Why the notice point is the transferable lesson

This is the most under-used remedy available to Florida condominium owners, and it has nothing to do with proving misconduct.

An assessment is only valid if the process that produced it was valid. Notice requirements, the contents of the notice, and the conduct of the meeting are all objectively checkable against documents the association itself created. A postmark is a fact. Whether the notice described the assessment as proposed or as already approved is a fact. Neither requires discovery, an expert, or a forensic accountant.

The spending allegations here may or may not be established after years of litigation. The notice defect was established from the envelope.

What to check when a special assessment lands

In order, and all from documents on hand or available on request:

1. How much notice was given, and how is it evidenced? Look at the postmark, not the date printed on the letter.
2. What did the notice say the meeting was for? A notice must put owners on notice of what will be considered. One describing a decision as made rather than proposed is describing a different meeting from the one the statute contemplates.
3. Was the assessment described specifically? Purpose and amount matter.
4. Was there a quorum, and how was the vote recorded? Minutes are official records.
5. If the budget increase exceeded 115 percent of the prior year, was a substitute budget proposed simultaneously? Section 718.112(2)(e) now requires that, at the budget meeting before adoption, with at least 14 days' notice — and note that the 115 percent calculation excludes required reserves, irregular non-annual SIRS-item expenses, and insurance premiums.

The records you can now demand

The financial documents underlying allegations like these are more accessible than they were two years ago.

Bank statements and ledgers are official records. HB 913 added “all bank statements and ledgers of the association” to s. 718.111(12). This is the change that matters most for anyone investigating spending: it moves the inspection right from summaries to primary documents.

Records must be posted within 30 days. Since 1 January 2026 an association with 25 or more units must post specified official records to a website or app within 30 days of receiving or creating them, including approved board minutes for the preceding 12 months.

Signatures may not be redacted. The Division held in August 2026 that the statute “does not authorize an association to redact or obscure board-member handwritten signatures on documents required to be posted.”

Correspondence with the Division is an official record, added by Rule 61B-23.002 effective 18 June 2026.

Where a self-dealing allegation goes

Two routes, with different thresholds.

The conflict statutes. Section 718.3027 governs condominium director conflicts, and the underlying test in s. 617.0832 was substantially reworded effective 1 July 2026. Under the new formulation, where the material facts and the director's interest were disclosed and the transaction was approved by a majority of qualified directors or disinterested members, the burden of proving unfairness sits with the challenger. Where that disclosure and vote did not happen, the association is defending the transaction on its merits. Section 718.3026(1) separately requires competitive bids on contracts exceeding five percent of the budget.

DBPR. Since 1 July 2025 the Division's post-turnover jurisdiction expressly includes conflicts of interest “including kickbacks” and removal of a director or officer. Complaint volumes reached 3,863 in FY 2024/25, and ten new investigator positions were funded. The Division describes its usual approach as educational and corrective, adding that “oftentimes and for repeat violations, the Division may issue civil penalties against the association.”³

A proposed rule published on 31 July 2026 would add citation authority with penalties of “$10 to $30 per unit… for each violation” and new line items for failure to disclose a conflict and failure to recuse. It is proposed, not adopted.

A caution about foreclosure while this is live

Owners who withheld payment pending the challenge should know that non-payment and a procedural challenge are different postures. That said, the Third DCA held in April 2026 that a summary foreclosure judgment is premature where an owner's legally interrelated counterclaims — breach of the declaration, breach of fiduciary duty — remain unresolved. An owner with a genuine, specifically pleaded challenge is not on the fast track.

What to watch next

The independent audit the court ordered. That is the document that will move this case from allegation to finding, in one direction or the other, and it is the piece of evidence that does not yet exist.