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

What happened. The largest homeowners' association reform bill Florida has seen in years passed the House of Representatives 108-2 on 5 March 2026 and then died in the Senate Rules Committee on 13 March 2026, the day the 2026 Regular Session adjourned sine die. No part of CS/CS/CS/CS/HB 657 is law.¹

What the bill would have done

HB 657, sponsored by Rep. Juan Carlos Porras with twelve co-introducers, ran to 85 pages in its engrossed form and cited 33 separate statute sections across Chapters 718, 719, 720 and 617. Its centrepiece was a created section, s. 720.319, styled the “Homeowners' Association Dissolution and Accountability Act.”²

The dissolution machinery had three steps. A parcel owner wanting to wind up their association had to gather a petition “signed by at least 50 percent of the voting members of the association.” A plan of termination then had to be “approved by at least two-thirds of the total voting interests of the association.” And the plan could only take effect if it was “approved by a community association court program under s. 720.32” — a new, optional circuit-court docket the same bill would have created.

No voting interest could be suspended for any reason, either for the petition or for the vote. A rejected plan triggered an 18-month bar on filing another.

Correcting a figure that is circulating

A great deal of coverage has attached an “80 percent approval, 5 percent rejection” threshold to this bill. That figure does not belong to HB 657. The phrase “80 percent” appears zero times in all six versions of the bill, and HB 657 never cites s. 718.117 in any version.

The 80/5 rule is the condominium optional-termination threshold in s. 718.117(3), Florida Statutes — existing law that HB 657 left untouched.³ The confusion is traceable: the House staff analysis of HB 657 carries a background section headed “Optional Termination for Condominium Associations” reciting exactly that condominium rule, in the same document as the bill's separate HOA provisions.

Two other characterisations need the same care. The bill was publicly described as permitting dissolution “on the petition of 20 percent of residents” and amendment “by a minority vote of owners.” The 20 percent petition figure was real — in the originally filed version. It became 50 percent at the second committee substitute and stayed there. The approval threshold was two-thirds in every version.

1. CS/CS/CS/CS/HB 657 (2026), Community Associations — bill record and full history, Florida Senate ↩
2. HB 657, Engrossed 1 text (85 pp.), posted 5 March 2026 ↩
3. s. 718.117, Fla. Stat. — the condominium optional-termination provision containing the 80/5 thresholds ↩
4. Rep. Juan Carlos Porras, sponsored bills, 2027 session — Florida House of Representatives ↩