Florida Condo Management and Vendor Contracts: The Section 718.3025 Rulebook for Written Agreements, Disclosures, and Cancellation Rights

Key Takeaways

• A condominium management or maintenance contract is not valid or enforceable unless it is in writing and specifies the services, reimbursable costs, frequency of performance, minimum staffing, and required financial‑interest disclosures.
• Any services or obligations not stated on the face of the contract are unenforceable, meaning verbal side agreements and informal understandings carry no legal weight. See Section 718.3025(3), Fla. Stat.
• The contract must disclose any financial or ownership interest the developer holds in the vendor while the developer controls the association, and any financial or ownership interest a board member or any party providing maintenance or management services holds with the contracting party.
• If the contracting party fails to provide services in accordance with the written contract, the association may hire another provider and is entitled to recover from the original contractor the fees or charges it paid to the replacement provider for those services.
• In a residential, non‑timeshare condominium after turnover, if a party that provides maintenance or management services—or its officers or board members—owns 50 percent or more of the units, unit owners other than that party and its officers/board members may cancel the management or maintenance contract by majority vote; the statute also restricts that party and its officers/board members from acquiring units through association lien foreclosure sales or deeds in lieu of foreclosure.

In This Article

• Short Answer
• How Florida Law Handles This Issue
• Key Legal Rules
• Comparison Table: Written Contract vs. Oral/Unwritten Arrangement
• How This Issue Typically Comes Up
• Common Mistakes Associations Make
• What Associations Typically Argue — and Why It Fails
• How the Statute Resolves This
• Edge Cases and Nuances
• What Homeowners Should Do
• When Legal Action May Be Necessary
• Actionable Summary Table
• Related Knowledge — Cross-Chapter Linking
• FAQ
• Key Terms Defined
• Conclusion
• About the Author
• Call to Action
• Disclaimer
• Sources

Short Answer

A Florida condominium management or maintenance contract must be in writing and must specify the services provided, the reimbursable costs, the frequency of performance, minimum staffing, and any financial or ownership interest a board member or management party holds with the contracting party. See Section 718.3025(1), Fla. Stat. Any service or obligation that is not stated on the face of the written contract is unenforceable under Section 718.3025(3), Fla. Stat.; a contract that omits required terms or disclosures may be subject to challenge or corrective action under applicable contract and condominium law, but the statute itself focuses on enforceability of unstated obligations rather than declaring the entire contract voidable. An unwritten “handshake” management arrangement, no matter how long it has continued, does not satisfy the written‑contract requirements of Section 718.3025, Fla. Stat., and cannot be enforced as a compliant condominium management or maintenance contract under that statute. A Hollywood, FL condo lawyer can help unit owners and condominium associations evaluate whether management and maintenance contracts comply with Florida law, identify unenforceable contract provisions, and resolve disputes involving statutory disclosure and contracting requirements.

How Florida Law Handles This Issue

Section 718.3025(1), Florida Statutes, establishes the writing requirement and the mandatory contents of any management or maintenance agreement:

“No written contract between a party contracting to provide maintenance or management services and an association which contract provides for operation, maintenance, or management of a condominium association or property serving the unit owners of a condominium shall be valid or enforceable unless the contract: (a) Specifies the services, obligations, and responsibilities of the party contracting to provide maintenance or management services to the unit owners. (b) Specifies those costs incurred in the performance of those services, obligations, or responsibilities which are to be reimbursed by the association to the party contracting to provide maintenance or management services. (c) Provides an indication of how often each service, obligation, or responsibility is to be performed, whether stated for each service, obligation, or responsibility or in categories thereof. (d) Specifies a minimum number of personnel to be employed by the party contracting to provide maintenance or management services for the purpose of providing service to the association. (e) Discloses any financial or ownership interest which the developer, if the developer is in control of the association, holds with regard to the party contracting to provide maintenance or management services. (f) Discloses any financial or ownership interest a board member or any party providing maintenance or management services to the association holds with the contracting party.”

Section 718.3025(2), Florida Statutes, addresses the association’s remedy when the contracting party fails to perform:

“In any case in which the party contracting to provide maintenance or management services fails to provide such services in accordance with the contract, the association is authorized to procure such services from some other party and shall be entitled to collect any fees or charges paid for service performed by another party from the party contracting to provide maintenance or management services.”

Section 718.3025(3), Florida Statutes, states the consequence of a contract that omits required terms:

“Any services or obligations not stated on the face of the contract shall be unenforceable.”

Section 718.3025(5), Florida Statutes, addresses the specific circumstance in which the management party or its officers or board members control a large ownership stake after turnover:

“A party contracting to provide maintenance or management services to an association managing a residential condominium after transfer of control of the association, as provided in s. 718.301, which is not a timeshare condominium association, or an officer or board member of such party, may not purchase a unit at a foreclosure sale resulting from the association’s foreclosure of association lien for unpaid assessments or take a deed in lieu of foreclosure. If 50 percent or more of the units in the condominium are owned by a party contracting to provide maintenance or management services to an association managing a residential condominium after transfer of control of the association, as provided in s. 718.301, which is not a timeshare condominium association, or by an officer or board member of such party, the contract with the party providing maintenance or management services may be canceled by a majority vote of the unit owners other than the contracting party or an officer or board member of such party.”

Key Legal Rules

Rule 1: No Enforceable Contract Without a Writing

Rule: A written management or maintenance contract for the operation, maintenance, or management of a condominium is not valid or enforceable unless it includes all of the required terms listed in Section 718.3025(1), Fla. Stat.

Exception: The writing requirement applies to contracts for which the association pays compensation for maintenance or management services; it does not apply to arrangements for the convenience of unit owners, such as coin-operated laundry, food or beverage vendors, or cable television operators. See Section 718.3025(4), Fla. Stat.

Application: A Miami-Dade high-rise that has operated for years on a spoken understanding with its property manager has no enforceable management contract at all, regardless of how long the arrangement has continued.

Rule 2: Every Required Term Must Appear on the Face of the Contract

Rule: The written contract must specify the scope of services, reimbursable costs, frequency of performance, and minimum staffing levels on its face; services or obligations that are not stated in the written agreement are unenforceable under Section 718.3025(3), Fla. Stat.

Exception: There is no exception for informal or supplemental terms discussed outside the written document; the statute measures compliance strictly by what appears on the face of the contract.

Application: If a Tampa association’s janitorial contract states a price but never specifies how often service will be performed, that omission leaves the frequency term unenforceable even if the vendor claims a verbal understanding existed.

Rule 3: Unstated Services or Obligations Are Automatically Unenforceable

Rule: Under Section 718.3025(3), Fla. Stat., any services or obligations that are not stated on the face of the written contract are unenforceable.

Exception: This result follows directly from the statute; the association does not need to pass a resolution or take other formal action for the unstated obligation to be treated as unenforceable.

Application: An Orlando vendor that later claims an oral add-on to the written scope of services cannot enforce that add-on because it was never stated on the face of the contract.

Rule 4: Financial-Interest Disclosure Is Mandatory

Rule: The contract must disclose any financial or ownership interest a board member, the developer (while in control), or the management party holds with the contracting party. See Section 718.3025(1)(e)-(f), Fla. Stat.

Exception: The statute does not exempt small or long-standing vendor relationships; disclosure is required regardless of the size or duration of the contract.

Application: A Tampa landscape contract awarded to a company partly owned by a board member’s relative must disclose that interest on the face of the contract; silence on that point is itself a statutory defect.

Rule 5: Non-Performance Gives the Association a Cost-Recovery Right

Rule: If the contracted party fails to perform in accordance with the contract, the association may hire a replacement and collect the resulting costs from the non-performing party. See Section 718.3025(2), Fla. Stat.

Exception: This remedy presumes a valid, enforceable written contract exists in the first place; an unwritten arrangement gives the association no contractual cost-recovery claim under this provision.

Application: An Orlando association that replaces an underperforming management company under a valid written contract may recover the incremental cost of the replacement vendor from the original contractor.

Rule 6: Scope Limitation — the Statute Targets Compensated Management and Maintenance Services

Rule: Section 718.3025 applies to contracts for maintenance or management services for which the association pays compensation. See Section 718.3025(4), Fla. Stat.

Exception: Contracts for services or property made available for unit owners’ convenience by lessees or licensees — laundry, food, retail, restaurant, or similar vendors — fall outside this statute’s writing mandate.

Application: A Broward association’s arrangement with an on-site vending machine operator is not subject to Section 718.3025’s writing requirement, but its landscaping and janitorial contracts are.

Rule 7: Majority-Vote Cancellation for Management-Controlled Buildings

Rule: When a management party (or its officers or board members) owns 50 percent or more of the units after turnover, the remaining unit owners may cancel that management contract by majority vote. See Section 718.3025(5), Fla. Stat.

Exception: This cancellation right applies specifically to residential, non-timeshare condominiums after transfer of control from the developer.

Application: If a Miami-Dade management company and its officers accumulate majority ownership through foreclosure purchases, remaining owners retain the statutory right to vote out that management contract — though the statute separately bars the management party from acquiring units through foreclosure sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure in the first place.

Comparison Table: Written Contract vs. Oral or Unwritten Arrangement

Feature	Compliant Written Contract	Oral or Unwritten Arrangement
Statutory Basis	Section 718.3025(1), Fla. Stat.	No valid basis — violates Section 718.3025(1)
Enforceable?	Yes, if all six disclosure elements are present	No — not valid or enforceable as a matter of law
Undisclosed Terms	Enforceable only if stated on the face of the contract	Entirely unenforceable — no face-of-contract terms exist
Cancellation Exposure	Only for non-compliance under Section 718.3025(3)	Immediate — arrangement was never validly formed
Owner’s Remedy	Records inspection; demand for disclosure compliance	Demand that the board cancel and competitively bid the service
Recovery of Overpayments	Limited to breach of valid contract terms	Potentially full recovery — no enforceable contract existed

How This Issue Typically Comes Up

Scenario 1: The Handshake Management Arrangement

A Miami-Dade high-rise has operated for years under a spoken understanding with its property management company. No written contract exists. When a unit owner requests the management contract as an official record, the association cannot produce one. Section 718.3025(1), Fla. Stat., makes clear that an unwritten management arrangement is not valid or enforceable. The absence of a writing creates immediate exposure: the association cannot legally compel the manager’s continued performance under contract terms, and any owner may press the board to formalize or cancel the arrangement and competitively source a compliant replacement.

Scenario 2: The Undisclosed Board-Member Interest

A Tampa association’s landscaping contract goes to a company whose part-owner is related to a sitting board member. The written contract never discloses that financial relationship. Section 718.3025(1)(f), Fla. Stat., requires the contract to disclose any financial or ownership interest a board member holds with the contracting party. Because the disclosure is missing from the face of the document, the contract fails a mandatory statutory element, exposing it to challenge and, separately, raising heightened conflict-of-interest concerns under the association’s governing obligations.

Scenario 3: The Multi-Year Contract That Skips Competitive Bidding

An Orlando association signs a five-year, multi-million-dollar janitorial contract without soliciting competing bids, even though the contract’s annual cost exceeds a substantial share of the total budget. While the bid-solicitation threshold is addressed separately under Section 718.3026, Fla. Stat., the underlying management contract must still satisfy every disclosure element of Section 718.3025(1). An owner who discovers both defects — the bidding shortcut and the missing disclosures — has two independent statutory grounds to challenge the arrangement.

Common Mistakes Associations Make

• Operating for years under an unwritten “understanding” with a property manager, mistakenly believing that a long history of performance substitutes for a written contract.
• Signing a written contract that states a price but omits the required frequency-of-performance term, leaving that obligation legally unenforceable under Section 718.3025(3), Fla. Stat.
• Failing to disclose a board member’s or manager’s financial or ownership interest in the contracting party, in violation of Section 718.3025(1)(f), Fla. Stat.
• Allowing multi-year contract renewals to proceed without revisiting whether competitive bidding thresholds under Section 718.3026, Fla. Stat., have been triggered.
• Accepting gifts, rebates, or other things of value from vendors beyond authorized compensation, without recognizing the anti-kickback exposure this creates for officers, directors, and employees.
• Treating a contract renewal as automatically compliant without reconfirming that all required disclosures remain accurate and current on the face of the renewed agreement.

What Associations Typically Argue — and Why It Fails

Argument 1: “We Have Followed This Arrangement for Years Without Complaint”

Associations often argue that a long-standing, informal vendor relationship should be treated as valid because no owner previously objected. That argument fails because Section 718.3025(1), Fla. Stat., conditions enforceability on a writing meeting the statute’s specific content requirements — not on the passage of time or the absence of prior objection. Duration of practice does not cure the absence of a compliant written contract.

Argument 2: “The Missing Term Was Understood by Both Parties”

An association may argue that although a required term is missing from the written document, both the association and the vendor understood and followed it in practice. Section 718.3025(3), Fla. Stat., makes any services or obligations not stated on the face of the contract unenforceable. A shared but unwritten understanding does not satisfy the face-of-the-contract standard.

Argument 3: “The Financial Interest Was Immaterial or Indirect”

Boards sometimes argue that a board member’s financial interest in a vendor was too small or too indirect to require disclosure. Section 718.3025(1)(f), Fla. Stat., contains no materiality threshold; it requires disclosure of any financial or ownership interest a board member holds with the contracting party. The statute does not authorize the association to assess whether an undisclosed interest was significant enough to matter.

Argument 4: “Cancelling the Contract Would Disrupt Essential Services”

Associations resist cancellation demands by pointing to the practical disruption of switching vendors mid-cycle. Operational convenience is not a statutory defense to a defective contract. See Section 718.3025(1) and (3), Fla. Stat. The statute’s enforceability standard turns on the contract’s compliance with the required written terms, not on the inconvenience of replacing a non-compliant vendor.

How the Statute Resolves This

Section 718.3025 resolves the vendor-contract question with a bright-line writing requirement: no management or maintenance contract is valid or enforceable unless it is written and contains each of the six specified elements. See Section 718.3025(1), Fla. Stat. There is no substantial-compliance safety valve — either the required terms appear on the face of the document, or the corresponding obligation is unenforceable under Section 718.3025(3), Fla. Stat.

The statute resolves the non-performance question by giving the association an affirmative remedy: procure a replacement vendor and collect the incremental cost from the party that failed to perform. See Section 718.3025(2), Fla. Stat. It resolves the scope question by expressly carving out convenience-vendor arrangements — laundry, food and beverage, cable, and similar services — from the writing mandate. See Section 718.3025(4), Fla. Stat.

For the Miami-Dade owner confronting an unwritten management arrangement, the statute resolves the dispute by declaring that arrangement invalid from the outset — there is no contract to enforce, and no vendor claim to defend against, because Section 718.3025(1) never permitted it to exist in enforceable form.

Edge Cases and Nuances

Convenience Vendors Are Outside the Writing Mandate

Section 718.3025(4), Fla. Stat., expressly excludes contracts for services or property made available for the convenience of unit owners by lessees or licensees — coin-operated laundry, food, soft drink, or telephone vendors, cable television operators, retail store operators, businesses, or restaurants. An owner who discovers an unwritten vending-machine arrangement has not identified a statutory violation on that basis alone; the relevant question is whether the association pays compensation for maintenance or management services, which is the trigger for the writing requirement.

Developer-Controlled Associations and Timeshares

The cancellation and foreclosure-purchase restrictions in Section 718.3025(5), Fla. Stat., apply specifically to residential condominium associations after transfer of control from the developer, and expressly do not apply to timeshare condominium associations. An owner analyzing a management-party ownership concentration issue should first confirm the association’s post-turnover status and confirm the community is not a timeshare condominium.

Partial Compliance Does Not Salvage the Missing Term

A contract may satisfy several of the six required elements while omitting one — for example, specifying scope, cost, and staffing but omitting the frequency-of-performance indication. Section 718.3025(3), Fla. Stat., renders only the omitted term unenforceable rather than voiding the entire agreement outright, though the omission itself remains a statutory defect that the association should correct going forward.

What Homeowners Should Do

1. Request the written management or maintenance contract as an official record. Under Section 718.111(12), Fla. Stat., association contracts are official records subject to unit owner inspection and copying.

2. Review the contract against each of the six required elements in Section 718.3025(1)(a)-(f), Fla. Stat. — scope of services, reimbursable costs, frequency of performance, minimum staffing, and both disclosure provisions.

3. Check for any undisclosed financial or ownership relationship between board members, the management company, and its officers or directors.

4. If no written contract exists at all, document that fact in writing and request that the board confirm the absence of a compliant agreement.

5. Send a written demand to the board identifying the specific statutory deficiency and requesting that the board cancel or correct the non-compliant contract.

6. Ask whether the contract’s value triggered the competitive-bidding requirement under Section 718.3026, Fla. Stat., and request evidence of bid solicitation if so.

7. Consult a homeowner-side attorney if the board refuses to address a documented writing or disclosure defect, particularly where the association continues paying under a non-compliant arrangement.

When Legal Action May Be Necessary

Legal action becomes appropriate when a board continues to pay a vendor under a contract that lacks the required written disclosures despite a written demand for correction, or when the board refuses to produce the management contract for records inspection under Section 718.111(12), Fla. Stat. A unit owner may bring an action under Section 718.303(1), Fla. Stat., to compel compliance and to recover reasonable attorney’s fees as the prevailing party.

Legal action is also warranted where an undisclosed financial interest under Section 718.3025(1)(f), Fla. Stat., suggests a broader conflict-of-interest problem requiring unit-owner vote and heightened disclosure under Section 718.3026, Fla. Stat. A records-inspection demand for the contract, the bid solicitation file, and board financial-disclosure statements is a sound pre-litigation step before filing suit.

Actionable Summary Table

Issue	Statutory Rule	Homeowner Action
No written management contract exists	Section 718.3025(1) — writing mandatory	Demand board formalize or cancel the arrangement
Contract missing required disclosure term	Section 718.3025(3) — omitted terms unenforceable	Identify the missing element; demand correction
Undisclosed board-member financial interest	Section 718.3025(1)(f) — mandatory disclosure	Request records; escalate as conflict-of-interest issue
Vendor accepts gifts beyond compensation	Section 718.3025(2) — anti-kickback prohibition	Report to board; request investigation and records
Large contract awarded without bids	Section 718.3026 — competitive bidding threshold	Request bid file; challenge non-compliant award

Related Knowledge — Cross-Chapter Linking

Chapter 720 Equivalent: Homeowners associations governed by Chapter 720, Fla. Stat., are not subject to Section 718.3025, but Section 720.3055, Fla. Stat., imposes competitive‑bidding requirements for certain HOA contracts above specified thresholds. While these HOA provisions differ from the detailed written‑contract and disclosure rules in Section 718.3025, condominium owners and HOA members each have statutory protections tailored to their type of association.

Conflict-of-Interest Disclosure: Contracts between the association and a director’s business, or a director’s relative’s business, require heightened disclosure and, in some circumstances, unit-owner approval under Section 718.3026, Fla. Stat. An owner reviewing a vendor contract for Section 718.3025 compliance should also request the conflict-of-interest disclosure statements required under that companion provision.

Official Records Inspection: All association contracts, including management and maintenance agreements, are official records subject to unit owner inspection under Section 718.111(12), Fla. Stat. This right of inspection is the primary tool for verifying compliance with Section 718.3025’s disclosure requirements.

Civil Enforcement: The general civil right of action for condominium owners under Section 718.303(1), Fla. Stat., is the vehicle for compelling a board to cancel a non-compliant vendor contract and for recovering attorney’s fees as the prevailing party.

FAQ

Q: Is an oral agreement with a property management company ever enforceable?

A: No. Section 718.3025(1), Fla. Stat., states that no contract for the operation, maintenance, or management of a condominium is valid or enforceable unless it is in writing and contains the statute’s required elements. An oral or informal understanding, no matter how long it has been followed, does not satisfy this requirement.

Q: What happens if a written contract omits the required disclosure of a board member’s financial interest?

A: The disclosure requirement in Section 718.3025(1)(f), Fla. Stat., is mandatory. Although the statute does not state that the entire contract is automatically void if this disclosure is missing, the omission is a statutory defect that can be challenged and may also trigger conflict‑of‑interest and disclosure requirements under Section 718.3026, Fla. Stat., depending on the circumstances.

Q: Can an association recover money if a vendor fails to perform under a valid written contract?

A: Yes. Section 718.3025(2), Fla. Stat., allows the association to procure replacement services from another party and to collect the resulting fees or charges from the vendor that failed to perform in accordance with the contract.

Q: Does the written-contract requirement apply to laundry machines or vending services in the building?

A: No. Section 718.3025(4), Fla. Stat., excludes contracts for services or property made available for unit owners’ convenience by lessees or licensees, including coin-operated laundry, food, soft drink, or telephone vendors, cable television operators, retail store operators, businesses, and restaurants.

Q: What can a unit owner do if the board will not produce the written management contract?

A: A unit owner may make a written demand for inspection of the contract as an official record under Section 718.111(12), Fla. Stat., and, if the board refuses, may pursue a civil action under Section 718.303(1), Fla. Stat., to compel production and recover attorney’s fees as the prevailing party.

Key Terms Defined

Management Contract: A written agreement between an association and a party providing operation, maintenance, or management services for compensation. Under Section 718.3025(1), Fla. Stat., such a contract is not valid or enforceable unless it satisfies the statute’s six required disclosure elements.

Face of the Contract: The written text of the agreement itself. Under Section 718.3025(3), Fla. Stat., any service or obligation not stated on the face of the contract is unenforceable, regardless of any outside verbal understanding.

Anti-Kickback Prohibition: The rule preventing officers, directors, employees, or agents of an association from accepting anything of value from a vendor beyond their authorized compensation, addressed in Section 718.3025(2), Fla. Stat., in connection with vendor performance obligations.

Financial or Ownership Interest Disclosure: The mandatory statement, required under Section 718.3025(1)(e)-(f), Fla. Stat., identifying any financial or ownership relationship the developer, a board member, or the management party holds with the contracting vendor.

Turnover: The transfer of control of the association from the developer to unit owners other than the developer, governed by Section 718.301, Fla. Stat., which triggers the management-contract cancellation rights described in Section 718.3025(5), Fla. Stat.

The Bottom Line

Section 718.3025, Fla. Stat., requires condominium management and maintenance contracts to be in writing and to disclose scope, cost, frequency, staffing, and certain financial interests; under this statute, services or obligations that are not stated in the written contract are unenforceable, and vendor relationships that rely only on unwritten understandings do not qualify as compliant condominium management or maintenance contracts.

Call Us Today!

If your condominium association has a management or maintenance relationship that is unwritten, or a written contract that is missing required terms or disclosures—such as a board member’s financial interest in the vendor—those services or obligations may be unenforceable under Section 718.3025, Fla. Stat., and the contract may be subject to challenge or corrective action under Florida condominium and contract law. You have the right to demand records, challenge non-compliant contracts, and pursue recovery where the association has overpaid under an invalid arrangement.

We represent homeowners only. We never represent associations.

Perez Mayoral, P.A. serves unit owners from offices in Coral Gables, Tampa, and Orlando.

Disclaimer

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information contained in this article is not a substitute for advice from a licensed Florida attorney. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change; confirm all statutory citations for your specific situation with a licensed Florida attorney.

Sources

Section 718.3025, Fla. Stat. (Management and Maintenance Contracts) — Florida Statutes: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/718.3025

Section 718.3026, Fla. Stat. (Conflicts of Interest; Competitive Bidding) — Florida Statutes: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/718.3026

Section 718.111(12), Fla. Stat. (Official Records) — Florida Statutes: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/718.111

Section 718.303(1), Fla. Stat. (Civil Right of Action) — Florida Statutes: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/718.303