Florida HOA Budget Approval

Key Findings

• For condominiums, Florida writes the most prescriptive community-association reserve rules in the country. That framework is a direct response to the June 24, 2021 partial collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, which killed 98 people.¹ Lawmakers built it with SB 4-D in 2022, then amended it with SB 154 in 2023, HB 1021 in 2024, and most recently HB 913 in 2025.²
• The condominium reserve-waiver prohibition is live, operative law as of the research date. For any budget a covered association adopts on or after the statutory effective date, it may not waive or reduce reserves for the structural components the study identifies.³
• The Structural Integrity Reserve Study, or SIRS, covers a defined list of structural and life-safety components in buildings of three habitable stories or more. HB 913 raised the catch-all reserve-item threshold from $10,000 to $25,000, indexed it to inflation beginning February 1, 2026, and pushed the first SIRS deadline from December 31, 2024 to December 31, 2025.⁴
• The 115 percent substitute-budget mechanism is an opt-in petition right, not an automatic ratification vote. The calculation leaves out reserves, non-recurring items, and insurance premiums.⁵
• Chapter 720 gives HOAs no equivalent to the 115 percent petition. For HOAs, reserve duties turn on whether the reserves are "statutory"—established by the developer or elected by the members—or non-statutory, meaning the board created them.⁶
• Both chapters set tiered year-end financial-reporting requirements that scale with annual revenue: section 718.111(13) for condominiums, section 720.303(7) for HOAs.⁷
• The 2026 regular session ended March 13, 2026. The major community-association bills, HB 657 among them, failed to pass, so the consolidated framework from HB 913 (2025) remains the law.⁸

Section 1 — Overview: How HOA budgets are approved in Florida

Florida is not a UCIOA state. It regulates community-association budgets through two parallel statutes that run independently. Chapter 718, the Condominium Act, governs condominiums. Chapter 720, the Homeowners' Association Act, governs planned-community HOAs. Cooperatives sit on a third track under Chapter 719.⁹ A budget or reserve rule in one chapter does not carry over to another. Under the condominium model, the board adopts the budget after notice. If that adopted budget calls for assessments above 115 percent of the prior year's, owners holding 10 percent of the voting interests may petition for a special meeting to weigh a substitute budget. Florida uses no negative-option, "ratified-unless-rejected" mechanism.⁵ The post-Surfside condominium reserve regime, which is current law, requires a SIRS for every building three habitable stories or more, and it bars waiving or reducing reserves for SIRS-identified items in budgets adopted on or after the statutory effective date.³ Under the HOA model, the board adopts the budget, the membership can generally establish and waive reserves, and no SIRS or milestone-inspection mandate applies.⁶ After the 2021 Surfside collapse, Florida became the most active and most closely watched reserve jurisdiction in the country, and it changed its rules repeatedly between 2022 and 2025.² The table that follows lines up the two chapters' budget mechanics side by side.

Section 2 — The budget approval mechanism

The table below reflects Chapter 718 for condominiums and Chapter 720 for HOAs. Cooperatives under Chapter 719 follow a separate track, and the condominium reserve rules here reflect the post-Surfside legislation as it currently stands.

2A. Quick-reference budget mechanics

2B. The condominium budget and reserve sequence under Chapter 718

The condominium budget cycle starts with the board. It prepares a proposed annual budget of estimated revenues and expenses, and that budget must be detailed—it has to show amounts by account and expense classification, including the minimum line items section 718.504(21) requires where they apply.¹⁸ Section 718.112(2)(f) then requires the budget to carry reserve accounts for capital expenditures and deferred maintenance. Those reserves must cover roof replacement, building painting, and pavement resurfacing no matter the cost, plus any other item whose deferred-maintenance or replacement cost tops the statutory threshold—HB 913 raised that figure in 2025 to $25,000, or the inflation-adjusted amount the Division sets, whichever is greater.⁴ The association computes the reserve amount by a formula that weighs estimated remaining useful life against estimated replacement cost or deferred-maintenance expense.³

Section 718.112(2)(e) sets the notice. The board must mail, hand-deliver, or electronically transmit a copy of the proposed budget and notice of the budget meeting to every unit owner at least 14 days before that meeting, and it must post the notice conspicuously on the property.¹³ The meeting is open to owners. The board adopts the budget there, and it must adopt the annual budget at least 14 days before the association's fiscal year begins.¹⁴ Florida gives owners no general power to approve or veto the budget. Section 718.112(2)(e) offers only a narrow substitute-budget path: if the adopted budget demands assessments above 115 percent of the prior year's, owners holding 10 percent of all voting interests may, within 21 days of adoption, ask for a special meeting to consider a substitute budget, and the association must hold it within 60 days.⁵ That 115 percent figure excludes reserves, anticipated non-recurring expenses, insurance premiums, and assessments for betterments.¹⁴ If owners adopt no substitute, the board's budget stands. HB 913 added a wrinkle: a board whose proposed budget clears 115 percent must, at the same time, propose a substitute budget that strips out discretionary spending.¹⁹

The reserve and SIRS regime feeds straight into this budget process, because the budget has to fund the non-waivable reserve items. Section 718.112(2)(g) requires a Structural Integrity Reserve Study for each building three habitable stories or more. The study covers the roof; the structure, including load-bearing walls and primary structural members and systems; fireproofing and fire-protection systems; plumbing; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; windows and exterior doors; and any other item over $25,000 whose failure would harm those listed components.²⁰ The SIRS ties to the milestone-inspection program in section 553.899, which orders a structural inspection when a covered building turns 30—or 25, if it sits within three miles of the coastline and the local enforcement agency so determines—and every 10 years after that.¹⁶ When a SIRS is required, the association must keep reserves for the SIRS items it is responsible for, and it must base the reserve amount on the most recent SIRS.³ Here is the hard line: for budgets adopted on or after the statutory effective date, members cannot vote to waive or reduce funding for the SIRS-identified structural components. Only the non-SIRS items stay waivable.²¹ HB 913 stretched the initial SIRS deadline and allowed limited, milestone-linked pauses in reserve contributions.²²

2C. The HOA budget sequence under Chapter 720, and variation by declaration

Under section 720.303(6), the HOA board prepares and adopts an annual budget that reflects estimated revenues and operating expenses.⁶ The notice rules run lighter than the condominium side. The Homeowners' Association Act does not require advance mailing of the proposed budget for a routine adoption; the board may adopt it at a board meeting noticed by conspicuous posting at least 48 hours ahead, unless the governing documents demand more.¹² Reserves work differently too. Chapter 720 mandates no reserve accounts. It separates "statutory" reserves—those the developer first established or a majority of the total voting interests affirmatively elected—from non-statutory, board-created reserves.⁶ Where statutory reserves exist, the board must include them in the budget under the statutory formula, and the membership can waive or reduce funding only by majority vote.²³ No SIRS or milestone-inspection mandate touches HOAs.²⁴

Chapter 720 carries no substitute-budget or 115 percent member-petition mechanism like Chapter 718's. Any limit on a budget increase comes from the recorded declaration, not the statute.⁶ That is a key cross-chapter difference, and no one should assume the HOA model mirrors the condominium one. On variation by declaration, Chapter 718 makes the budget-adoption mechanics partly subject to the bylaws but treats the SIRS and reserve-funding rules for covered buildings as mandatory provisions that override any contrary declaration language. Chapter 720 leaves most reserve and budget questions to the recorded declaration and governing documents.³ Cooperatives under Chapter 719 follow their own track, one that folds in SIRS and milestone-inspection requirements for covered buildings much like condominiums but under a separate statute.¹⁶

Section 3 — Budget-adjacent obligations

A. Reserves in the budget

For condominiums under Chapter 718, the SIRS and reserve-funding regime in section 718.112(2)(f) and (g) is the highest-stakes budget-adjacent duty. A covered building—three habitable stories or more—must complete a SIRS, fund reserves for the listed structural and life-safety components based on that study, and may not waive those reserves for budgets adopted on or after the statutory effective date; the catch-all threshold sits at $25,000, indexed to inflation.⁴ This is mandatory, and it overrides any contrary declaration provision. For HOAs under Chapter 720, section 720.303(6) keeps reserves generally waivable: there is no reserve-study mandate, and the members can waive or reduce statutory reserves by vote.⁶

B. Special assessments

For condominiums, section 718.112(2)(c) requires the association to mail, deliver, or electronically transmit notice of a board meeting that will take up a non-emergency special assessment, and to post it conspicuously, at least 14 days before the meeting. That notice must say assessments will be considered and give the estimated cost and purpose, and the association must file an affidavit of compliance.¹⁵ For HOAs, section 720.303(2) requires similar 14-day notice stating that assessments will be considered and describing their nature.¹⁵ Both are mandatory notice provisions. Whether owners must approve the assessment depends on the governing documents.

C. Assessment increase limits

For condominiums, the only statutory check on a board-adopted increase is the 115 percent substitute-budget trigger in section 718.112(2)(e)—and that is a petition right, not a cap.⁵ For HOAs, Chapter 720 sets no comparable statutory limit; any cap comes from the recorded declaration.⁶

D. Financial reporting, audit, and disclosure tied to the budget cycle

Condominiums report year-end finances under section 718.111(13) on a tiered scale set by total annual revenue: under $150,000, a report of cash receipts and expenditures; $150,000 to under $300,000, compiled statements; $300,000 to under $500,000, reviewed statements; and $500,000 or more, audited statements.⁷ HOAs run a parallel tiered regime under section 720.303(7) with the same revenue breakpoints, and since HB 1203 (2024), any association of 1,000 or more parcels must obtain an audit no matter its revenue.¹⁷ Both chapters let the members vote to "waive down" to a lower reporting level—but not for consecutive years.²⁵

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Florida's recent lawmaking has not touched the budget-approval mechanics so much as it has reshaped what a condominium budget must fund. The bills below build and refine the post-Surfside reserve regime; one overhauls the HOA Act without importing it.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Florida's appellate courts have only begun to interpret the post-SB 4-D reserve and SIRS provisions. One decision worth knowing turns on the mechanics of securing assessments in foreclosure.

Beyond Orfanos, appellate authority squarely interpreting the post-SB 4-D reserve and SIRS provisions stays thin, because that litigation is only now reaching Florida's District Courts of Appeal. Treat law-firm summaries of "reserve-waiver" or "special-assessment" cases with care, and check any cited opinion against the official record. Florida's appellate structure runs from the Circuit Courts to six District Courts of Appeal, with discretionary review by the Florida Supreme Court, so any cited ruling should name its District Court of Appeal.³⁰

C. Active legislative debates

The 2026 regular session ended March 13, 2026, and the major community-association bills failed with it. The headliner, HB 657—the Homeowners' Association Dissolution and Accountability Act, which would have allowed HOA termination on a minority petition and created a community-association court—did not pass.⁸ Expect termination relief for aging, underfunded condominiums and proposals to standardize reserve and inspection rules to return in future sessions.

Section 5 — National positioning

Since the June 2021 Surfside collapse, Florida has become the national focal point for community-association reserve regulation, and it now runs the most prescriptive condominium reserve and structural-inspection regime in the country. Its mandatory, non-waivable structural-reserve scheme for condominium buildings three habitable stories or more—tied to engineer-performed milestone inspections—stands apart from the UCIOA negative-option ratification family that many states use, from California's percentage-based cap on assessment increases, and from the many states that impose no reserve mandate at all. What makes Florida unusual is the split inside a single state: the condominium track under Chapter 718 is mandatory and non-waivable for covered buildings, while the HOA track under Chapter 720 leaves reserves establishable and waivable by the membership.³ For a multi-state operator with Florida condominium exposure, reserve funding and the SIRS are now budget-determinative for covered buildings and cannot be waived away—which reshapes capital planning, acquisition due diligence, and assessment forecasting.

Federal frameworks—the FHA, ADA, FDCPA, SCRA, and OTARD—apply to Florida associations regardless of the state budget framework.

Recommendations

• Before each budget cycle, condominium boards and managers should confirm that the proposed budget funds every SIRS-identified reserve item at the level the most recent SIRS recommends, and that it rests on no waiver of structural reserves. One thing should change that practice: the SIRS itself. If an updated study lowers the required funding, or a building drops below three habitable stories, the non-waiver constraint narrows with it.
• For any condominium budget that clears 115 percent of the prior year's assessments after the statutory exclusions—reserves, non-recurring items, insurance premiums—prepare the simultaneous substitute budget HB 913 requires, and document the 21-day request and 60-day meeting timeline.
• HOA boards should pin down whether their reserves are statutory or non-statutory before they rely on any waiver, and they should complete the director education and the 1,000-parcel audit-threshold check HB 1203 requires.
• Treat the two chapters as separate compliance regimes. Do not import condominium SIRS or 115 percent rules into HOA practice, or the reverse. The trigger to revisit that line is any future bill—a successor to HB 657—that would stretch reserve or termination rules across chapters.

Caveats

• Florida's condominium reserve, SIRS, and milestone-inspection rules changed repeatedly between 2022 and 2025. Every figure here reflects the consolidated statutory text as it currently stands, and each should be re-verified against the official Florida Statutes.
• "Habitable stories" determinations and certain coastal milestone triggers turn on fact-specific, local-government judgments; for a borderline building, get a legal opinion.
• Appellate authority interpreting the post-SB 4-D reserve provisions is still developing, so confirm any cited case against the official opinion. A "Meyer v. Seven Kings Holdings" special-assessment case circulating in some law-firm material could not be verified and appears to misstate an unrelated easement decision; this page does not rely on it.

1. U.S. Gov't Accountability Off., GAO-24-106558, Condominium Safety (2024) (the June 24, 2021 partial collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida killed 98 people) ↩
2. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(g) (2025), as amended by S.B. 4-D (2022 Special Session), S.B. 154 (2023), H.B. 1021 (2024), and H.B. 913 (2025) ↩
3. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(f)2.a. & (g) (2025) (in a budget adopted by an association required to obtain a SIRS, reserves must be maintained for the items identified in paragraph (g), based on the most recent SIRS and computed by a remaining-useful-life and replacement-cost formula) ↩
4. CS/CS/H.B. 913, Laws of Fla. (2025) (raising the SIRS reserve-item threshold from $10,000 to $25,000, with annual inflation adjustments beginning February 1, 2026, and extending the initial SIRS deadline to December 31, 2025); Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(f)2.a. ↩
5. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(e) (2025) (owners holding 10% of all voting interests may, within 21 days of adoption, request a special meeting to consider a substitute budget when adopted assessments exceed 115% of the prior year's; the association must hold the meeting within 60 days; the 115% calculation excludes reserves, non-recurring expenses, insurance premiums, and betterments) ↩
6. Fla. Stat. § 720.303(6) (2025) (Chapter 720 distinguishes statutory reserves—established by the developer or elected by a majority of the total voting interests—from non-statutory, board-created reserves; statutory reserves may be waived or reduced only by majority vote) ↩
7. Fla. Stat. § 718.111(13) (2025) (year-end financial-reporting tiers: under $150,000—report of cash receipts and expenditures; $150,000–$300,000—compilation; $300,000–$500,000—review; $500,000 or more—audit) ↩
8. H.B. 657, Fla. H.R. (2026 Reg. Sess.) (Homeowners' Association Dissolution and Accountability Act; failed when the 2026 regular session adjourned sine die March 13, 2026) ↩
9. Fla. Stat. chs. 718 (Condominium Act), 720 (Homeowners' Association Act) & 719 (Cooperative Act) (2025) ↩
10. Fla. Stat. §§ 718.112(2)(e), (f), (g); 718.111(13); 553.899 (2025) ↩
11. Fla. Stat. §§ 720.303(6), (7), (2) (2025) ↩
12. Fla. Stat. § 720.303(2), (6) (2025) (Chapter 720 requires no advance mailing of the proposed budget for a routine adoption; the board meeting must be noticed by conspicuous posting at least 48 hours in advance, subject to stricter governing-document requirements) ↩
13. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(e) (2025) (the proposed budget and meeting notice must be hand-delivered, mailed, or electronically transmitted to unit owners and posted at least 14 days before the meeting) ↩
14. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(e) (2025) (the board shall adopt the annual budget at least 14 days before the start of the fiscal year; a substitute budget is adopted by a majority of all voting interests unless the bylaws require more; if none is adopted, the board's proposed budget takes effect) ↩
15. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(c)1. (condominium 14-day special-assessment notice stating estimated cost and purpose, with affidavit of compliance) & § 720.303(2)(c)2. (HOA 14-day notice stating that assessments will be considered and their nature) (2025) ↩
16. Fla. Stat. § 553.899(3) (2024) (milestone inspection by December 31 of the year a building reaches 30 years of age—25 years if within 3 miles of a coastline—and every 10 years thereafter; applies to condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or more) ↩
17. Fla. Stat. § 720.303(7) (2025); H.B. 1203, Laws of Fla. (2024) (as of July 1, 2024, an HOA with 1,000 or more parcels must prepare audited financial statements regardless of total annual revenue) ↩
18. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(f)1. (2025) (the proposed annual budget must be detailed and show amounts by accounts and expense classifications, including the minimum expenses listed in § 718.504(21)) ↩
19. CS/CS/H.B. 913, Laws of Fla. (2025) (a board proposing a budget exceeding 115% must simultaneously propose a substitute budget that excludes discretionary expenditures not required to be in the budget) ↩
20. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(g) (2025) (SIRS components: roof; structure and load-bearing walls; fireproofing and fire-protection systems; plumbing; electrical; waterproofing and exterior painting; windows and exterior doors; and other qualifying items over $25,000) ↩
21. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(f)2.a. (2025) (for budgets adopted on or after the statutory date, owners may not waive or reduce funding for SIRS-identified structural components; non-SIRS reserves remain waivable) ↩
22. CS/CS/H.B. 913, Laws of Fla. (2025) (extending the initial SIRS deadline to December 31, 2025 and permitting limited, milestone-linked pauses in reserve contributions on a majority vote) ↩
23. Fla. Stat. § 720.303(6) (2025) (where statutory reserves are established, the board must fully fund them unless a majority of the members vote to waive or reduce funding at a quorum meeting) ↩
24. Fla. Stat. § 553.899 (2024) (the SIRS and milestone-inspection requirements apply to condominium and cooperative buildings under Chapters 718 and 719; HOAs governed by Chapter 720 are not subject to them) ↩
25. Fla. Stat. § 718.111(13)(d) (2025) & § 720.303(7) (members may vote to waive down to a lower reporting level, but not for consecutive fiscal years) ↩
26. H.B. 1021, Laws of Fla. (2024), Condominium and Cooperative Associations (effective July 1, 2024; effective January 1, 2026 the website-records requirement applies to condominium associations with 25 or more units, down from 150) ↩
27. H.B. 1203, Ch. 2024-221, Laws of Fla. (2024) (director education under § 720.3033; revised fining and hearing procedures; kickback penalties; 1,000-parcel audit requirement; effective July 1, 2024) ↩
28. CS/CS/H.B. 913, Laws of Fla. (2025) (signed June 23, 2025, effective July 1, 2025; threshold $10,000 to $25,000; SIRS deadline extended to December 31, 2025; alternative reserve funding via loans, lines of credit, or special assessments with member approval; SIRS reserves remain non-waivable) ↩
29. Orfanos v. 45 Ocean Condo. Ass'n, Inc., 368 So. 3d 995 (Fla. 4th DCA 2023), No. 4D22-1877 (interpreting Fla. Stat. § 718.116(5)(b), special assessments levied after the claim of lien was recorded and after the foreclosure complaint was filed may not be included in the final judgment of foreclosure absent amendment of the lien and complaint) ↩
30. Florida court structure: Circuit Courts, six District Courts of Appeal, and discretionary review by the Florida Supreme Court; condominium disputes are subject to pre-suit arbitration or mediation under Fla. Stat. § 718.1255 and HOA disputes to pre-suit mediation under § 720.311 ↩