Help Us Change Florida's HOA Laws in 2027
A missed payment to your association shouldn't cost you your home.
Our attorneys see what Florida homeowners go through in association collections every day. After years of watching families struggle against liens, runaway fees, and foreclosure, they are proposing nine specific reforms, each one researched and already working in other states, and are working this session to bring them to the Florida Legislature. Now we need the people. Read the reforms below and add your name, so we can show lawmakers this is what Floridians want.
At 2025's pace, an association files a lien against a homeowner every 90 seconds, around the clock.
284,933 liens were recorded nationwide in 2025. Florida filed 49,447 of them, the most of any state.
Estimated from Benutech Data Insights, 2026 report on liens recorded in 2025.Why Foreclosure Reform Comes First
There is a lot to fix in Florida association law. One problem sits above the rest, because it is the only one that ends with a family losing the house.
Under current law, an association can record a lien and foreclose over a debt of any size. The homeowner's payments are applied to interest, late fees, and the association's collection charges first, and to the actual assessments last, so a homeowner who pays every month can still fall further behind. Attorney fees are added to the debt and secured by the same lien, so contesting the balance, even in good faith, makes it grow. There is no required payment plan, no required mediation, no minimum amount, and no way to get the home back after the auction. A judgment of a few thousand dollars can take a home worth hundreds of thousands, and the equity goes to whoever bought it at the courthouse steps.
The Nine Reforms
Each one is modeled on a statute already in force in another state. For each, our attorneys have drafted the actual amendment language for Chapters 718 and 720, Florida Statutes. Tap any reform for the plain-English version.
01 A Payment Plan Offer Before Foreclosure Can Be Filed
No foreclosure lawsuit until the association has offered a payment plan of 12 to 18 months.
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Before an association may file to foreclose, it must offer the homeowner a written plan to pay the full balance in equal monthly installments over a term the homeowner selects, between 12 and 18 months. If the homeowner declines or stops paying, the association files its case. If the homeowner is paying, the case waits. The full debt is still owed and the lien stays in place.
Already law in Colorado, Texas, California, Nevada, and Hawaii 02 A Payment Plan Option During the Foreclosure Case
A sworn commitment to pay in installments pauses the case for as long as the homeowner keeps paying.
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Florida law already lets a homeowner in a foreclosure case stop it by promising, under oath, to pay the entire balance within 60 days. Almost nobody facing foreclosure has the entire balance. This reform adds a second option: the same sworn, notarized commitment, paid in equal monthly installments over 12 to 18 months while staying current on new assessments. The case pauses while the homeowner performs. It also extends this protection to condominium owners, who currently have no version of it at all.
Builds on Florida's own qualifying offer statute, in place since 2007 03 A Minimum Amount Before a Lien Can Be Recorded
No lien until the homeowner owes $1,800 in actual assessments or is 12 months behind.
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Today an association can lien a home over any amount, and the lien itself triggers attorney fees and collection charges that can quickly outgrow the original debt. This reform adopts California's standard: no lien until unpaid assessments reach $1,800 or any part of the debt is more than 12 months old. Interest, late fees, and collection charges do not count toward the number. Smaller debts are still owed and can still be collected in court, just not with the family home as collateral. Florida law already draws a $1,000 line before an HOA fine can become a lien; this applies the same idea to assessments.
California's standard; Georgia requires $4,000 and Arizona $10,000 04 Email Notice Before a Home Is Taken
Homeowners can opt in to receive every collection notice by email, on top of the mailings.
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Florida's collection notices travel by mail to the property address. For seasonal residents, deployed servicemembers, and owners caring for family out of state, the recurring story is learning about a foreclosure from the process server. Associations already email owners about pool closures and gate codes. Under this reform, a homeowner who opts in gets every collection and foreclosure notice by email in addition to the required mailings, and can name a trusted person to receive copies too.
Colorado requires it; Texas and Nevada permit it 05 Mediation Before a Judge Can Order the Home Sold
The parties must sit down once before summary judgment or final judgment.
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These cases involve a debt, a home, and two parties who will remain neighbors if the account is cured. That is exactly the kind of dispute mediation resolves, yet Florida law lets an association foreclosure go all the way to judgment without anyone being required to meet. This reform requires one mediation before the court can decide the case, with interest and fees frozen while it is pending. Florida ran statewide mediation for mortgage foreclosures; association foreclosures never got the same.
Washington enacted it statewide in 2025; Colorado requires a mediation offer before filing 06 180 Days to Get the Home Back After the Auction
A homestead owner can redeem by paying the sale price plus interest and costs.
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In Florida, the right to redeem ends the moment the auction closes. Homes with six figures of equity are sold over four figure debts, and the equity goes to the auction bidder. Under this reform, modeled on Colorado's law, the former owner of a homestead has 180 days to get the home back by paying what the buyer paid, plus interest and the buyer's documented costs. The buyer is made completely whole. A family member, a tenant living in the home, or a nonprofit acting with the owner's consent can redeem on the owner's behalf.
Already law in Texas and Colorado (180 days) and California (90 days) 07 Time to Sell the Home at Market Value
Up to nine months to sell, pay the association in full, and keep the equity.
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Foreclosure auctions sell homes for a fraction of what they are worth, and the discount comes entirely out of the homeowner's equity. Under this reform, a homestead owner in an association foreclosure can ask the court to pause the sale for up to nine months while the home is listed and sold at market value. The association is paid in full, with interest, from the closing. The owner keeps what is left. If the owner does not actually list the home or stops paying new assessments, the pause is lifted.
Enacted in Colorado in 2025 08 Payments Count Toward the Debt First
Money paid goes to the assessments before interest, late fees, and collection charges.
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Under current Florida law, a homeowner's payment is applied to interest first, then late fees, then the association's collection costs and attorney fees, and to the actual assessments last. Interest keeps accruing on a balance the payments never reach, so a homeowner who pays every month can still fall further behind. This reform reverses the order: payments go to the assessments first. Pay the debt, and the debt actually goes down.
Already law in Texas, Colorado, and California 09 A Free, Itemized Ledger Within 7 Business Days
Every charge, every payment, in writing, at no cost, and the total is binding.
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Homeowners trying to cure a delinquency often cannot get a straight answer to the most basic question: what do I owe, itemized? Payoff numbers arrive slowly, change without explanation, and sometimes cost money to request. Under this reform, the association or its collection firm must provide the complete itemized ledger within 7 business days of a request, free, and the total stated is binding. While the request is pending, fees stop accruing and no foreclosure can be filed.
Colorado requires it in 7 business days; Nevada in 10Add Your Name
We intend to deliver these signatures, and the stories homeowners choose to share, to members of the Florida Legislature ahead of the upcoming legislative session.
Numbers get a bill filed. Stories get it passed. If an association's collection practices have touched your family, a lien over a small debt, fees that outgrew the assessments, a foreclosure notice you never saw, tell us what happened. With your permission, we will put it in front of the people who can change the law.
Signing this petition does not create an attorney-client relationship with Perez Mayoral, P.A. We will use your information only for this reform effort and updates about it, and you can ask us to remove your name at any time. If you need help with your own association matter, request a case review instead; do not submit confidential details through this form.
You're on the list. Thank you.
We will let you know when the petitions are delivered and when these reforms are filed as legislation. If you shared a story and gave permission, our team may follow up before it is included.
Fair Questions, Straight Answers
I'm facing an association lien or foreclosure right now. What should I do?
This page is about changing the law for everyone. If you have a live problem, deadlines are likely already running, and a petition will not stop them. Request a case review and speak with one of our attorneys about your specific situation.
What happens with my signature and story?
We compile the signatures and deliver them to members of the Florida Legislature ahead of the upcoming session, alongside the detailed reform proposals our attorneys have drafted. Stories are included only if you check the permission box, and only your first name, county, and story are shared. Your email is used for updates about this effort and nothing else.
Is any of this untested?
No. Each reform is modeled on a statute already in force in another state: Texas, Colorado, California, Nevada, Washington, Hawaii, Georgia, or Arizona. Several were enacted with bipartisan or unanimous support. In 2026, Georgia's reform passed its Senate unanimously and was signed into law over the objection of the national association-industry trade group. Florida would not be experimenting. It would be catching up.
But wouldn't these reforms hurt associations financially?
No. Every proposal leaves the debt owed, the lien valid, and the association's right to collect intact. The payment plans pay the association one hundred cents on the dollar on a fixed schedule. The redemption and market-sale proposals pay the association in full before the owner sees anything. What the reforms remove is the ability to turn a small debt into a large one through fees, and to take a home's equity to satisfy a small judgment.
Talk to a Florida Homeowner Attorney
Perez Mayoral represents Florida homeowners and condominium unit owners in disputes with their associations. The firm does not represent associations. If your situation involves a lien, a collection demand, attorney fees that keep growing, or a foreclosure case, a case review can tell you where you stand and what your options are.