Florida Condo Law – HOA invalidate occupancy of adult children. Can they?

Location: Florida.

TL;DR: Florida condo board adopted a 2023 rule saying anyone staying 30+ days is a “tenant” and must pay a $150 screening fee. My siblings and I were listed as occupants in 1999 when we were minors. We are now adults, occasionally stay with our surviving parent (no lease, no rent, no transfer of ownership), and the board claims our prior occupancy is invalid and we must be screened and pay the fee. Can a condo association retroactively void a previously accepted occupancy listing solely because the occupants are now adults, absent a lease, sale, or transfer?

Backstory:

I live in a condominium governed by Chapter 718, F.S.

When we moved in 1999, my parents listed the children (myself included) as occupants of the unit. That was recorded by the association at the time. Of course now we are adults (now in our 30s) and we've gone to college, visit, on occasion stay long periods (especially with work from home) to our parent's home. We do have our own homes too but we choose to be where want essentially.

We don't pay rent or have a lease with our surviving parent but we help with bills because that is our family dynamic.

Recently, my car got towed and set off a series of events with the association regarding our occupancy rights. In 2023, the association board of directors adopted "rules and regulations" that stated the following verbatim:

"All renters, lessees, lease renewals, sale transfers, or ownership transfers must be approved by the Board of Directors. The processing fee for applications is $150 per adult or married couple. The Board of Directors shall have 30 days to screen and approve all prospective applicants. Units are not to be utilized for short-term transient housing. Anyone staying in a unit for less than 30 days is considered a guest; anyone staying for 30 days, or more is considered a tenant and must go through the screen process. NO ONE SHALL MOVE INTO THEIR UNIT WITHOUT WRITTEN BOARD APPROVAL".

The association is arguing that as adult children our occupancy when we were kids is nullified and the only occupant of our unit is my surviving parent. Any adults (children or not even if recorded in the original application) must pay the fee and have a background check completed.

Can a condominium association retroactively invalidate a previously accepted occupancy listing solely because the occupants are now adults and force the tenancy clause in cited rules and regulation (absent a lease, sale, or transfer of ownership)?

If the recorded bylaws tie approval and transfer charges to “sale, lease, or other transfers,” can a board rule redefine an adult child living with an owner (no lease, no rent) as a “tenant” based solely on staying more than 30 days?

Some background: The bylaws does grant the board to grant approval and levy a fee for screening applicants. It specifically states:

“5.6 Approving or disapproving proposed purchasers, lessees, mortgagees of Units and those acquiring Units by gift, devise, or inheritance, or other transfers in accordance with the provisions set forth in the Declaration. The Board shall also have the authority to levy a transfer charge to cover the expenses reasonably incurred in screening applications for sale, lease or other transfers.”

Which is consistent with 718.112(2)(k) which states: "Transfer fees.—An association may not charge a fee in connection with the sale, mortgage, lease, sublease, or other transfer of a unit unless the association is required to approve such transfer and a fee for such approval is provided for in the declaration, articles, or bylaws. Any such fee may be preset but may not exceed $150 per applicant. For the purpose of calculating the fee, spouses or a parent or parents and any dependent children are considered one applicant. However, if the lease or sublease is a renewal of a lease or sublease with the same lessee or sublessee, a charge may not be made." See: https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0718/Sections/0718.112.html

However the main point of our question is can they invalidate our original occupancy application in 1999 which includes the kids as occupants?