On August 14, 2013, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal ruled that a bank which had taken title to two condominium units was entitled to its attorney’s fees from a condominium association just as any other condominium owner would be pursuant to Section 718.303(1), F.S.

The Ocean Bank v. Caribbean Towers Condominium Association, Inc. case began when Ocean Bank foreclosed on two delinquent units in the Caribbean Towers condominium community in North Bay Village, FL. The bank properly named the association as a defendant in both actions.  Ultimately, the bank took title to both properties at its own foreclosure sales. The bank then attempted to sell the properties and ran into a stumbling block when the association’s estoppel certificates demanded payoff amounts almost 9x and more than 13x higher than the statutory maximum known, in the vernacular, as “Safe Harbor”.   Read more…..