New Florida Law Cracks Down On Homeowners’ Associations

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Homeowners' Associations (HOAs): many Floridians belong to them and only now are they getting more protections from them. Effective July 1, 2024, House Bill 1203 is requiring HOAs to follow a more strict set of guidelines in favor of homeowners.

Acting as a homeowner’s bill of rights, this new law better regulates HOAs and defines what common occurrences cannot result in fines for homeowners, what rules HOAs are no longer allowed to have or enforce, what requirements HOA officials have to meet, and what sorts of penalties HOA officers or board members may receive if they violate this law.

Approved by Governor Ron DeSantis on May 31, 2024, this new law says that HOAs in Florida are now prohibited from fining or suspending homeowners for leaving garbage cans at the end of their driveways for less than 24 hours before or after the usual garbage pick-up day or time. Homeowners also cannot incur penalties for leaving holiday decorations up for an extended period of time without a week’s written notice from the HOA to remove them.

In addition, HOAs have to hold a committee hearing to review a board-issued fine or suspension. Homeowners must receive 14 days of written notice about their right to this hearing, which should be held within 90 days of this notice.

A written evidential report of the violation with “the date the fine must be paid or the suspension fulfilled” must also be provided within seven days of the hearing. This date needs to be at least 30 days after written notice of the committee’s decision is delivered.

The hearing may be held by phone or other digital means, and attorney’s fees or costs cannot not be accrued by the board based on its actions until after the date set for the violation to be rectified. Beyond that date, reasonable attorney’s fees may be awarded to the HOA if the infraction was not remedied.

This bill also prohibits HOAs from banning common-sense parking at or around the homeowner’s property, any contractor that the homeowner wishes to hire just because the professional is not a preferred vendor, any architecture or construction improvement inside a building, and the installation or display of vegetable gardens or clotheslines in areas not visible from the front or adjacent properties or from any common areas or community golf courses.

Furthermore, in part, community association managers (CAMs) or CAM firms are now required to attend a minimum of one member or board meeting annually, make contact information available to association members, complete at least 10 hours of continued education annually, and at least five hours of continued education related to HOAs every two years. At least three of these five hours must “relate to recordkeeping”.

Similarly, within 90 days of election or appointment, HOA directors must have a certificate showing the completion of an educational curriculum “relating to financial literacy and transparency, recordkeeping, levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements”. If the HOA has less than 2,500 parcels, then the director should complete at least four hours of continued education annually or at least eight hours if the HOA has more than 2,500 parcels.

House Bill 1203 also describes that HOA officers or board members can be charged with anything from a second-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony for criminal violations regarding destroying, withholding, or tampering with official records or for soliciting or accepting kickbacks.

For complete details on this new law, click here to read the full 44 pages of House Bill 1203. For the official summary of the bill, click here. The effects of this law will be in full force by July 1, 2026.
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Article by Ema Tibbetts