The General Assessments and Special Assessments (collectively, the “Assessments”) shall be collected as follows:
14.1 Liability for Assessments. A Unit Owner, regardless of how title is acquired, including by purchase at a judicial sale or by deed in lieu of foreclosure, shall be liable for all Assessments coming due while such person (as defined by Section 1.01(3), Florida Statutes) is the Owner of the Unit. Additionally, a Unit Owner shall be jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for all unpaid Assessments that came due up to the time of the conveyance, without prejudice to any right such Unit Owner may have to recover from the previous owner the amounts paid by such Unit Owner. The liability for Assessments may not be avoided by waiver of the use or enjoyment of any Common Elements or by the abandonment of the Unit for which the Assessments are made or otherwise.
14.2 Default in Payment of Assessments. Assessments and installments on them not paid when due bear interest from the date when due until paid at the maximum interest rate permitted by law, and at the sole discretion of the Board of Administration, a late charge not to exceed the greater of Twenty Five dollars ($25.00) or five (5%) percent of each installment of the Assessment for each delinquent installment that the payment is late shall be due and payable.
As an additional right and remedy of the Association, upon default in the payment of Assessments as aforesaid and after 30 days’ prior written notice to the applicable Unit Owner and the recording of a claim of lien, the Association may declare the balance of Assessment installments due to the remainder of the fiscal year and payments of other known Assessments to be accelerated and shall thereupon be immediately due and payable. In the event that the amount of such accelerated installments or payments changes, the Unit Owner or the Association, as appropriate, shall be obligated to pay or reimburse to the other the amount of increase or decrease within 10 days of same taking effect.
Any payments received by the Association from a delinquent Unit Owner shall be applied first to any interest accrued as provided above, then to any administrative late fee, then to any costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in collection as aforesaid and then to the delinquent and any accelerated Assessments. The foregoing application of funds received shall be applicable despite any restrictive endorsement, designation or instruction placed on or accompanying a payment.
14.3 Notice of Intention to Foreclose Lien. Unless otherwise required by the Act or other applicable law, no foreclosure judgment may be entered until the recording of a claim of lien and at least 30 days’ written notice to the Unit Owner of the Association’s intention to foreclose its lien to collect the unpaid Assessments. If this notice is not given at least 30 days before the foreclosure action is filed, and if the unpaid Assessments, including those coming due after the claim if lien is recorded, are paid before the entry of a final judgment of foreclosure, the Association shall not recover attorneys’ fees or costs. The notice must be given by delivery of a copy of it to the Unit Owner or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the Unit Owner at the last known address, and upon such mailing, the notice shall be deemed to have been given. If, after delinquent search and inquiry, the Association cannot find the Unit Owner or a mailing address at which the Unit Owner will receive the notice, the court may proceed with the foreclosure action and may award attorneys’ fees and costs as permitted by law. The notice requirements of this subsection are satisfied if the Unit Owner records a Notice of Contest of Lien as provided in the Act.
14.4 Appointment of Receiver to Collect Rental. If the Unit Owner remains in possession of the Unit after a foreclosure judgment has been entered, the court in its discretion may require the Unit Owner to pay a reasonable rental for the Unit. If the Unit is rented or leased during the pendency of the foreclosure action, the Association is entitled to the appointment of a receiver to collect the rent, the expenses of such receiver to be paid by the party which does not prevail in the foreclosure action.
14.5 Institutional First Mortagee. In the event an Institutional First Mortgagee or other purchaser shall obtain title to a Unit by foreclosure, or by deed in lieu of foreclosure, such Institutional First Mortgagee or other purchaser, its successors and assigns, shall be liable for Assessments or other related expenses authorized under the Act secured by the claim of lien only to the extent provided by the Act. If, due to the applicable provisions of the Act, any unpaid share of the Assessments or other related expenses authorized under the Act are not required to be paid, then such unpaid share or other related expenses authorized under the Act shall be deemed to be a Common Expense collectible from all of the Unit Owners, including such acquirer and such acquirer’s successors and assigns.
14.6 Certificate of Unpaid Assessments. Within 15 days after request by a Unit Owner or mortgagee of a Unit, the Association shall provide a certificate stating all Assessments and other monies owed to the Association by the Unit Owner with respect to such Owner’s Unit. Any person other than the Unit Owner who relies upon such certificate shall be protected thereby.
14.7 Installments. General Assessments shall bc collected monthly or quarterly, in advance, as determined from time to time by the Board of Directors. Initially, General Assessments will be collected monthly.
14.8 Developer’s Guarantee. If, in the purchase agreement or by other means pursuant to the Act, Developer shall guarantee to each purchaser that the Assessment for a specific period of time will not exceed a certain dollar amount, then the Developer shall only be obligated to pay the amount of Common Expenses incurred during that period and not produced by the Assessments received from other Unit Owners.
14.9 Liability for Assessments. When an Owner who is leasing his or her Unit fails to pay any Regular Assessment or other Assessment or any other charge to be paid by the Owner to the Association pursuant to this Declaration for a period of more than thirty (30) days after it is due and payable, the Association has the right to file an action for Foreclosure and request a Receivership to collect the rents and hold them pending the outcome of the Foreclosure. This provision shall not be construed to release the Owner from any obligation, including the obligation for Assessments, for which he or she would otherwise be responsible.