2026-09-10 · Florida · Legislation · Did not pass

What happened. Twin bills authorising Florida community associations to meet and hold elections by audio conference both died on 13 March 2026 without a single committee hearing. SB 1744 died in Senate Regulated Industries; HB 1541 died in the House Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee.¹²

What the bills would have added

SB 1744, from Sen. Jones of District 34, was titled “Official Records of Condominium Associations, Residential Cooperative Associations, and Homeowners' Associations.” HB 1541, from Rep. Aristide, was titled “Use of Audioconferencing by Community Associations.” Between them they would have:

• defined “audio conference”;
• authorised associations to conduct meetings and elections by audioconferencing, in addition to or instead of videoconferencing;
• added audio conference recordings to the list of official records a condominium association must maintain; and
• extended the emergency powers of condominium, residential cooperative and homeowners' associations to include conducting meetings and elections by audio conference.

The Community Associations Institute's session report notes that HB 1541 carried a one-year retention requirement for those recordings.³

What the law actually permits

Florida condominiums do have statutory remote meetings — but they are video meetings, and the mechanics are prescriptive. HB 913 (Ch. 2025-175) added a definition to s. 718.103: a “video conference” is “a real-time audio and video-based meeting between two or more people in different locations using video-enabled and audio-enabled devices.” Audio alone does not meet that definition.

For a board meeting held this way, s. 718.112(2)(c) requires that the notice “state that such meeting will be via video conference and must include a hyperlink and a conference telephone number for unit owners to attend the meeting via video conference, as well as the address of the physical location where the unit owners can attend the meeting in person.” And: “If the meeting is conducted via video conference, it must be recorded and such recording must be maintained as an official record of the association.”

1. SB 1744 (2026), Official Records of Condominium, Cooperative and Homeowners' Associations — bill record, Florida Senate ↩
2. HB 1541 (2026), Use of Audioconferencing by Community Associations — bill record, Florida Senate ↩
3. 2026 Florida End of Legislative Session Report, CAI Florida Legislative Alliance ↩
4. Notice of Proposed Rule, Rule 61B-23.001, F.A.C., published 24 July 2026 (Vol. 52/143) ↩