Florida · Law guide

Florida HOA law guide.

Every Florida statute that governs condominium and homeowners’ associations, hosted in full on HOPB with the official text — plus the provisions scattered elsewhere in the statutes, collected on the related-laws page. Which one applies to you turns on the form of your community, not its age. This index is how the pieces fit together.

5 statutes Full text on-site Cited to the 2025 Florida Statutes
Community associations

Which statute governs your community.

Which chapter applies turns on the form of your community, not its age — though plenty of individual rules inside those chapters do turn on a creation or incorporation date, § 720.307(5) (which switches transition of control off entirely for associations already in existence on the act’s effective date and for DRI communities) and § 718.111(1)(a) among them. A condominium is governed by Chapter 718 — every condominium created in Florida must be created under it (§ 718.104), and § 718.102 provides that every condominium created and existing in this state is subject to it. There is no minimum size for the chapter to apply, though several individual sections carve out associations of 10 or fewer units (§§ 718.3026, 718.112(2)(d), 718.301). A homeowners’ association is governed by Chapter 720, but only where § 720.301(9) is met: membership must be a mandatory condition of parcel ownership and the association must be able to impose assessments that may become a lien. A voluntary neighbourhood association falls outside the chapter’s general operation, as do community development districts — though the flag rights in § 720.304(2) and the presuit mediation route in § 720.311(2)(e) reach both. Condominiums (Chapter 718), cooperatives (Chapter 719) and timeshares (Chapter 721) are excluded from Chapter 720 by § 720.302(4), as are nonmandatory associations formed under Chapter 723 — but a mandatory mobile home subdivision association is not excluded; § 720.301(9) brings mobile home subdivisions inside the definition expressly. Section 720.302(3) separately excludes a community composed of property primarily intended for commercial, industrial or other nonresidential use, and the commercial or industrial parcels within a mixed community.

Ch. 718 Florida Condominium ActChapter 718, all 90 sections — creation by recorded declaration, the association and its board, official records, assessments and liens, fines, and the developer’s handover of control. Records must be made available for inspection — within 45 miles of the condominium property or in the county — within 10 working days of a written request (§ 718.111(12)). Unpaid assessments carry 18 percent default interest and, only if the declaration or bylaws authorise one, an administrative late fee of up to the greater of $25 or 5 percent of each delinquent installment (§ 718.116(3)), and no foreclosure judgment may be entered until 45 days after written notice (§ 718.116). Fines are capped at $100 per violation and $1,000 in the aggregate, and a fine may never become a lien (§ 718.303(3)). Ch. 720 Florida Homeowners’ Association ActChapter 720, all 36 sections — association powers and duties, records, fines and suspensions, assessments and lien claims, transition of control, pre-sale disclosure, and covenant revival. Records must be made available for inspection or copying within 10 business days, and within 45 miles of the community or in the county — but § 720.303(5)(a) opens “unless otherwise provided by law or the governing documents of the association.” The $100 and $1,000 fine ceilings apply “unless otherwise provided in the governing documents”, so a declaration may set them higher — and unlike a condominium, a fine of $1,000 or more can become a lien (§ 720.305(2)). Recording a lien takes one 45-day notice of intent to record (§ 720.3085(4)); foreclosing that lien takes a second, separate 45-day notice of intent to foreclose, which cannot even be sent until the first 45 days have run (§ 720.3085(5)) — so a lien can hit your title on day 46. A further 30-day notice of late assessment is required before the association may charge attorney fees (§ 720.3085(3)(d)).
Corporate form

The association’s legal status — and what it does not give you.

Almost every Florida community association is a corporation not for profit: § 720.301(9) defines a homeowners’ association as a Florida corporation, and § 720.302(1) describes Chapter 720 as recognising corporations not for profit that operate residential communities. Chapter 617 usually supplies that shell — though § 718.111(1)(a) permits a condominium association to be a for-profit Florida corporation (and grandfathers associations in existence on January 1, 1977 from incorporating at all), and § 720.302(5) contemplates an HOA incorporated under part I of Chapter 607, in which case that chapter, not 617, supplies the shell. But § 617.1703 makes it yield: the chapter applies to associations regulated by Chapters 718, 719, 720, 721 and 723 except on any conflict, or as those chapters otherwise provide — and then the community chapter’s provisions apply. Several of Chapter 617’s best-known member protections are switched off for associations outright.

Ch. 617 Florida Not For Profit Corporation ActChapter 617, all 150 sections — incorporation, directors and officers, the standard of care (§ 617.0830), conflicts of interest (§ 617.0832), indemnification and the annual report. Note what it does not give an association member: § 617.1606 disapplies the entire corporate records regime (§§ 617.1601–617.1605) to associations, and parts of the meetings, voting, amendment and removal provisions go too — but read the subsection numbers, because the disapplications are narrower than they look. Section 617.0701(6) switches off only subsections (1) and (3); the written-consent and waiver-of-notice rules in (4) and (5) still apply. Section 617.0721(7) switches off only (1), (5) and (6), including cumulative voting — the proxy rules in (2) and the remote-participation rules in (3) remain in force. Section 617.0725, which governs amendments that add, change or delete a quorum or voting requirement, is disapplied in full, as is § 617.0808 on removal of directors (§ 617.0808(3)). Those rights, where they exist, come from Chapter 718 or 720 instead.
Protections

Fair housing, and the limits on collecting a debt.

Two statutes sit outside the community chapters but reach association conduct directly. A rule or covenant that is valid under Chapter 718 or 720 can still be an unlawful housing practice in how it is applied — and the rules on pursuing an unpaid assessment bind the association itself, not only any collection agency it hires.

Ch. 760 Florida Civil Rights Act & Fair Housing ActChapter 760, all 35 sections. Part II is the Fair Housing Act (§§ 760.20–760.37): protected classes are race, color, national origin, sex, disability, familial status and religion (§ 760.23(1)). Disability brings two different duties — a physical modification is at the disabled person’s own expense, an accommodation in rules is not (§ 760.23(9)). Section 760.27 sets out in detail what an association may and may not ask about an emotional support animal. The older-persons exemption switches off familial status only, not the whole Act (§ 760.29(4)). Two clocks: 1 year to complain to the Commission, 2 years to sue. Part I is the Florida Civil Rights Act, which creates that Commission and covers places of public accommodation (§ 760.08). Ch. 559 Florida Consumer Collection Practices ActChapter 559, Part VI (§§ 559.55–559.785). Unlike the federal FDCPA, which targets third-party collectors, § 559.72 opens “In collecting consumer debts, a person may not…” — so an association pursuing its own assessments is measured against the same list. Registration is a separate question with a different answer: § 559.553(3) exempts an original creditor. Remedies under § 559.77 include actual damages, up to $1,000 statutory damages, costs and fees on a 2-year deadline — but if the suit raises no justiciable issue, the plaintiff pays the defendant’s fees.
Related law

The provisions scattered elsewhere in the statutes.

Florida’s community-association law does not live only in Chapters 718 and 720. A handful of provisions elsewhere decide questions that come up constantly — whether an association can stop you installing solar panels, whether a fee on every future sale is enforceable, and whether your community’s covenants are still alive at all.

Related Related & miscellaneous Florida statutesSolar collectors and clotheslines under § 163.04, which covenants may not prohibit — though it does not reach patio railings. The private transfer fee prohibition in § 689.28, which expressly carves out ordinary association assessments, fines and estoppel charges. The Marketable Record Title Act, under which a recorded declaration can be extinguished 30 years after the root of title in a parcel’s chain — not 30 years after the declaration was recorded — subject to the § 712.03 exceptions, with preservation by any of the three routes in § 712.05(2) and revival under §§ 720.403–720.407. Discriminatory restrictions voided by § 712.065. Service animals under § 413.08, which is a different statute from the emotional support animal rules. And the association’s power to demand rent directly from a tenant under § 718.116(11).
More Florida resources

Beyond the statutes.

Two further Florida pages answer the questions the statutes leave open.

AG Florida Attorney General HOA opinion lettersAdvisory opinions of the Florida Attorney General touching on community associations — useful where a statute is silent or ambiguous. Opinions are advisory and do not bind a court. Q&A Florida homeowner questions and answersPlain-language answers to the questions Florida homeowners ask most often about their association, cross-referenced to the statutes that decide them.

General information, not legal advice. Statutory references are to the 2025 Florida Statutes as published by The Florida Senate and may not reflect the most recent amendments.

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