In March, Florida's Third District Court of Appeal issued a pivotal ruling that could significantly impact land developers aiming to acquire entire condominium buildings. The ruling challenges a long-standing practice in Florida, where developers would acquire enough units to gain control of the condo board, enabling them to amend rules and limit a condominium association's ability to modify its governing documents, particularly regarding the termination of the condominium form of ownership.

In Avila v. Biscayne 21 Condominium, a group of unit owners filed a suit to block the termination of their 13-story, 192-unit waterfront condominium in Miami's Edgewater neighborhood, seeking to prevent the sale of the entire property. The unit owners argued that the original condominium declaration required unanimous approval—100% of all unit owners—for termination. However, the developer, in conjunction with the Biscayne 21 Condominium Association, amended the governing documents, reducing the voting requirement for termination from 100% to 80%. Typically, in these cases, the condominium board is required to amend their governing documents and record them in the public records in Miami-Dade County.