Welcome back for Part II of our blog series on the upcoming changes to the Condominium Rider to the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar (“FR/BAR”) contract, set to take effect July 1, 2025. As we highlighted in Part I, this latest version introduces significant changes throughout the Rider. We now continue our review with the last major set of changes in Section 6.
Part 6. Buyer’s Request for Documents
In the previous version of the Rider, it was the Buyer’s responsibility to check a box if they wanted to request copies of the condominium documents described in Section 5. The revised Rider shifts that responsibility and now imposes an affirmative obligation on the Seller to provide those documents.
A new subparagraph (b) has been added to Section 6 requiring that Seller, at the Seller’s expense, shall provide the Buyer with any of the following documents selected by the Buyer for the 12 months preceding the Effective Date:
- Minutes of Condominium Association Board meetings
- Agendas for all Condominium Association Board meetings
- Minutes of Condominium Association Member meetings
- Agendas for all Condominium Association Member meetings
- Insurance declaration pages for general liability, hazard/windstorm, and any required or existing flood policies held by the Association
- Any available milestone, turnover, or structural integrity reserve study report
This update is noteworthy because if the Buyer previously desired these documents, they had to be requested separately, either in an addendum or in the “Additional Terms” section of the contract. Now, a Buyer can simply check the boxes in Section 6, and the Seller is obligated to provide the requested records.
There are also now blank lines where the Buyer can easily add additional items they are requesting rather than including those requests in a separate addendum.
Once the Buyer receives all documents requested in Section 6(b), an automatic seven (7) day review period is triggered. During this time, the Buyer may cancel the contract by written notice. This creates an additional cancellation window for the Buyer to utilize.
Pro-tip for listing agents: To avoid creating another review and cancellation period late in the transaction, it’s smart to gather these documents early and provide them promptly. Doing so can help keep your timeline on track and reduce the risk of an unexpected cancellation.
If you have any questions about these changes to the Condominium Rider or any other real estate matter, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your trusted real estate attorney.
