Days ago, we discussed condominium deposit refunds – an issue that many Floridians face when trying to purchase condominiums.

As mentioned in the previous article, the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (ILSFDA) was put in place to protect you from a number of issues related to property purchases. This includes:

1) False, misleading promises made by the developer to convince you to sign a purchase agreement;

2) Failure to complete construction of the condo within the time allowed by the contract; and

3) Fraudulent actions committed by the developer in violation of ILSFDA.

While a major purpose of ILSFDA is to protect buyers, there are also instances where the developer’s property is exempt from the regulations of ILSFDA.

The Florida courts have addressed the issue of exemption on numerous occasions – recently in Lewis and Lori Gold v. 200 East Partners, LLC.

In 2008, Lewis and Lori Gold signed an agreement to purchase a condominium unit in the 200 East Palmetto Park community.

The building was still under construction when the contract was signed and was set to contain 115 residential units.  The condominium project fell under the requirements of ILSFDA as interstate commerce and mail was used to advertise and sale the units.

The developer sought exemption for the first 99 units, and later built the remaining condominiums – which did not fall under the exemption rule.

According to the ILSFDA, if the property does not fall under the exemption rule, the developer must provide the buyer with a written property report prior to the signing of the purchase agreement.

In Golds, the court decided that because the developer did not perfect an exemption for the lot prior to execution of the contract, and failed to provide the Golds with a printed property report, it violated the ILSFDA. The Golds were able to get out of the contract to purchase and received a refund of their deposit.

Does your condominium fall under the exemption rule of ILSFDA?

Contact our real estate lawyers today. You can use this form to email or call us at (954) 779-7009.

Image credit: arnet117

Tags: condominium, exemption rule, Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Broward Real Estate, condominium, Fort Lauderdale Real Estate, Miami Real Estate, Residential, South Florida. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.