Florida Condominium Laws

Reflects Florida law as of August 2026. Condominiums are governed by Chapter 718, Florida Statutes, and regulated by the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes. Homeowners' associations are governed by Chapter 720; see HOA Laws in Florida.

What you own

A condominium is a form of ownership, not a type of building. When you buy a condominium unit, you receive title to the unit as its boundaries are defined in the declaration of condominium, together with an undivided share of the common elements. Common elements commonly include the land, building structure, roof, hallways, exterior walls, and building systems, but the declaration determines exactly what is a unit, common element, or limited common element. Some common elements, such as a balcony or an assigned parking space, are "limited common elements" reserved for one unit's use but still owned in common. Section 718.103.

That structure explains most of the differences between condominium law and HOA law. Because the association owns and controls so much of the property that surrounds your unit, Chapter 718 gives the association broad maintenance and insurance responsibilities, gives unit owners strong information rights, and puts a state agency in a position to enforce the rules. Because a condominium association is generally responsible for common elements, a problem in a roof, exterior wall, shared plumbing line, structural component, or other common element may require association action even when the damage appears inside a particular unit. The declaration, the source of the damage, the association's insurance coverage, and the type of repair determine the association's full responsibility.

Which documents control?

The declaration of condominium is the principal recorded governing document. It runs with the land and generally controls over the articles of incorporation, bylaws, board rules, policies, and procedures when there is a conflict.

Florida statutes also control. A declaration provision, bylaw, rule, or policy that conflicts with Chapter 718 or another applicable law may be unenforceable. Florida courts treat restrictions written into the declaration very differently from rules the board creates on its own.

The Fourth District drew the line in Hidden Harbour Estates, Inc. v. Basso, 393 So. 2d 637 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). Restrictions in the declaration "are very much in the nature of covenants running with the land and they will not be invalidated absent a showing that they are wholly arbitrary in their application, in violation of public policy, or that they abrogate some fundamental constitutional right." Board-made rules get less deference: they must be reasonable, and when the board denies a use the declaration does not itself prohibit, "the board must allow the use unless the use is demonstrably antagonistic to the legitimate objectives of the condominium association."

The Florida Supreme Court applied the same framework to amendments in Woodside Village Condominium Ass'n v. Jahren, 806 So. 2d 452 (Fla. 2002). Owners "were on notice that the unique form of ownership they acquired when they purchased their units ... was subject to change through the amendment process, and that they would be bound by properly adopted amendments." A restriction contained in the declaration, or validly added through a declaration amendment, is generally enforceable unless it conflicts with Florida law, was not properly adopted, is ambiguous, is waived, is selectively or arbitrarily enforced, violates public policy, or is otherwise legally invalid.

A board rule must be authorized by the governing documents, reasonably related to a legitimate condominium objective, and consistent with the declaration and applicable law. A rule that conflicts with the declaration or materially eliminates a right the declaration grants may be challenged. Start by identifying which one you are dealing with.

Who regulates condominium associations

Unlike HOAs, condominium associations are regulated. The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes, a division of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, regulates many condominium-association matters. Its jurisdiction includes statutory compliance involving financial records and reporting, elections and recalls, official-records access, meeting procedures, conflicts of interest, director education, written inquiries within the Division's jurisdiction, milestone inspections, structural-integrity reserve studies, and other matters assigned by Chapter 718. Section 718.501. The Division may investigate qualifying complaints, request or subpoena records, issue administrative orders, seek restitution or other relief where authorized, impose civil penalties, and pursue enforcement against associations, officers, directors, managers, developers, and others when Chapter 718 gives it authority. Civil penalties may be assessed for each violation, subject to a maximum of $5,000 for an offense. Since October 1, 2025, condominium associations have been required to create and maintain an online account with the Division and provide the information required by section 718.501. The reported information includes association contact information and specified condominium, building, financial, and assessment information. Associations must update contact information after a change and provide required annual information through the Division's system.

A Division complaint can be an effective first step for qualifying records, election, recall, meeting, financial-procedure, and statutory-compliance violations. A lawyer is not required to submit a complaint, although legal advice may be useful when the dispute involves a lien, foreclosure, substantial damages, an urgent repair, complex records, or a pending court deadline.

The Division process is not a substitute for a lawsuit when an owner needs money damages, a mandatory repair order, emergency injunctive relief, or a defense to foreclosure.

Board authority and its limits

The board manages the association's affairs within the authority the declaration and bylaws grant. Directors and officers owe a fiduciary duty to the association's members. They must act within their authority, in good faith, and in the association's best interests. Condominium directors must satisfy the education requirements in section 718.112(2)(d). A newly elected or appointed director must complete the required state-approved education or provide the permitted certification within the statutory period. Directors must also complete annual continuing education as required by the current statute.

A director who does not satisfy the applicable education requirement may be suspended from board service until the requirement is met. The education rules, deadlines, course hours, exemptions, and certification options should be reviewed under the version of the statute in effect when the director was elected or appointed.

Chapter 718 prohibits specified conflicts of interest, kickbacks, self-dealing, and misuse of association funds. Contracts involving directors, officers, relatives, or companies in which they have a financial interest may require statutory disclosures, competitive bidding, board approval, owner disclosure, or other safeguards.

Association funds must be handled through authorized financial controls. The use of association debit cards is restricted by statute. Owners reviewing a potentially conflicted contract should request the contract, meeting notice, board minutes, bids, disclosure documents, and any director conflict-of-interest statement. Section 718.1224 protects condominium unit owners from prohibited retaliation when they act in good faith to exercise Chapter 718 rights, complain about statutory noncompliance, communicate with government agencies, participate in an owners' organization, or publicly criticize association management. The statute also includes anti-SLAPP protections and remedies.

Courts review board decisions under the business judgment rule. In Hollywood Towers Condominium Ass'n v. Hampton, 40 So. 3d 784 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010), the court put it this way: "Courts must give deference to a condominium association's decision if that decision is within the scope of the association's authority and is reasonable—that is, not arbitrary, capricious, or in bad faith." Both halves matter. A board that acts outside its authority, or ignores a statutory duty, does not get the benefit of the rule.

Meetings and notice

Board meetings at which a quorum is present are generally open to all unit owners. The statute allows closed portions of board meetings for association-attorney consultations concerning proposed or pending litigation and for discussions concerning personnel matters.

The association should limit a closed meeting to the subject that qualifies for closure. Other association business must be conducted in an open meeting. Unit owners have the right to attend board meetings, speak on designated agenda items, and ask questions about the status of construction and repair projects, association revenues and expenditures, and other matters as provided by section 718.112(2)(c) and the association's reasonable meeting rules. You may record the meeting. Section 718.112(2)(c).

Board-meeting notice must identify the agenda items to be considered and generally must be conspicuously posted at least 48 continuous hours before the meeting. The agenda requirement is important because owners have a right to know the matters the board plans to address and vote on. If the board will consider a nonemergency special assessment or an amendment to rules governing unit use, the association must provide the heightened notice required by section 718.112. The notice generally must be sent or delivered to every unit owner and conspicuously posted at least 14 days before the meeting.

For a nonemergency special assessment, the notice must state that the assessment will be considered, describe its purpose, and state the estimated cost. Budget meetings also require 14 days' notice. When the board will consider a contract that the statute requires to be disclosed with meeting notice, the association must provide the contract or the required contract information with the notice. Owners should request the proposed contract and any bids before the meeting if they are not included. A board generally may not vote on a substantive item that was not listed on the posted agenda. An emergency item may be considered only when the statutory emergency procedure is satisfied. Any emergency action should be documented in the minutes and handled as the statute requires.

In an association with more than 10 units, the board generally must meet at least quarterly. At least four times each year, the meeting agenda must include an opportunity for unit owners to ask questions of the board, subject to reasonable rules governing time, order, and decorum. Boards may conduct meetings by video conference when they follow the statutory requirements. The meeting notice must include the video-conference link, a telephone call-in number, and a physical location where owners may attend in person.

A video-conference meeting must be recorded, and the recording is an official record of the association.

Elections, term limits, and recalls

Condominium elections follow a statutory calendar. The association generally sends a first election notice at least 60 days before the election. An owner seeking election must give written notice of intent at least 40 days before the election and may submit an information sheet by the statutory deadline.

The association must then send the second election notice, ballot, and candidate information materials within the statutory time window before the election. Election deadlines are technical, and a missed deadline may affect the validity of the election. Section 718.112(2)(d). Proxies cannot be used to elect directors (except in an association of 10 or fewer units that has adopted its own election procedure in its bylaws). Condominium director elections do not require a traditional quorum. But at least 20 percent of the eligible voting interests must cast a ballot for the election to be valid, unless a statutory exception applies. Owners may consent to electronic voting, and if owners holding 25 percent of the voting interests petition for it, the board must adopt online voting.

A director may not serve more than eight consecutive years unless unit owners representing two-thirds of all votes cast in the election approve continued service or there are not enough eligible candidates to fill the available board seats. Only board service occurring on or after July 1, 2018, is counted toward the statutory eight-year limit. A person who is delinquent in any assessment, or who has been suspended or removed by the Division, is ineligible. A convicted felon is ineligible unless his or her civil rights have been restored for at least five years.

Unit owners holding a majority of all voting interests may recall a director with or without cause by written agreement or by vote at a properly called special meeting. A special recall meeting may be called by unit owners holding at least 10 percent of the voting interests.

The board must meet within five full business days after receiving a facially valid recall agreement or recall vote. A facially valid recall generally takes effect at the end of that board meeting, subject to the statutory recall procedure and any arbitration or court challenge. Section 718.112(2)(j). Election and recall disputes may be resolved through Division arbitration or in court. Election and recall disputes are not eligible for the ordinary presuit-mediation option that applies to some other condominium disputes.

Written inquiries

Chapter 718 gives unit owners a tool HOA members do not have. A condominium unit owner may send a written inquiry to the board by certified mail concerning the association's responsibilities. Within 30 days, the board must provide a substantive response, notify the owner that it has requested a legal opinion, or notify the owner that it has requested guidance from the Division.

If the board requests a legal opinion, it must provide a substantive response within 60 days after receiving the inquiry. If the board requests Division advice, it must provide a substantive response within 10 days after receiving the Division's advice. Section 718.112(2)(a)2. If the board fails to provide the required substantive response, it may lose its ability to recover attorney fees in later litigation or arbitration arising from that inquiry. The board may adopt a reasonable rule limiting written inquiries from a unit owner to one inquiry every 30 days. A written inquiry is different from an official-records request: an inquiry asks the board to explain its position or responsibility, while a records request asks the association to provide documents.

A written inquiry asks the association to explain or justify something. It is not the same as a records request, which asks the association to produce documents. Many problems call for both. See the Florida Condominium Written Inquiry Sample for a customizable form and example questions.

Records, assessments, and fines

Official records. A condominium association must make official records available for inspection or copying within 10 working days after the board or its designee receives a written request. Missing the deadline creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply.

A unit owner who proves a qualifying violation may recover actual damages or minimum damages of $50 per calendar day for up to 10 days, beginning on the 11th working day after the request was received. When records are produced, the association must give you a checklist of what was and was not provided.

Beginning January 1, 2026, a condominium association managing a condominium with 25 or more units, excluding associations operating timeshare units, must maintain a password-protected website or mobile application containing the official-record categories listed in section 718.111(12)(g).

Required online materials generally include governing documents, rules, specified contracts and bids, budgets and financial reports, certain inspection and reserve materials, permits, director education certificates, specified conflict disclosures, recent approved board minutes, and meeting notices. (Insurance policies are not on the posting list, but they are official records you can request.) Section 718.111(12). See Official Records Requests and the sample condominium records request.

Assessments. Unpaid condominium assessments generally accrue interest from the due date at the rate stated in the governing documents. If the documents do not provide a rate, Florida law generally permits 18 percent per year simple interest.

An administrative late fee may be charged only if authorized by the governing documents. The statutory maximum is generally the greater of $25 or 5 percent of each delinquent installment. Payments must be applied to interest, then late fees, then collection costs and attorney fees, then the assessment.

Before requiring payment of attorney fees related to a delinquent assessment, the association generally must send the statutory notice of late assessment and allow the owner 30 days to pay the required amount.

Before recording a claim of lien, the association generally must send the statutory 45-day notice of intent to record a lien. Before a condominium foreclosure judgment may be entered, the association must provide the statutory pre-foreclosure notice and allow at least 45 days to pass. The notice forms, delivery methods, and timing requirements are technical. Sections 718.116 and 718.121. See Assessments & Special Assessments and HOA & Condo Foreclosure.

Fines. A condominium fine may not exceed $100 per violation or $1,000 in the aggregate for a continuing violation, and the declaration cannot raise those caps. A condominium fine or suspension generally may not be imposed unless the association first provides at least 14 days' written notice and an opportunity for a hearing before an independent committee of at least three members appointed by the board.

Committee members may not be officers, directors, or employees of the association and may not be the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of an officer, director, or employee. The committee may confirm or reject the board's proposed fine or suspension, but may not increase it. A condominium fine can never become a lien on your unit. Section 718.303(3). See Fines & Violations.

Maintenance, insurance, and alterations

Maintenance of common elements is generally the association's responsibility, except where the declaration assigns responsibility for a limited common element to a unit owner. The Fourth District has described the association's common-element maintenance duty as nondelegable.

In McLlenan v. Cypress Chase North Condominium No. 4 Ass'n, 387 So. 3d 321 (Fla. 4th DCA 2024), the court held that an association's duty to repair common elements was not excused by a dispute over what caused the damage. The cause may determine who ultimately pays, but it does not ordinarily excuse the association from addressing the common-element repair. The declaration allocates responsibility for everything else, including limited common elements and the components inside the unit. The line between "unit" and "common element" is drawn by the declaration's boundary description, not by common sense, and it decides most repair disputes.

Insurance follows a statutory split. For an insurable casualty, the association's policy generally covers the building and condominium property as originally installed or replaced as required by section 718.111(11), subject to policy terms and the governing documents.

The association's coverage generally excludes interior items such as personal property; floor, wall, and ceiling coverings; electrical fixtures; appliances; water heaters and filters; built-in cabinets and countertops; and window treatments. Unit owners commonly insure these items through an HO-6 policy. Section 718.111(11)(f).

After an insured casualty, the association generally repairs or reconstructs the property it is required to insure, subject to the policy, deductible, statute, and governing documents. The unit owner generally repairs or replaces interior items excluded from association coverage.

An owner may be responsible for uninsured repair costs when the owner, a family member, tenant, guest, or invitee caused the damage through intentional conduct, negligence, or a violation of the declaration or association rules. Section 718.111(11)(j). See Repairs & Maintenance.

The board may not make a material alteration or substantial addition to the common elements except as the declaration provides. If the declaration does not state the approval procedure, approval by 75 percent of the total voting interests is generally required. Section 718.113(2).

The definition of a material alteration can depend on the declaration, the nature of the work, the prior condition, and whether the work is ordinary repair, maintenance, replacement, modernization, or a genuine change in design or use. Installation of hurricane protection that complies with the association's adopted specifications is not treated as a material alteration. A condominium association may not refuse an owner's application for hurricane protection that conforms to those specifications. Responsibility for installation, maintenance, repair, replacement, insurance, and removal depends on section 718.113(5), the declaration, and the board's adopted specifications.

Reserves, inspections, and structural safety

Since the Surfside collapse, the Legislature has rewritten the rules for older and taller buildings. Condominium buildings that are three or more habitable stories tall and meet the statutory age and location requirements must complete a milestone inspection by the end of the calendar year in which the building reaches 30 years of age. A 25-year threshold may apply when the local enforcement agency requires it.

Subsequent milestone inspections are generally required every 10 years. The applicable deadline can depend on the building's certificate of occupancy, the local enforcement agency, prior inspections, and statutory transition provisions. If a Phase Two milestone inspection identifies substantial structural deterioration or necessary structural repairs, the association must begin the required repairs within 365 days after receiving the inspection report, unless the local enforcement agency requires an earlier start date.

Associations responsible for qualifying buildings must obtain a structural integrity reserve study, commonly called a SIRS. The study identifies the structural and life-safety components for which the association must maintain reserve funding.

For many existing associations, the initial SIRS deadline was December 31, 2025. An association required to complete a milestone inspection on or before December 31, 2026, may complete the SIRS at the same time as the milestone inspection, with the SIRS completed by December 31, 2026.

Reserve funding for the structural-integrity reserve-study components generally may not be waived or reduced by owner vote. The statute contains limited transition provisions that may permit a qualifying association to temporarily pause or reduce certain reserve contributions for up to two consecutive annual budgets adopted through 2028 when the association has completed a milestone inspection and needs funding for the repairs identified by that inspection.

The availability of any temporary reserve reduction depends on the building, inspection results, repair needs, budget year, statutory requirements, and any required owner approval. Section 718.112(2)(f) and (g).

Two budget rules protect owners from surprise. If a proposed budget requires assessments more than 115 percent of the prior year's, the board must also propose a substitute budget without discretionary items. The association's annual financial report must be prepared and delivered within the deadlines stated in section 718.111(13). The required form of report (a report of cash receipts and expenditures, compiled financial statement, reviewed financial statement, or audited financial statement) depends on the association's annual revenues and any owner vote to use a different reporting level.

How condo disputes get resolved

Section 718.1255 requires alternative dispute resolution before court litigation for many defined disputes between a unit owner and the association. For a covered dispute, the parties may generally pursue Division nonbinding arbitration or the statutory presuit-mediation alternative.

The available process depends on the type of dispute. Election and recall disputes follow a different route and are not eligible for the ordinary mediation option. Covered condominium disputes include disagreements about the board's authority to require an owner to take or refrain from taking action involving the unit or its appurtenances, the board's authority to alter common elements, and specified failures to conduct elections, provide required notices, conduct meetings, or allow inspection of official records.

The statutory alternative-dispute-resolution process does not apply to every condominium claim. Excluded matters generally include title disputes, warranty claims, assessment levy or collection disputes, tenant evictions, alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, and claims for damages based on an association's alleged failure to maintain common elements.

A case may include both covered and excluded claims. In that situation, the required procedure can depend on the claims asserted and the relief requested.

In a covered action between a condominium association and a unit owner under section 718.303(1), the prevailing party may recover reasonable attorney fees. A prevailing unit owner may also recover the owner's share of an assessment levied by the association to fund the litigation, as provided by the statute.

When to get a lawyer

Records requests, written inquiries, and Division complaints can be handled without a lawyer and often resolve the problem. An attorney's involvement matters more when the association has refused a repair that is damaging your unit, when a lien or foreclosure is underway, when you are being fined or sued, or when a special assessment or amendment appears to have been adopted without the required votes or notice. Each of those situations has deadlines, and because the loser pays the winner's fees, how a dispute is framed at the start affects what it costs at the end.