The separate contempt matter

A second thread in the same long-running dispute is worth reporting carefully, because it illustrates how far fee-shifting can reach.

Orlando attorney Bruce Burtoff, 77, has been held in the Orange County Jail since 4 March 2026 on a civil contempt finding by Circuit Judge John Jordan, for refusing to disclose the names, addresses and telephone numbers of two anonymous plaintiffs in a 2020 suit against the same association. That suit was dismissed in 2023. The association seeks the identities in order to pursue attorney's fees.

He argues that disclosure would violate the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar and attorney-client privilege. A three-judge Sixth DCA panel denied his emergency petition without explanation in late April 2026.²

Two clarifications matter. Civil contempt of this kind is coercive, not punitive — it is designed to compel compliance, and it ends when the person complies or when the court determines compliance is no longer achievable. And this is not a criminal conviction.

The reference number cited in reporting for the appellate matter is a document identifier rather than a conventional case number, and we were not able to obtain the underlying orders. This account rests on the outlet's reporting.

What the fee exposure means for owners

The transferable point is uncomfortable and worth stating plainly: in Florida association litigation, fee-shifting can reach beyond the parties in the caption. An unsuccessful suit against an association can produce a fee claim, and pursuing that claim can produce discovery into who funded or joined the action.

Anyone contemplating litigation against an association — particularly on an anonymous or collective basis — should have counsel address that exposure at the outset rather than after a dismissal.

What the Division can and cannot do for an HOA member

This case is a good occasion to be precise about a jurisdiction that is widely misunderstood.

DBPR will arbitrate election and recall disputes for homeowners' associations. That is a real remedy and it produced a real order here.

DBPR will not investigate general governance or spending complaints under Chapter 720. The Division's own position is that it “does not have authority to investigate complaints under Chapter 720.” In March 2026 it repealed Rule 61B-85.001 — its last remaining HOA rule — on the ground that the statute behind it had been repealed in 2017, leaving Chapter 61B-85 an empty chapter.³

Since 7 September 2026 the Division has one new HOA function: approving the courses that certify homeowners' association directors, under Rule 61B-19.004. That rule directs that a non-compliant director be suspended — by the board, not by the Division.

The bills that would have changed this balance both died this session without a hearing. SB 906 would have created an Office of the Homeowners' Association Ombudsman with a toll-free hotline and given the Division citation authority over residential parcels; SB 908 would have funded it with a per-parcel fee, with delinquent associations losing legal standing in Florida courts until they paid.

What a board facing an election challenge should do differently

Three observations, none of which depends on who is right in this particular dispute.

Candidate-eligibility amendments attract scrutiny. A bylaw amendment that disqualifies a class of members from standing — those in litigation with the association, for instance — narrows the electorate's choice in a way an arbitrator will examine closely. It is worth getting a legal opinion before adoption rather than after a petition.

Postponement is a decision with its own consequences. Deferring an election pending appeal keeps the incumbent board in office, which is precisely the outcome the challenge is about. That fact becomes part of how the dispute is perceived, whatever the legal merits.

Election records are the evidence. Candidate submissions, eligibility determinations, ballots and minutes are what an arbitrator reads. Since 1 January 2026 condominium associations with 25 or more units must post approved board minutes for the preceding 12 months within 30 days; homeowners' associations remain on the s. 720.303(4)(b) threshold of 100 or more parcels.

What to watch next

The Sixth DCA's decision on the arbitrator's authority — specifically whether an arbitrator who finds improper conduct across an election cycle may order a remedy broader than the single seat formally at issue. That question will matter well beyond this community, because it determines how much a DBPR election arbitration can actually accomplish.