Association Powers cases and more on FLexlaw
WALDEN, Judge.
This is an appeal of a final judgment of foreclosure and an award of attorney’s fees.
Plymouth #5 Condominium Association (Association), appellee, contracted with another corporation, UCO, to provide bus transportation service for its unit owners to areas outside the condominium property. UCO charged the Association a lump sum payment for the service, which payment permitted the unit owners to ride the buses without paying a daily or trip charge. The Association assessed the cost for the service against all of the condominium unit owners as a common expense of the condominium property. When the appellants, unit owners in the condominium, refused to pay the assessment, the Association placed a lien against appellants’ property for their pro rata share of the bus expense. The Association foreclosed its liens and this appeal is from the final judgment of foreclosure.
The issue on appeal is whether the bus transportation service, which is not connected with the condominium property nor the recreation lease entered into by the Association, can be assessed by the Association as a common expense against the unit owners. We answer in the negative and reverse.
Section 718.115(1), Florida Statutes (1983), defines common expenses as:
(1) Common expenses include the expenses of the operation, maintenance, repair, or replacement of the common elements, costs of carrying out the powers and duties of the association, and any other expense designated as common expense by this chapter, the declaration, the documents creating the condominium, or the bylaws.
In the instant case, the Association contends that the condominium documents allow it to enter into reasonable contracts and to declare the expenses of the contract valid common expenses. However, the Association can only exercise those powers granted in its declaration of condominium and bylaws which are not inconsistent with the Condominium Act. See Towerhouse Condominium, Inc. v. Millman, 475 So. 2d 674 (Fla.1985); and Section 718.111(4), Florida Statues (1983).
According to the Condominium Act, a condominium unit owner may only be assessed for common expenses which are properly incurred by the association for the condominium. Section 718.103(7), Florida Statutes (1983). A condominium association may incur only those expenses which directly relate to the operation, maintenance, repair or replacement of the condominium property. Section 718.111, Florida Statutes (1983). The only exception to this rule is that an association is granted the specific power to acquire possessory or use interests in recreational facilities. Section 718.114, Florida Statutes (1983).
In the instant case, the bus transportation service is not condominium property nor is it a recreational facility. As such, it does not fall within the realm of either section 718.111 or section 718.114, Florida Statutes (1983), and therefore, the Association does not have the power to assess the cost for this service as a common expense against the unit owners. Accordingly, the liens against the unit owners were not valid, and the judgment of foreclosure and award of attorney’s fees is reversed.
REVERSED.
ANSTEAD and DELL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Scudder v. Greenbrier C. Condo. Ass'n, Inc., 663 So. 2d 1362 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)…assess the Unit Owners for off-site transportation services as a common expense. The Unit Owners objected to the assessment, claiming that the assessment was improper considering this court’s decision in Rothenberg v. Plymouth # 5 Condominium Ass’n, 511 So. 2d 651 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 518 So. 2d 1277 (Fla.1987). Nevertheless, the Associations recorded hens of approximately $85.00 per Unit Owner representing the disputed annual assessment for off-site transportation services. In 1988, the Florida Legi…1 / 3
-
Ocean Trail Unit Owners Ass'n, Inc. v. States Mead and William Brister, 650 So. 2d 4 (Fla. 1994)…assessment to protect against a judgment which has been lawfully entered against the association. [*8] Scudder v. Greenbriar C Condominium Association, Inc., 566 So. 2d 359 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990), and Rothenberg v. Plymouth # 5 Condominium Association, 511 So. 2d 651 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 518 So. 2d 1277 (Fla.1987), on which the unit owners and the Fourth District rely, are clearly distinguishable. The courts in these cases merely determined whether a particular expenditure was proper. The decisions did…1 / 2
-
Scudder v. Greenbrier C Condo. Ass'n, Inc., 566 So. 2d 359 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…has previously held that off-site transportation services were not included in the common expenses that condominium associations were statutorily authorized to assess against condominium unit owners. See Rothenberg v. Plymouth # 5 Condominium Ass’n, 511 So. 2d 651 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 518 So. 2d 1277 (Fla.1987). Subsequently, effective July 1, 1988, the state legislature enacted an amendment to the Condominium Act, which provided that transportation may be included among common expenses. Section 718.-…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Towerhouse Condo., Inc. v. Merton Millman and Lillian Aronoff, 475 So. 2d 674 (Fla. 1985)