2026-09-10 · Florida · Courts · Pending — not yet law

Pending: an Orange County circuit judge has halted collection of a special assessment of $5,000 to $10,000 per unit at an Orlando condominium, ordered an independent audit, and ordered records to be turned over — on a procedural ground rather than on the merits of the spending.

More than 65 homeowners at The Residences at Villa Medici Condominium Association, Inc., on Conroy Road in Orlando, filed a 131-page complaint in August 2025. The rulings were reported in June 2026, with a follow-up in September 2026.¹

The defect that stopped it

The court found the association had not given proper notice of the meeting at which the assessment was approved. Two specific failures are reported: the notice was not postmarked at least 14 days before the meeting, and it improperly stated that the assessment had already been approved. The governing provision is s. 718.112, Fla. Stat.

Both are ordinary notice requirements. Neither required the court to decide anything about how the money was to be spent.

The allegations, which remain allegations

The suit and the reporting around it allege that a director and treasurer hired his own refuse-collection company and paid himself tens of thousands of dollars; that he hired a friend's company for maintenance work totalling over half a million dollars; and that bank records show association funds spent at retailers including Victoria's Secret, Burberry and Macy's, and at restaurants.²

The director has said some charges were fraudulent and were refunded, though reportedly did not account for all of them, and characterised hiring his own company as a cost-saving measure. Defence counsel declined to comment on the record.

None of this has been proven. The owners also seek removal of the board and contempt sanctions. Foreclosure actions were reportedly begun against some owners who did not pay. We could not confirm a case number: a docket entry surfaced in searches but we were unable to open it or confirm it is the same action.

1. FOX 35 Orlando, reporting on the Villa Medici litigation and the court's orders ↩
2. Hoodline, follow-up reporting, September 2026 ↩
3. Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes — jurisdiction, complaint volumes and process, DBPR ↩