Florida HOA Compliance
3. Compliance topics grid
1. Introduction
Consider Florida, which separates association regulation by property structure rather than placing all common-interest communities under one statute. Chapter 720, Florida Statutes, governs homeowners' associations and mandatory-assessment residential parcel communities.1 Chapter 718, Florida Statutes, separately governs condominiums, including condominium associations, unit-owner rights, association obligations, records, budgets, reserves, and developer disclosure provisions.2
A Chapter 720 or Chapter 718 dispute that reaches trial court proceeds through Florida's court system, which includes circuit courts, six District Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Florida.3 The Department of Business and Professional Regulation's Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes regulates condominium matters, while DBPR states that the Division does not have jurisdiction over Chapter 720 homeowners' association complaints.4 Florida licenses community association managers and management firms under Chapter 468, Part VIII, Florida Statutes, and related DBPR rules.5
Recent association legislation includes Chapter 2024-221, Chapter 2025-175, and Chapter 2026-63.6,7,8 Put it all together, and Florida stands out on the national association-law map for maintaining separate HOA and condominium codes, plus state licensing for community association management.
2. Primary statute and key resources
- Florida Homeowners' Association Act, Chapter 720, Florida Statutes. Florida's primary statute for homeowners' associations and parcel-owner communities with mandatory assessments.9
- Florida Condominium Act, Chapter 718, Florida Statutes. The separate condominium statute covering unit owners, boards, records, budgets, reserves, and developer obligations.10
- Florida Courts, court structure. Florida's court system includes the Supreme Court, six District Courts of Appeal, 20 circuit courts, and 67 county courts.11
- DBPR Community Association Managers and Firms. CAM statutes and rules sit at Chapter 468, Part VIII, Florida Statutes, Rule 61-20, and Rule 61E14, Florida Administrative Code.12
- Florida Attorney General Consumer Protection Division. The Division handles consumer-protection enforcement and runs complaint intake for consumer matters.13
4. Florida's recent regulatory landscape
Recent Legislation
Florida's recent legislation extends the post-Surfside safety framework that began with SB 4-D in 2022 — milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies, CAM oversight, and architectural-review rules.14
CS/CS/HB 803 · Chapter 2026-63 · 2026 Session
Start with this one. Florida enacted CS/CS/HB 803 as Chapter 2026-63.[15] The bill summary states that the law prohibits an association or architectural review committee from requiring a building permit as a prerequisite to review of an owner's construction, structure, or improvement request.[16]
| Property managers | Architectural-review intake should not condition processing on a local building permit. |
| HOA board members | Review procedures may need revision before the July 1, 2026 effective date. |
| Community association attorneys | Governing-document and ARC-policy templates should separate association approval from municipal permitting. |
| Homeowners | Owners may seek association review before obtaining a building permit when the request otherwise meets association procedures. |
CS/CS/HB 913 · Chapter 2025-175 · 2025 Session
Florida enacted CS/CS/HB 913 as Chapter 2025-175.[17] The final bill analysis describes CAM online-account obligations, local-government confirmation of milestone-inspection and SIRS completion, board authority to levy certain safety-related assessments or loans, pooled-reserve changes, and conflict rules for SIRS and milestone-inspection professionals.[18]
| Property managers | Condo compliance calendars should track SIRS, milestone-inspection reporting, CAM account updates, and safety-work funding decisions. |
| HOA board members | HOA-only boards see less direct effect, but mixed portfolios should separate Chapter 718 and Chapter 720 obligations. |
| Community association attorneys | Condo advice should account for reserve, financing, conflict, and local-government reporting changes in Chapter 2025-175. |
| Homeowners | Condominium owners may see budget, reserve, loan, or special-assessment decisions tied to inspection and repair work. |
CS/CS/HB 1203 · Chapter 2024-221 · 2024 Session
Florida enacted CS/CS/HB 1203 as Chapter 2024-221.[19] The bill summary identifies HOA-focused changes involving CAM requirements, association website or application document access, disclosure liability limits, and reasonable and equitable architectural-standard enforcement.[20]
| Property managers | HOA document-access workflows and ARC decision records need tighter controls. |
| HOA board members | Boards should apply architectural standards consistently across similar owner requests. |
| Community association attorneys | HOA compliance reviews should include records, disclosure, CAM, and ARC provisions added in 2024. |
| Homeowners | Owners should receive more structured access to specified HOA documents and more consistent ARC review standards. |
CS/CS/CS/HB 1021 · Chapter 2024-244 · 2024 Session
Florida enacted CS/CS/CS/HB 1021 as Chapter 2024-244.[21] The bill summary identifies provisions on CAM and management-firm conflicts, condominium and cooperative milestone inspections, reports, owner and board meetings, director education, official records, electronic voting, notices, and a DBPR association database.[22]
| Property managers | Management contracts, conflict disclosures, official-records practices, and condo meeting files require more formal documentation. |
| HOA board members | HOA boards should treat conflict, records, and notice practices as recurring compliance controls. |
| Community association attorneys | Counsel should distinguish the bill's condo and cooperative provisions from provisions affecting broader community-association management. |
| Homeowners | Owners may receive more structured access to records, notices, and meeting information depending on association type. |
Recent Court Rulings
Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal issued three decisions sharpening association practice: arbitration scope, small-claims fee preservation, and the limitations period for professional-services contracts.
2944 Trivium Circle, LLC v. Trivium Park HC, LLC
Here is what the Fourth District did. It reversed an order compelling arbitration because alleged breaches of fiduciary duty by condominium directors did not amount to an arbitrable "dispute" under section 718.1255(1), Florida Statutes.[23] The practical point: condominium arbitration analysis depends on the claim type, not on whether the dispute arose inside an association.
| Property managers | Escalate director-duty claims before assuming DBPR arbitration applies. |
| HOA board members | Board conduct claims may follow a different dispute path than routine covenant disputes. |
| Community association attorneys | Counsel should test pleadings against the statutory definition of "dispute" before seeking arbitration. |
| Homeowners | Fiduciary-duty claims against directors may not be forced into condominium arbitration solely because association elections appear in the case. |
French Village Condominium Association, Inc. v. Flynn
The Fourth District held that a condominium association did not waive its attorney-fee claim in a small-claims case when no responsive pleading was required and the association preserved the claim in a motion to dismiss and a timely post-judgment motion.[24] The practical point: fee preservation can turn on small-claims procedure.
| Property managers | Litigation files should retain early fee-demand language and post-judgment fee deadlines. |
| HOA board members | Boards should ask counsel how fee claims get preserved in smaller owner disputes. |
| Community association attorneys | Small-claims posture can affect when and how a fee claim must be asserted. |
| Homeowners | Fee exposure may remain even when an association did not file an answer. |
LAD Commercial, LLC v. Eagle Trace at Vero Beach Homeowners' Association, Inc.
The Fourth District reversed summary judgment for an HOA in a law-firm fee dispute because the limitations period had not expired under the continuous-services retainer structure described in the opinion.[25] The practical point: HOA professional-services contracts should state payment timing, termination events, and record-retention expectations clearly.
| Property managers | Vendor and counsel files should preserve engagement letters, billing records, and termination communications. |
| HOA board members | Boards should review when professional fees become due under existing agreements. |
| Community association attorneys | Retainer drafting should address accrual, billing intervals, and end-of-engagement mechanics. |
| Homeowners | Association legal-fee disputes can affect budgets when contract terms leave timing issues unresolved. |
Regulatory Developments
DBPR's condominium guidance continues the SIRS and milestone-inspection rollout, with a December 31, 2025 SIRS completion deadline anchored in HB 913.
DBPR Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes
DBPR's inspection resource states that Florida law requires milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies for certain condominium and cooperative buildings, and the same DBPR resource states that, with HB 913, associations must complete SIRS by December 31, 2025.[26][27] DBPR's SIRS reporting page describes the structural integrity reserve study as a budget-planning tool and lays out the reporting and database path for associations.[28]
| Property managers | Condo portfolios need a documented SIRS and milestone-inspection reporting file for each covered building. |
| HOA board members | Non-condo HOA boards should not import Chapter 718 inspection duties without confirming the association's legal structure. |
| Community association attorneys | Condo advice should align statutory requirements, DBPR reporting, and local-government inspection communications. |
| Homeowners | Condo owners should expect inspection and reserve-study status to affect budgets, reserves, and repair planning. |
Active Policy Debates
The 2026 session shows continued legislative interest in HOA termination, community-association court concepts, records, electronic ballots, turnover inspection reports, roofs, and official-records access: HB 657 passed the House but died in Senate Rules, while SB 1498 died in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government.29,30
5. Closing note
HOA Weekly's Florida coverage will grow as new bills, appellate rulings, and agency guidance arrive. Federal frameworks also apply to Florida associations when their elements are met — including the FHA,31 the ADA,32 the FDCPA,33 the SCRA,34 and the FCC OTARD rule.35 Federal coverage will live at /federal/ once we build that section.
Footnotes
- Florida Senate, 2025 Florida Statutes, Chapter 720, Homeowners' Associations ↩
- Florida Senate, 2025 Florida Statutes, Chapter 718, Condominiums ↩
- Florida Courts, Court Structure / Courts System ↩
- DBPR, Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes, Compliance ↩
- DBPR, Community Association Managers and Firms, FAQs ↩
- Florida Senate, CS/CS/HB 1203, 2024 session ↩
- Florida Senate, CS/CS/HB 913, 2025 session ↩
- Florida Senate, CS/CS/HB 803, 2026 session ↩
- Florida Senate, 2025 Florida Statutes, Chapter 720, Homeowners' Associations ↩
- Florida Senate, 2025 Florida Statutes, Chapter 718, Condominiums ↩
- Florida Courts, Court Structure / Courts System ↩
- DBPR, Community Association Managers and Firms, FAQs ↩
- Florida Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division ↩
- Florida Senate, SB 4-D, enrolled bill text, 2022 special session ↩
- Florida Senate, CS/CS/HB 803, Building Permits and Inspections, 2026 session ↩
- Florida House of Representatives, Final Bill Analysis, CS/CS/HB 803, Building Permits and Inspections ↩
- Florida Senate, CS/CS/HB 913, Condominium and Cooperative Associations, 2025 session ↩
- Florida House of Representatives, Final Bill Analysis, CS/CS/HB 913, Condominium and Cooperative Associations ↩
- Florida Senate, CS/CS/HB 1203, Homeowners' Associations, 2024 session ↩
- Florida House of Representatives, Final Bill Analysis, CS/CS/HB 1203, Homeowners' Associations ↩
- Florida Senate, CS/CS/CS/HB 1021, Community Associations, 2024 session ↩
- Florida House of Representatives, Final Bill Analysis, CS/CS/CS/HB 1021, Community Associations ↩
- Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal, 2944 Trivium Circle, LLC v. Trivium Park HC, LLC, No. 4D2025-0494 ↩
- Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal, French Village Condominium Association, Inc. v. Flynn, No. 4D2024-0680 ↩
- Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal, LAD Commercial, LLC v. Eagle Trace at Vero Beach Homeowners' Association, Inc., No. 4D2023-1100 ↩
- DBPR Condominium Information and Resources, Inspections ↩
- DBPR Condominium Information and Resources, Inspections ↩
- DBPR, Structural Integrity Reserve Study Reporting and Database ↩
- Florida Senate, CS/CS/CS/CS/HB 657, Community Associations, 2026 session ↩
- Florida Senate, CS/SB 1498, Community Associations, 2026 session ↩
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act ↩
- ADA.gov, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended ↩
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 12 CFR Part 1006, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Regulation F ↩
- U.S. Department of Justice, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Summary ↩
- Federal Communications Commission, Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule ↩