61B-17.006. Filing and Examination of Amendments to Documents

(1) “Amendment” means:

(a) Any change to documents that have previously been filed with and accepted by the division, and

(b) Any change to a document(s) recorded in the public records, whether the change is technical or substantive, regardless of the procedure by which the change is made. Developers shall file such changes as amendments, regardless of the nature of the changes, except as provided in paragraph (6)(b).

(2) “Initial Acceptance” means the division finds the filed documents that have been recorded acceptable as corrected, if any corrections are made following a notice of deficiency.

(3) “Final Acceptance” means:

(a) The division finds the non-recorded documents acceptable as corrected, if any corrections are made following a notice of deficiency, or

(b) The developer submitted recorded amendment(s) to previously recorded documents that incorporate corrections made after a notice of deficiency.

(4) “Record” or recorded” means a document that has been recorded in the official records of the county where the condominium is located. The copy of the recorded document(s) provided to the division must bear the county clerk’s official stamp or seal with the recording date and location in the public records by book and page. A photocopy of the recorded document is acceptable as long as the recording information is clearly legible.

(5) “Withdrawn” means the filing has been withdrawn from the review process.

(6)(a) Every developer of a condominium who holds a unit for sale in a condominium shall submit to the division any amendments in documents or items on file with the division and deliver to the purchaser pursuant to Rule 61B-18.001, F.A.C., all amendments prior to closing, but in no event, later than 10 days after the amendment is accepted by the division.

(b) No changes shall be made to the form purchase contract approved by the division without first filing and obtaining acceptance of such changes from the division. However, in an individual unit sale transaction using the form purchase contract approved by the division, a change to the purchase contract or a modification made on the purchase contract or the attachment of a rider or addendum to such contract is not required to be filed with the division provided that such change, modification, rider or addendum does not contain either a waiver or reduction of purchaser’s rights under Chapter 718, F.S., or a reduction of a developer’s duties under Chapter 718, F.S., and the rules promulgated thereunder, and is not otherwise inconsistent with Chapter 718, F.S. A developer is not required to deliver such change, modification, rider or addendum to any purchaser other than the purchaser whose contract has been modified by such change, modification, rider or addendum.

(c) Upon filing an amendment or amendments to documents or items that have been accepted by the division, the developer shall pay to the division a filing fee of $100 per filing. A developer may include within each filing, multiple amendments relating to a single condominium in which case a filing fee of only $100 shall be charged. However, there shall be no charge for filing documents that do not change an accepted condominium filing, such as a Certificate of Incorporation, or a change to a notice of intended conversion, reservation program, or notice of termination of condominium.

(d) The following amendments do not materially alter or modify the offering within the meaning of Section 718.503, F.S. However, nothing herein shall preclude a developer from arguing that other amendments not expressly described herein do not materially alter or modify the offering within the meaning of Section 718.503, F.S.

1. Any grammatical or typographical correction, or change in presentation or format that does not affect the meaning of any provision of the accepted offering documents and does not violate conspicuous type or other disclosure requirements contained in Chapter 718, F.S.;

2. Any substitution of an executed, filed or recorded copy of a document for the otherwise identical unexecuted, unfiled or unrecorded copy of the document contained in the accepted offering documents (with regard to the inclusion of a recorded phase amendment pursuant to Sections 718.110 and 718.403, F.S., substitution shall be permitted if the form of phase amendment accepted with the initial registration is utilized for the phase amendment and the only modifications are ministerial in nature and designed to complete the amendment instrument as originally contemplated);

3. Inclusion of updated information such as identification or description of:

a. The current officers and directors of the association;

b. The name or ownership of the developer so long as the business organization of the developer still exists;

c. Phases added to the condominium in accordance with the phasing plan, pursuant to Section 718.403, F.S., and accepted by the division;

d. Any action taken pursuant to any previously disclosed reserved right not arising under Section 718.110(4) or 718.403(2), F.S.;

e. Disclosure of improvements for which construction has been completed and which improvements were either previously proposed or not complete;

f. Modification of the applicable budgets to incorporate submission of additional phases committed to the condominium; or

g. Elimination of disclosures required by Section 718.504(12), F.S., following transfer of control of the association pursuant to Section 718.301, F.S.

4. Any inclusion of information that will have application only to purchasers not currently under contract;

5. Modifications related to an increase in closing costs for prospective purchasers;

6. Modifications related to a change in the escrow agent or changes in the provision of title insurance; or

7. Modification of a master escrow agreement to include additional condominium projects or to remove condominium projects for which the developer is no longer offering units for sale.

(7) The developer shall submit with the amendments the following information on a separate cover sheet:

(a) Name and physical location of the condominium to which amendments apply;

(b) Developer’s name and mailing address;

(c) Division Identification Number;

(d) Identification of document to which amendment applies;

(e) Book, page number and county where recorded, if applicable;

(f) A statement summarizing each amendment; and

(g) Identification of all new and deleted language. This requirement may be accomplished by providing a coded copy of the new documents identifying new language with underlining and striking through material to be deleted from the documents.

(8) The division may require that documents or items be revised to include amendments if said revision is deemed necessary by the division for full and adequate disclosure.

(9) Upon receipt of an amendment, the division will examine the material to determine its sufficiency under the Condominium Act and these rules. Within 35 days from receipt of the documents, the division shall notify the developer or its agent by mail of any deficiencies in the content or that the amendment is proper for filing purposes. If the notice is not given within 35 days from receipt of the documents, the amendment is presumed to be properly filed. However, failure to notify the developer or its agent of any deficiencies shall not preclude the determination of deficiencies at a later date nor shall it relieve the developer of any responsibility under the law.

(10) The developer shall have 20 days from the date of the division’s notification of deficiencies in the amended material to correct the deficiencies noted by the division. The developer shall submit such corrections with a cover letter containing an itemization of corrections in the same order in which the deficiencies were presented and shall submit corrected pages showing additions and deletions by underline and strike through or similar coding. The division shall, however, grant an extension of the 20-day period upon written request of the developer. If deficiencies are not corrected within the 20-day period and an extension of time has not been granted by the division, the division shall reject the amendment and no further offers shall be made utilizing the rejected documents.

(11) Within 20 days after the receipt of documents responding to deficiencies noted by the division, the division shall notify the developer or its agent as to the acceptability of the corrected documents. If the notice is not given within 20 days, the amended documents will be considered accepted.

(12)(a) After the filing is accepted, a developer shall not alter the condominium type through these amendment procedures. For purposes of this rule, the condominium types utilized by the division are as follows:

1. Standard Condominium refers to a single condominium operating under a single condominium association the development of which is completed in one stage of construction, as opposed to a phase condominium;

2. Land Condominium refers to a condominium in which the residential units of the real property being submitted to the condominium form of ownership consist of land only;

3. Planned Unit Development refers to a condominium which is included in or located within a real property development project that contains or will contain other types of real property ownership such as townhouses or single family homes;

4. Conversion Condominium refers to a condominium development in which currently existing real property improvements are being converted to residential condominium ownership;

5. Phase Condominium means a condominium developed pursuant to Section 718.403, F.S.; and

6. Multicondominium means a condominium that is part of or included within a development which contains more than one condominium operated by a single association.

(b) In order to change the condominium type of an accepted condominium filing, for example changing from a standard condominium plan to a phase plan, conversion, or planned unit development, or any combination thereof, the developer must file anew with the division pursuant to Section 718.502, F.S., and Rule 61B-17.005, F.A.C.

(13) In no event shall the division’s acceptance of an amendment be construed as endorsement or approval of the amendment by the division. No documents or offering materials shall indicate the division has in any manner endorsed or approved the materials.

(14) If an amendment filing contains recorded documents that require corrections, a recorded amendment incorporating these corrections must be filed within 30 days of the division issuing an Initial Acceptance. If the recorded amendment is not submitted or if the filing has not been withdrawn within the 30-day period, the division will reject the filing under this rule, and no further offers may be made utilizing the rejected documents.

Rulemaking Authority 718.501(1)(f), 718.502(1)(c) FS. Law Implemented 718.103(14), 718.502, 718.502(3), 718.503, 718.504, 718.505 FS. History–New 11-15-77, Amended 7-22-80, 10-1-85, Formerly 7D-17.06, Amended 1-27-87, 4-1-92, 7-11-93, Formerly 7D-17.006, Amended 11-23-93, 1-26-03, 8-30-04, 12-10-13.