MIAMI -- The U.S. Third District Court of Appeal affirmed Aug. 8 that a lower court ruling asserting that a master condo association does not have the same responsibilities as a sub-association.
Appellant Benedetto Dimitri owns six condominium units in a development controlled by the defendant, the Commercial Center of Miami Master Association. Although the master association is in charge of the entire building, each development it owns is under the further management of a sub-association.
On March 30, 2015, Dimitri sent a letter to the master association requesting to view specific documents. The association refused, and Dimitri filed suit, alleging the group had violated Chapter 718, the condominium association statute in the state.
The master association was formed in 1982. The current rules regarding such associations in Florida were updated in 1991.
The first court found that “(1) the current definition of condominium ‘association,’ last amended in 1991, did not apply retroactively; and (2) based on the definition that applied when the master association was formed, the master association was not a condominium ‘association’ subject to Chapter 718.”
Dimitri filed an appeal after the first ruling, arguing that the 1991 association definition should apply to the defendant. In response, the master association argues that the 1991 law was not intended to be retroactive.
The appeals court agreed with the defendant, stating: “We conclude that the 1991 amendment to the definition of section 718.103 (2) does not apply retroactively to the master association declaration executed in 1982; the master association is not a condominium “association” under the 1982 version of Section 718.103.”
Dimitri’s suit was unsuccessful because the master association was able to prove that the law regulating condo associations doesn’t apply to it. Under terms of the law that were in place when the group was formed, it does not fit the definition of "association," the appeals court ruled.