Florida Statutes 719.302 – Agreements entered into by the association
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
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(1) Any grant or reservation made by a cooperative document, lease, or other document, and any contract made by an association prior to assumption of control of the association by unit owners other than the developer, that provides for operation, maintenance, or management of a cooperative association or property serving the unit owners of a cooperative shall be fair and reasonable and may be canceled by unit owners other than the developer:
(a) If the association operates only one cooperative and the unit owners other than the developer have assumed control of the association, or if unit owners other than the developer own not less than 75 percent of the voting interests in the cooperative, the cancellation shall be by concurrence of the owners of not less than 75 percent of the voting interests other than the voting interests owned by the developer. If a grant, reservation, or contract is so canceled and the unit owners other than the developer have not assumed control of the association, the association shall make a new contract or otherwise provide for maintenance, management, or operation in lieu of the canceled obligation, at the direction of the owners of not less than a majority of the voting interests in the cooperative other than the voting interests owned by the developer.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 719.302
- Association: means the corporation for profit or not for profit that owns the record interest in the cooperative property or a leasehold of the property of a cooperative and that is responsible for the operation of the cooperative. See Florida Statutes 719.103
- Board of administration: means the board of directors or other representative body responsible for administration of the association. See Florida Statutes 719.103
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Cooperative: means that form of ownership of real property wherein legal title is vested in a corporation or other entity and the beneficial use is evidenced by an ownership interest in the association and a lease or other muniment of title or possession granted by the association as the owner of all the cooperative property. See Florida Statutes 719.103
- Cooperative property: means the lands, leaseholds, and personal property owned by a cooperative association. See Florida Statutes 719.103
- Developer: means a person who creates a cooperative or who offers cooperative parcels for sale or lease in the ordinary course of business, but does not include the owner or lessee of a unit who has acquired or leased the unit for his or her own occupancy, nor does it include a condominium association which creates a cooperative by conversion of an existing residential condominium after control of the association has been transferred to the unit owners if, following the conversion, the unit owners will be the same persons. See Florida Statutes 719.103
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Unit: means a part of the cooperative property which is subject to exclusive use and possession. See Florida Statutes 719.103
- Voting interests: means the voting rights distributed to the association members as provided for in the articles of incorporation. See Florida Statutes 719.103
(b) If the association operates more than one cooperative and the unit owners other than the developer have not assumed control of the association, and if unit owners other than the developer own at least 75 percent of the voting interests in a cooperative operated by the association, any grant, reservation, or contract for maintenance, management, or operation of buildings containing the units in that cooperative or of improvements used only by unit owners of that cooperative may be canceled by concurrence of the owners of at least 75 percent of the voting interests in the cooperative other than the voting interests owned by the developer. No grant, reservation, or contract for maintenance, management, or operation of recreational areas or any other property serving more than one cooperative, and operated by more than one association, may be canceled except pursuant to paragraph (d).
(c) If the association operates more than one cooperative and the unit owners other than the developer have assumed control of the association, the cancellation shall be by concurrence of the owners of not less than 75 percent of the total number of voting interests in all cooperatives operated by the association other than the voting interests owned by the developer.
(d) If the owners of units in a cooperative have the right to use property in common with owners of units in other cooperatives and those cooperatives are operated by more than one association, no grant, reservation, or contract for maintenance, management, or operation of the property serving more than one cooperative may be canceled until unit owners other than the developer have assumed control of all of the associations operating the cooperatives that are to be served by the recreational area or other property, after which cancellation may be effected by concurrence of the owners of not less than 75 percent of the total number of voting interests in those cooperatives other than voting interests owned by the developer.
(2) Any grant or reservation made by a cooperative document, lease, or other document, or any contract made by the developer or association prior to the time unit owners other than the developer elect a majority of the board of administration, which requires the association to purchase cooperative property or to lease cooperative property to another party shall be deemed ratified unless rejected by a majority of the voting interests of unit owners other than the developer within 18 months after unit owners other than the developer elect a majority of the board of administration. This subsection does not apply to any grant or reservation made by a declaration whereby persons other than the developer or the developer’s heirs, assigns, affiliates, directors, officers, or employees are granted the right to use the cooperative property, so long as such persons are obligated to pay, at a minimum, a proportionate share of the cost associated with such property.
(3) Any grant or reservation made by a cooperative document, lease, or other document, and any contract made by an association, whether before or after assumption of control of the association by unit owners other than the developer, that provides for operation, maintenance, or management of a cooperative association or property serving the unit owners of a cooperative shall not be in conflict with the powers and duties of the association or the rights of unit owners as provided in this chapter. This subsection is intended only as a clarification of existing law.
(4) Any grant or reservation made by a cooperative document, lease, or other document, and any contract made by an association prior to assumption of control of the association by unit owners other than the developer, shall be fair and reasonable.
(5) It is declared that the public policy of this state prohibits the inclusion or enforcement of escalation clauses in management contracts for cooperatives, and such clauses are hereby declared void for public policy. For the purposes of this section, an escalation clause is any clause in a cooperative management contract which provides that the fee under the contract shall increase at the same percentage rate as any nationally recognized and conveniently available commodity or consumer price index.
(6) Any action to compel compliance with the provisions of this section or of s. 719.301 may be brought pursuant to the summary procedure provided for in s. 51.011. In any such action brought to compel compliance with the provisions of s. 719.301, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney’s fees.