Rents and assessments; liability; lien and priority

Common Elements summary — Section 719.108 is the cooperative assessment-collection engine. It establishes that every member is liable for assessments and rent under the proprietary lease, and that the association has a lien against the member's cooperative interest (shares plus proprietary lease) for unpaid amounts. The lien is enforceable by foreclosure in the same manner as a real-property mortgage foreclosure. Three Florida-specific rules matter. First, the cooperative's lien has priority over all other liens recorded after the date of recordation of the original declaration of cooperative — meaning the association generally beats subsequent mortgagees, but a first mortgage recorded before the declaration retains its priority. Second, a cooperative can pursue both judicial foreclosure of the lien AND an eviction action under Chapter 83 for the same delinquency — the dual-track remedy is unique to the cooperative structure. Third, a 45-day pre-foreclosure notice is required, just like Chapter 718. For boards: when an owner falls behind, the cooperative's remedies are stronger than a condo's because of the landlord-tenant overlay. But the procedural steps (notice, hearing, lien, foreclosure) must be followed in order. Skipping the pre-foreclosure notice is a complete defense to the foreclosure.

Not legal advice. Click through to the official source for statutory text.