A family office acquiring several South Florida residences needs property-specific construction timelines, carefully reviewed tolling agreements, and a clear path for transferring available warranty and claim rights. Contract discipline should preserve those protections before closing, rather than assume ownership alone delivers them.
For a family office assembling a South Florida residential portfolio, contract review should extend beyond price, title, and delivery. Each residence carries a construction history: completion milestones, repair correspondence, warranty conditions, and potentially unresolved claims. Those records can determine whether a future problem has an available remedy-or merely an attractive address.
The disciplined approach is property-specific. A purchase in Brickell, a retreat in Miami Beach, and a residence in Boca Raton should not share an assumed construction deadline simply because they share an acquisition entity. When evaluating a residence at 2200 Brickell, for example, the relevant inquiry concerns the documentation for that acquisition, not a portfolio-wide warranty assumption. Project references here are acquisition examples, not assessments of defects or legal exposure.
The objective is straightforward: establish which protections remain, who may enforce them, and what the purchase agreement must preserve before closing.
Florida’s construction-claim framework distinguishes a limitations period from a statute of repose. Under the 2025 version of section 95.11, qualifying construction actions involving nonlatent defects generally have a four-year limitations period. For latent defects, that period generally begins when the defect is discovered or should have been discovered through due diligence.
The seven-year statute of repose serves a different purpose. It generally sets an outside deadline for qualifying claims, even if a latent defect becomes apparent later. Discovery cannot, therefore, be treated as an unlimited opportunity to pursue construction claims.
The statutory clock generally uses the earliest applicable issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy, certificate of occupancy, certificate of completion, or abandonment of unfinished construction, subject to statutory qualifications. The acquisition date is no substitute for that analysis.
Older properties require particular care. The 2020 statutory version used a ten-year repose period and materially different triggering language. Counsel should determine the governing version, applicable qualifications, and correct subsection before assigning a deadline. Neither seven nor ten years should become a universal portfolio rule.
Request permit and certificate histories early enough for counsel to evaluate them before inspection and objection periods expire. Organize each residence’s file around construction milestones, ownership changes, defect discovery, repair activity, existing claims, and potential expiration dates.
For a Miami Beach acquisition such as The Perigon Miami Beach, the same discipline applies: distinguish records concerning the individual residence from those concerning shared building elements. Establish which records are available from the seller and which should be requested through the appropriate association or other responsible party.
Repair records matter, but their significance must not be overstated. For qualifying permitted work covered by the relevant certificate, correcting or repairing completed work-under warranty or otherwise-does not extend the time to commence an action. A recent service visit should not be entered as a new construction-claim start date without legal analysis.
An existing tolling agreement warrants a dedicated review, not a reassuring checkmark. Request the complete executed agreement and amendments. Identify the parties, covered claims, operative dates, expiration provisions, reserved defenses, and treatment of successors.
The practical question is whether the acquiring entity receives the intended benefit and whether additional consent or documentation is needed. Counsel should address that question expressly, rather than infer protection from the seller’s participation.
Do not assume a private tolling agreement extends the applicable statute of repose. That conclusion requires legal analysis; this framework does not establish it. Negotiations, repair discussions, and an agreement labeled “tolling” should never replace a separately calculated outside deadline.
Where timing is tight, the purchase contract should give the buyer an opportunity to evaluate the risk before becoming irrevocably committed. Transaction flexibility and claim preservation are distinct protections. Both deserve attention.
Warranty review should begin with the applicable legal protection, then turn to each private warranty’s conditions. Section 553.837 requires a builder to honor the applicable statutory or qualifying express written warranty for the full required one-year period, even if the newly constructed home is sold or transferred. A transfer does not create a fresh one-year warranty upon resale.
For an acquisition in Boca Raton, including a residence at Alina Residences Boca Raton, the useful deliverable is a warranty matrix: warrantor, covered work, commencement date, remaining term, notice provisions, maintenance requirements, and transfer conditions. Establish applicability for the actual residence and transaction.
Private warranty rights should not be assumed transferable merely because title transfers. Request the instruments, identify assignable rights, and have counsel determine required consents and formalities. Likewise, proposed warranty-transfer rules should not be treated as enacted protections. Review maintenance obligations alongside warranty benefits, not after closing.
Condominium acquisitions add another layer. Section 718.203 provides specified implied warranties from contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers to the developer and purchasers of individual units. These include a three-year period from completion of construction for roofs, structural components, and specified mechanical and plumbing elements. This is not a blanket three-year warranty for every issue.
Association involvement also matters. Homeowners’ associations may maintain lawsuits for members concerning matters of common interest, including certain common areas, structural components, and association-responsibility improvements. Counsel must determine the proper claimant and relevant rights for the particular property.
A family office considering Andare Residences Fort Lauderdale should therefore distinguish residence-level questions from shared-property questions. Request available claim and settlement records, and evaluate whether an existing resolution affects the interests being acquired. Do not assume an individual buyer controls an association-level dispute.
Recommended contract provisions should require delivery of complete available construction, warranty, repair, and claim files; assignments of assignable rights; and seller cooperation with necessary transfer documentation. Specify the records and actions rather than rely on a general promise to provide information.
Address pre-closing releases and settlements through buyer approval requirements. A seller’s resolution of an outstanding matter may affect the protection the buyer expects to receive. Counsel should also review recorded deeds and other instruments for dispute-resolution restrictions. An arbitration provision in an original special warranty deed has been held binding on subsequent purchasers as a covenant running with the land.
Resolve the deadline analysis before contractual review periods expire. Specific pre-suit requirements, assignment validity, and the effect of an “as-is” clause require transaction-specific advice. This is a planning framework, not a property-specific legal opinion.
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Begin a quiet conversationCertificate dates, discovery dates, repair histories, and warranty terms can differ between properties. A shared acquisition entity does not create a shared construction-claim deadline.
The 2025 statutory framework generally provides a four-year limitations period. Counsel should confirm the governing version and its application to the particular claim.
It generally begins when the defect is discovered or should have been discovered through due diligence. The applicable statute of repose can still bar the claim.
It generally establishes an outside deadline for qualifying construction claims, even when a latent defect is discovered later. The governing statutory version and qualifications require property-specific review.
For qualifying permitted work covered by the relevant certificate, correction or repair of completed work does not extend the time to commence an action. A recent repair date should not be assumed to establish a new deadline.
No; counsel should examine the agreement and governing law rather than assume it extends the outside deadline.
No; the applicable protection under section 553.837 continues for the full required one-year period despite a sale or transfer, but resale does not restart that period.
Specified implied warranties include a three-year period from completion of construction for roofs, structural components, and certain mechanical and plumbing elements. That period does not cover every issue indiscriminately.
Yes; an arbitration provision in an original special warranty deed has been held binding on subsequent purchasers as a covenant running with the land.
It should address construction and claim files, assignments of assignable rights, seller cooperation, and buyer approval of pre-closing releases or settlements. Counsel should resolve deadline and transfer questions before review periods expire.
