Pembroke Pines Attorney
Attorney for Pembroke Pines Homeowners, Condo Owners, and Families
Pembroke Pines, in southwest Broward, mixes single-family neighborhoods with condominiums and age-restricted communities for residents 55 and older, such as Century Village. Those properties raise questions a standard closing checklist does not answer: who may live in a unit, what the City’s lien search does and does not show, and what happens to a 55-and-over condo in a divorce or after a death. Arturo R. Alfonso P.A. takes Broward family law, real estate, and bankruptcy matters in English and Spanish, with 30 years of practice in South Florida. The firm has one office, at 7821 Coral Way in Miami; Pembroke Pines clients can meet there, by phone, or by video. Call (305) 266-9584 or request a free consultation.
55-and-Over Communities, Condos, and City Liens in Pembroke Pines
Know how a 55-and-over community qualifies. Under Fla. Stat. 760.29(4), the familial-status provisions of the Florida Fair Housing Act do not apply to housing for older persons. A community intended and operated for residents 55 and older qualifies when at least 80 percent of its occupied units have at least one occupant who is 55 or older and it publishes and follows policies that show that intent. The federal rule behind that test requires the community to verify occupancy through reliable surveys and affidavits, updated at least once every two years (24 C.F.R. 100.307). In practice, the declaration, the rules, and the association’s approval process decide who may buy, who may live in a unit, and whether a younger relative may stay. Read them before you sign a contract, before a child or grandchild moves in, and before a will or deed leaves a unit to someone under 55.
Older condo buildings and the 25-year inspection. Broward’s Board of Rules and Appeals Policy 05-05, effective August 9, 2024, calls for a building safety inspection at 25 years for most buildings countywide, earlier than the 30-year state default explained in our Q&A on condo milestone inspections and SIRS. One- to four-family dwellings of three stories or fewer, fee simple townhouses, and buildings under 3,500 square feet are exempt. Before buying into an older Pembroke Pines condominium, ask for the inspection report, the structural integrity reserve study, and the estoppel certificate. See our Q&As on who pays a condo special assessment and HOA and condo estoppel letters.
The City lien search has limits. The City of Pembroke Pines Liens page (read October 23, 2026) says the City checks for four kinds of liens: utility, code enforcement, S.H.I.P., and special assessment. Requests go through the City’s online Lien Search Program or a Lien Inquiry Form returned to the Finance Department, Third Floor, 601 City Center Way. The same page warns that there may be other encumbrances imposed by Broward County, which the City search does not cover, and that open building permits are a Building Department matter. A title search, the City lien search, and a permit search answer different questions, so a careful buyer orders all three. Our Q&A on liens when selling a home explains how a lien is paid off at closing.
Order the permit search early. The Pembroke Pines Building Department’s Open/Expired Permit Records Search Request covers records from 1992 to the present and asks for the property address, permit number, or folio number. The form says to allow up to 96 working hours for a response, time that matters if an old permit has to be closed out before closing.
Pembroke Pines deeds are recorded by Broward County’s Records, Taxes and Treasury Division rather than the Clerk of Courts. Documentary stamp tax on a deed is 70 cents per $100 of consideration (Fla. Stat. 201.02), with no equivalent of the surtax that applies to some Miami-Dade transfers. Florida law does not require an attorney to close a sale; read title company or attorney closing, how we handle residential closings, how a title search and title insurance work, and our real estate law services.
Courts, Divorce, and Bankruptcy for Pembroke Pines Clients
Pembroke Pines cases are heard in Broward’s Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, not Miami-Dade’s Eleventh. The Broward Clerk directs family cases (Family Division, Room 04130), domestic violence, county civil, small claims, evictions, and foreclosures to the Central Courthouse West Building at 201 SE 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale, and Attorney Alfonso appears there when a case requires it. Our Broward County page lists the regional courthouses and the other county offices.
When spouses own a unit in a 55-and-over community, a divorce settlement has to fit the community’s rules. If the spouse who keeps the unit is under 55, or an adult child or a new partner will live there, check the declaration and the association’s occupancy policy before agreeing to the split. The court begins from the premise that marital assets are divided equally unless there is a justification for an unequal split (Fla. Stat. 61.075(1)), and benefits accrued during the marriage in retirement, pension, profit-sharing, annuity, and deferred compensation plans are marital assets (61.075(6)(a)1.e.). For couples near retirement, those accounts can matter as much as the condo. See how a 401(k) is divided in a Florida divorce, who gets the house, and our family law services.
Bankruptcy cases from Pembroke Pines are filed in the Fort Lauderdale Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, 299 East Broward Boulevard. For owners on a fixed income, the first questions are usually what happens to the condo and the retirement savings. Our Q&As on Florida bankruptcy exemptions and keeping retirement accounts in bankruptcy explain how those rules work. See our bankruptcy law services.
Common Questions
Can someone under 55 buy or live in a Pembroke Pines 55-and-over community? It depends on the community’s documents. Florida law lets a community qualify as housing for older persons when at least 80 percent of occupied units have at least one resident 55 or older and it follows published age policies, so the declaration, the rules, and the association’s approval process decide who may buy or live there.
What does the City of Pembroke Pines lien search cover? City utility, code enforcement, S.H.I.P., and special assessment liens. The City notes that Broward County may have other encumbrances, and open permits are searched separately through the Building Department.
Contact Us
Whether you are buying into a Pembroke Pines condominium or 55-and-over community, clearing a lien or an open permit before a sale, dividing a condo and retirement accounts in a divorce, or asking what bankruptcy would mean for your home, Attorney Alfonso can review your documents in English or Spanish from our Miami office, by phone, or by video. Hablamos español. Call (305) 266-9584 or contact us to schedule a free consultation.
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