Conversion of existing improvements

Common Elements summary — Section 719.117 governs the conversion of existing rental apartments into cooperative ownership. The developer must give every existing tenant a notice of intended conversion at least 180 days before the tenant's lease ends, and must offer each tenant the right of first refusal to buy their unit on the terms first offered to the public for at least 45 days after the notice. Tenants who don't buy generally cannot be evicted as a direct result of the conversion until their lease expires, and the developer must offer a "good faith" extension to month-to-month tenants. Disclosure requirements include a condition-of-property report similar to the SIRS regime for condominiums, and the developer must escrow a portion of the sale proceeds for reserves to fund deferred maintenance on the converted property. For practitioners advising on a conversion: the 180-day notice clock and the right-of-first-refusal mechanics are non-waivable consumer protections. A developer who short-cuts either of them can have the conversion unwound by the Division of Florida Condominiums (which has parallel jurisdiction over cooperatives). The diligence checklist is essentially the same as a 718 conversion.