Can a Florida condo building be terminated and sold without you?

Yes, by a vote, and not easily. Under section 718.117 of the Florida Statutes a condominium may be terminated by a plan approved by at least 80 percent of the total voting interests, provided not more than 5 percent of the total voting interests have rejected the plan by negative vote or written objection. A plan must say what each owner receives, and the statute sets a floor at the unit's fair market value, with a higher floor in some cases for an owner's homesteaded unit; the plan is reviewed by the state's condominium division before it takes effect. After a casualty that makes repair uneconomic, as the statute defines it, a lower threshold applies. The buyer's practical question is not whether termination is possible but who holds the votes: in a building where one owner, or the developer, holds a large block, the arithmetic is different.

The statute's default for an optional termination, one chosen rather than forced by damage, is two numbers read together. Approval by at least 80 percent of the total voting interests, which means all the units, not those who turn up. And no more than 5 percent of the total voting interests objecting, which gives a small minority a veto. In a building of 100 units, 80 must vote yes and six voting no stops it; in a building of 25, 20 must vote yes and two voting no stops it. The declaration may set its own thresholds within what the statute allows, so the buyer reads the termination article of the declaration rather than assuming the default. The statute also limits how soon a rejected plan may be proposed again. Read the five sections of the condominium documents and owner voting and records at Rivage for how voting interests are counted in one building.

A plan of termination names a termination trustee, says how the property will be sold or dealt with, and allocates the proceeds among the owners, either by the shares in the declaration or by appraised fair market value, after mortgages on each unit are paid from that unit's share. The statute requires that an owner receive at least the fair market value of the unit as determined by an independent appraiser, and in some cases at least the owner's original purchase price for a unit that is the owner's homestead; counsel reads which case applies to the plan on the table. The plan is filed with the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes for review before it is recorded. An owner who disputes the allocation has a right to contest it within the time the statute sets. Read does buying a Miami condo make you a Florida resident for what homestead is and how it is claimed.

The declaration's casualty article says whether the building must be rebuilt after damage and how insurance proceeds are applied; the statute adds a termination route for economic waste, where the cost of repair exceeds the value of the property by the measure the statute sets, and for impossibility, where the building can no longer lawfully be operated as a condominium. Those routes carry a lower approval threshold than an optional termination. The buyer reads three documents together before closing: the casualty and reconstruction article, the master insurance policy's declarations page with its windstorm deductible, and the reserve study or the first budget's reserve line for a new building. Read Miami condo insurance, milestone inspections and reserves and what a beach building reserve study tells you.

The 80 percent and the 5 percent are shares of all the voting interests. A single owner who holds most of the units holds most of the votes, and the 5 percent veto only works if the objecting owners together hold more than 5 percent. In a new building, the developer holds every unsold unit and controls the association until turnover; in a mature building, an investor who has bought units over years can hold a block. The statute contains protections that apply where a bulk owner is involved, and counsel reads them against the ownership roll. The buyer's question is simple: who owns what today, and what does the declaration say about the developer's votes before turnover. Read owner voting and records at 619 Brickell by Nobu and the ownership file for a Mid-Beach oceanfront condo.

What does the declaration's termination article say, and does it adopt the statute's thresholds or set its own? How many units are there, and what is 5 percent of the voting interests in whole homes? Who holds blocks of units today, including the developer, and what do the developer's votes count for before turnover? What does the casualty article require after damage, and how are insurance proceeds applied? Where is the master policy's windstorm deductible set, and how would it be funded? And how old is the building, because Florida's milestone inspection applies to buildings of three stories or more from their thirtieth year while the structural reserve study applies from the start, and a new tower has decades before the first clock matters and a budget line for the second from day one. Read new construction or resale, the ownership file for a Brickell condo and LLC, trust or personal name, because the name on the deed is the name on the voting roll. The desk reads the termination and casualty articles with the buyer before closing, and refers the rest to counsel.