There were many significant changes to the laws affecting both condominium and homeowners associations this year, and below is a summary of same. Some of these changes will require immediate revision and/or adoption of policies and procedures relating to record keeping, hurricane protection, enforcement, and fining. Please be sure to consult with your Association legal counsel to ensure compliance with these requirements. Please also note that after July 1, 2024, directors for both condominium and homeowners associations must complete annual continuing education classes, and all newly elected directors must complete a state-approved certification course. We will be providing these classes in the coming months, so please monitor our Upcoming Events page to register for these events.

2025 CONDOMINIUM DIRECTOR 1 HOUR LEGAL UPDATE CONTINUING EDUCATION

HB 913- Effective July 1, 2025

I. Community Association Managers; Management Agreements

• Persons who have had their Community Association Management (“CAM”) license revoked may not have an indirect or direct ownership interest in a CAM firm, or be an employee, partner, officer, director, or trustee of a CAM firm for 10 years, and may not reapply for a license for 10 years, from the effective date of the revocation.
• Community Association Managers (“CAMs” or “Managers”) must create and maintain an online licensure account with DBPR and must identify on such account the firm they work for and communities for which they serve as onsite manager. Account must be updated within 30 days of a change in this information. Management firms must also maintain an account and identify all of the managers it employs.
• Managers and firms are prohibited from knowingly carrying out directives from the Board that would breach state or federal law.
• Management contracts must now explicitly state at least 12-point font that the manager will comply with applicable professional standards and record-keeping requirements contained in F.S. 468 Part VIII, which also cannot be waived in the management contract.
• Conflict of interest provisions are revised to allow disclosure of conflicts in the management contract. Duplicate disclosures of these conflicts are exempt in later transactions.
• The Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes (the “Division”) must now notify, in writing, a CAM firm and community association when the CAM employed and/or engaged by the firm and the community, respectively, has had his/her license suspended or revoked.
• Associations may only hire licensed CAMS and must ensure they are properly licensed before entering the contract.
• Association may terminate the management contract without penalty if the manager or firm they contracted with has their license suspended or revoked

II. Milestone Inspection and Structural Integrity Reserve Studies (“SIRS”) applicable to both Condominium and Cooperative Associations

• Added Exemptions for SIRS and Milestone Inspections; Requirements for Contractors
  • Milestone inspections and SIRS requirements updated to apply to only to buildings with 3 or more “habitable” stories, defined by Florida’s Building Code as living, sleeping, eating, or cooking areas, and excluding garages, closets and hallways. Exemption applicable to condominium and cooperative associations.
  • Four family dwellings with 3 or fewer habitable stories are exempt.
  • An architect or engineer bidding on milestone inspection or SIRS study must disclose in writing to the association if they intend to also bid on any work recommended to be completed in the milestone or SIRS reports. Any design professional or contractor bidding on a project recommended in the milestone or SIRS reports must disclose to the association in writing any financial interest or familial relationship with the firm performing the milestone inspection or SIRS study. Failure to disclose such information will cause the contract for services to be voidable by the association.
• Inspection and Reserve Funding Requirements for Condominiums and Cooperatives, under Chapters 718 and 719, respectively
  • Extends the deadline by which associations must complete a required SIRS from December 31, 2024, to December 31, 2025.
  • The addition of an optional SIRS funding pause for qualifying associations. For budgets adopted prior to 12/31/28, an association that has completed a milestone inspection within the previous 2 calendar years may, with the approval of a majority of the total voting interests, temporarily pause, for a period of no more than two consecutive annual budgets, reserve fund contributions or reduce the amount of reserve funding for the purpose of funding repairs recommended by the milestone inspection. The association must have a SIRS prepared before resuming reserve contributions. An updated SIRS will determine new funding amounts post-milestone repairs.
  • Statutory reserve threshold for determining whether an element must be included in SIRS reserves increased from $10,000 to $25,000, subject to further increase by DBPR based on inflation and other factors.
  • SIRS accounts may be funded through regular assessments, special assessments, lines of credit or loans. Special assessment, line of credit or loan funding of SIRS requires majority approval of the total voting interest.
  • SIRS funds may be pooled. Board may start pooling of funds without a membership vote, an action taken by many Associations already.
  • Requires that the SIRS include a reserve “baseline” funding plan that ensures the reserve cash balance stays above zero. Must also be updated if the association’s funding method (assessments, special assessments, line of credit, or loan) changes.
• Community Association Operations and Administrative Actions. Changes applicable to both Condominiums and Cooperatives
  • If the structural integrity reserve study recommends reserves for any item(s) not required under SIRS funding, the report must differentiate between mandatory reserve items and other reserve items.
  • An officer or director of a community Association, condominium or cooperative, must sign an affidavit confirming receipt of the completed SIRS.
  • Local enforcement agencies (building departments) must report milestone inspection data, including but not limited to, the total number of buildings inspected, the total number of phase 2 inspections required and the number of buildings found safe and uninhabitable, to DBPR by 10/1/25.
  • Requires every board of county commissioners or municipal government to adopt an ordinance requiring Associations to commence repairs within 365 days of the local enforcement agency receiving a phase 2 milestone report.

III. Community Association Operations

• Condominium Association Meetings
  • Board and unit owner meetings may be conducted in person or by video conference, but if offered by video conference there must also be a physical location where unit owners can attend in person.
  • The notice for any video conference meetings must contain the hyperlink and call-in information.
  • All video conference meetings must be recorded, and the recording must be maintained as an official record of the association for 1 year. No clarifications are made with respect to attorney/client or other closed meetings of the Board of Directors.
  • Board meetings must be conducted within 15 miles (previously 45) or within the same county as the association.
  • If an annual meeting is offered virtually, a quorum of the Board must be present at the physical in-person meeting location, which must be as provided for in the Bylaws, or if the Bylaws are silent, held within 15 miles or the same county of the association.
• Official Records for Condominium Associations
  • Official records must be posted on the association’s statutorily required website within 30 days of their receipt or creation.
  • Specific inclusion of all “bank statements and ledgers” as part of “records of receipts and expenditures.”
  • Approved board meeting minutes and video recordings of all virtual meetings from the past 12 months to be posted to the association’s statutorily required website.
  • All affidavits required under Chapter 718 (affidavits of mailing, affidavits of notice, affidavits of compliance, etc.)
• Financials, Financial Reports and Reporting
  • Annual financial reports must be provided to the members no later than 180 days (previously 120) after the end of the fiscal year. Association may either provide a copy of the financial report or a notice that the owner can request their preferred delivery method – mailed, hand delivered or emailed. Board must execute an affidavit of delivery compliance.
  • Increased vote requirement to majority of total voting interest to waive down financial reporting requirements (previously required majority of a quorum).
  • Condominium and Cooperative Boards may invest reserve funds in CDs or depository accounts and must use best efforts to make prudent investment decisions that carefully consider risk and return in an effort to maximize returns on invested funds. No Owner vote required to make investments.
  • Enhanced financial disclosures for Associations with shared facilities such as a hotel or commercial parcel. Within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year, the owner of a portion of a building that is not subject to the condominium form of ownership shall provide the association with a complete financial report of all costs for maintaining and operating the shared facilities.
• Annual Budget Requirements and Budget Meetings for Condominiums under Chapter 718, Florida Statutes.
  • The budget meeting may be held by video conference, but at such meeting a “sound transmitting device must be used so that the conversation of such members may be heard by the board or committee members attending in person, as well as any unit owners present at the meeting.” The Division will determine additional rules for Budget meetings conducted via video conference.
  • If the Board intends to adopt a budget which increases assessments more than 115%* from the previous year, it must also prepare a substitute budget that does not include “any discretionary expenditures that are not required to be in the budget.” The substitute budget must be proposed at the budget meeting before the annual budget is adopted. Unit owners must consider and may adopt the substitute budget with a majority vote. If the substitute budget is not adopted, the board may adopt the initially proposed budget.
  • * 115% calculation excludes reserves, insurance premiums and SIRS component maintenance, repair or replacement.
• Electronic Voting and E-Mail Voting in Condominiums under Chapter 718, Florida Statues. For Condominiums Only.
  • Electronic voting can now be approved at a 48-hour noticed board meeting, rather than a special 14-day noticed meeting. If at least 25 percent of the voting interests of a condominium petition the board to adopt a resolution for electronic voting for the next scheduled election, the board must hold a meeting within 21 days after receipt of the petition to adopt such resolution. The board must receive the petition within 180 days after the date of the last scheduled annual meeting.
  • In the absence of an electronic voting system, owners must be permitted to submit their election ballots by email. Owners submitting ballots via e-mail waive the secrecy of their vote.
  • In order to facilitate voting by e-mail, the Association must designate an email address to receive ballots, and the ballots must comply with the following requirements:
    • A space for the unit owner to type in the unit number
    • A space for the unit owner to type in their first and last name, which also serves as their signature
    • The required language regarding waiving of ballot secrecy as set forth in the statute.
    • The ballot must be received no later than the date and time of the meeting
    • A ballot meeting the prescribed criteria shall be counted. There is no verification processes set forth with regard to the e-mail used by the Owner.
    • It is unclear whether Owners can prepare their own ballots and transmit them via email using the statutory criteria.

IV. Department of Business and Professional Regulations Requirements (“DBPR”)

• DBPR now has investigative authority over director education compliance, milestone inspection and SIRS compliance, and requirements for associations to maintain insurance or fidelity bonding for all persons with control of association funds.
• All Condominium and Cooperative Associations must, by 10/1/25, create and maintain an online account with the DBPR and provide information as requested, including association name, address, email and telephone number, name and title of board members, management firm contact info, website link, number of buildings and units, age of each building, any construction commenced on common elements within the last year, assessment information and SIRS report.

V. Insurance Clarification- Condominiums

• The amount of adequate condominium insurance coverage for full insurable value, replacement cost, or similar coverage may be based on the replacement cost of the property to be insured, as determined by an independent insurance appraisal or an update of a previous appraisal. The replacement cost must be determined at least once every 3 years, at minimum.

VI. Hurricane Protection; Emergency Powers

• Unless otherwise provided in the declaration of condominium as originally recorded, or as amended, a unit owner is not responsible for the cost of any removal or reinstallation of hurricane protection, including exterior windows, doors, or other apertures, if its removal is necessary for the maintenance, repair, or replacement of other condominium property or association property for which the association is responsible.
• The board shall determine if the removal or reinstallation of hurricane protection must be completed by the unit owner or the association if the declaration as originally recorded, or as amended, does not specify who is responsible for such costs.
• Expansion of Emergency Powers for Condominiums and Cooperative Associations to include the power to require the evacuation of the condominium property in the event of an evacuation order in the locale in which the condominium is located.
• Immunity from personal injury and property claims made by Owners and occupants failing or refusing to evacuate in the event of a Board required evacuation.

HB 897- Effective July 1, 2025

I. Timeshare Plan Management

• Clarifies that A timeshare management firm and any individual licensed under part VIII of chapter 468 employed by the timeshare management firm are governed Sections 721.13 and 468.438, Florida Statutes and not section
• Provides an officer, director, or agent of an owners’ association, including a timeshare management firm and any individual licensed under part VIII of chapter 468 employed by the timeshare management firm, shall discharge its duties in good faith, with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances, and in a manner it reasonably believes to be in the interests of the owners’ association.
• Provides exemptions for an officer, director, or agent of an owners’ association, including a timeshare management firm and any individual licensed under part VIII of chapter 468 employed by the timeshare management firm, from liability for monetary damages in the same manner as provided in s. 617.0834 unless such officer, director, or agent, or firm breached or failed to perform its duties and the breach of, or failure to perform, its duties constitutes a violation of criminal law as provided in s. 617.0834; constitutes a transaction from which the officer or director derived an improper personal benefit, either directly or indirectly; or constitutes recklessness or an act or omission that was in bad faith, with malicious purpose, or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property.
• Requires certain disclosures of timeshare management firms, including if a timeshare management firm or an owners’ association provides goods or services through a parent, affiliate, or subsidiary of the timeshare management firm, the fact that a related party is providing goods or services must be disclosed annually to the members of that owners’ association in any of the following ways:
  • a. As an explanatory note to the annual budget pursuant to subparagraph (3)(c)1.;
  • b. In the management contract;
  • c. By mail sent to each owner’s address on file for providing notice;
  • d. In the notice of an annual or special meeting of the owners;
  • e. By posting notice on the website of the applicable timeshare plan; or
  • f. By any owner communication used by the managing entity.

SB 108 – Effective July 1, 2025

I. Administrative Procedures Act: Notice and Adoption of Rules; Rulemaking

• The bill amends the Administrative Procedure Act’s rulemaking process to provide for additional public input and transparency.
• Requires an agency to publish a notice of rule development within 30 days after the effective date of the law that requires rulemaking and provides a grant of rulemaking authority.
• Limits material incorporated by reference in all rules after July 1, 2025, unless:
  • The material has been submitted in the prescribed electronic format to the Department of State and the full text of the material, in a text searchable format, can be made available for free public access through an electronic hyperlink from the rule making the reference in the Florida Administrative Register; or
  • The agency has determined that posting the material on the Internet for purposes of public examination and inspection would constitute a violation of federal copyright law, in which case a statement to that effect, along with the addresses of the locations at the Department of State and the agency at which the material is available for public inspection and examination, must be included in the notice required by subparagraph (3)(a)1.
• Changes incorporated by reference must be coded by underlining new text and striking through deleted text.
• Publication of rule development to be published in the Florida Administrative Register (“Register”) at least 7 days in advance prior to providing notice of a proposed rule.
• Notice of rule development must cite rulemaking authority and law being implemented, include the proposed rule number and if available, must now include any incorporated documents along with the preliminary text, or a method for obtaining same.
• Notice of proposed rule must be published in the Register 180 days after the most recent notice of rule development. Reasons for delay must be documented with the agency.
• Requirements for the notice and adoption of emergency rules, including that the full text of emergency rules must be published in the Florida Administrative Code.
• The inclusion of the ability to hold public workshops for information gathering for the preparation of the estimated regulatory costs. Notice of workshops must be posted at least 14 days in advance of the workshop.
• Amends adoption procedures, including supplemental notice provisions.
  • Proposed rule number
  • Contact information of agency personnel
  • Regulatory impact statement
  • Website information
• Register publication required 7 days in advance for adoption notices with information for obtaining material incorporated by reference into the rule. Supplemental Notice of correction requirements for missing information.

II. Modification or Withdrawal of Proposed Rules.

• Inclusion of all materials considered in rule adoption must be part of the rulemaking record.
• The bill also requires an agency to withdraw a rule that was not ratified by the Legislature within one regular legislative session after its referral to the body.
• The committee must, within 15 days after the end of each calendar quarter, compile and post on its website a list of each failure by an agency to file a notice of proposed rule within the timeframe allotted, requirements for notice include, agency name, website, time since notice of rule development, time between rule development and filing of proposed rule, and concise statement of the rule.

III. Petition to Initiate Rulemaking

• Sets timelines and notice requirements for notice and filing of petitions.
  • 7 days for agency to provide petition to committee
  • 7 days for agency to notice committee of its intended action
• Opportunities and provisions for submission of lower cost regulatory alternatives to a proposed rule.
• Criteria outlining a “good faith estimate of transactional costs” including: 1. Filing fees. 2. Expenses to obtain a license. 3. Necessary equipment. 4. Installation, utilities for, and maintenance of necessary equipment. 5. Necessary operations or procedures. 6. Accounting, financial, information management, and other administrative processes. 7. Labor, based on relevant wages, salaries, and benefits. 8. Materials and supplies. 9. Capital expenditures, including financing costs. 10. Professional and technical services, including contracted services necessary to implement and maintain compliance. 11. Monitoring and reporting. 12. Qualifying and recurring education, training, and testing. 13. Travel 14. Insurance and surety requirements. 15. A fair and reasonable allocation of administrative costs and other overhead. 16. Reduced sales or other revenue. 17. Other items suggested by the rules ombudsman.
• Standards for evaluation standards for rule impact on counties, cities, business, costs of goods and services.
• Standards and criteria for evaluation of proposed rule, including its authority, form, content, intent, statutory references.

IV. Regulatory Plan

• Requirement each agency to publish specific licensing data in its annual agency regulatory plan.
• Plan includes a list of the agency’s existing rules scheduled for review.
• Plan includes a 5-year schedule for the review of all existing rules as of July 1, 2025. 3. A yearly schedule for the rules it will review each year during the 5- year rule review. The agency may amend this schedule, if necessary
• Requirement to identify any desired updates to prior year’s plan.
• Requirements to track licensures, applications for licenses, and completion of applications

SB 472 – Effective July 1, 2025

I. Relating to Education in Correctional Facilities

• Adds a new requirement of the Correctional Education Program to Design and implement a plan, in coordination with the relevant professional boards regulated by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, or the Department of Business and Professional Regulation when there is no board, to ensure that inmates in a correctional institution who take classes that meet the necessary curriculum requirements as determined by the applicable laws and rules for those professions shall receive credit toward licensure requirements for the successful completion of those classes.

SB 948 Effective July 1, 2025

I. Relating to Flood Disclosure: Landlords

• The bill requires a landlord of residential rental property or a mobile home park owner to disclose certain information regarding flood risks and past flooding of the property to prospective tenants.
• A landlord must complete and provide a flood disclosure to a prospective tenant of residential real property at or before the execution of a rental agreement for a term of 1 year or longer. The flood disclosure must be in a separate document. The amendment provides a form for use by the disclosing landlord.
• Provisions for violations, failure to disclose including termination of rental agreement upon substantial loss of tenants personal property, refund of all amounts paid in advance but due after the effective date of termination. Liability by tenant for past due rent is not affected.

II. Flood Disclosures: Developers

• Supplemental provisions and requirements to disclose Homeowners insurance non-inclusion of flood insurance.

III. Flood Disclosures: Mobile Home Park

• A mobile home park owner must complete and provide a flood disclosure to a prospective lessee of a mobile home lot. Delivery must be made prior to execution of the lot rental agreement or at the time of occupancy, whichever occurs first. The flood disclosure must be in a separate document. A form for use by the disclosing park owner is provided in the statute.

2024 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS

HB 59

HB 293

• Associations must adopt hurricane protection specifications for all dwellings within the community that are subject to Association architectural control. The specifications may include color and style of the permitted hurricane protection products and any other factors deemed relevant by the Board, and the specifications must comply with all applicable building codes. The specifications may require owners to adhere to an existing unified building scheme to maintain the exterior appearance of the building(s). F.S. 720.3035(6)
• Types of hurricane protection products contemplated by the statute include, but are not limited to, roof systems recognized by the Florida Building Code which meet ASCE 7-22 standards, permanent fixed storm shutters, roll-down track storm shutters, impact-resistant windows and doors, polycarbonate panels, reinforced garage doors, erosion controls, exterior fixed generators, and fuel storage tanks.
• It is unclear the extent to which the Association must make hurricane protection available in its specifications. The Board should exercise its business judgment, in consultation with the appropriate advisors, to adopt hurricane protection standards that balance the members’ ability to protect their property and the Association’s interest in maintaining the community’s aesthetic standard.

HB 1203

• Community Association Manager (“CAM”) Regulations – A CAM or CAM firm shall do all of the following (F.S. 468.4334):
  • Annually attend at least one member meeting or board meeting of the Association.
  • Provide to Association members certain information, including the contact person, contact information, and the hours of availability.
  • Provide the community’s upon request a copy of the contract between the Association and the CAM or CAM firm.
  • Annually complete at least 10 hours of continuing education.
  • Every two years complete at least five hours of continuing education that pertains to homeowners’ Associations, three hours of which must relate to recordkeeping.

• Official Records (F.S. 720.303(4))
  • By January 1, 2025, Associations with 100 or more parcels must maintain a digital copy of certain official records on the Association’s website (which includes an online portal provided by a CAM firm) or through an application on a mobile device. The Association must provide all members with a username and password and access to the protected sections of the website that contain the official documents upon request.
  • Associations must maintain official records for at least seven years, unless the governing documents of the Association require a longer period of time.
  • Associations must create a written record retention policy.
  • Associations must provide a copy of records or otherwise make the records available that are subpoenaed by a law enforcement agency within five days of receiving a subpoena.
  • Criminal penalties are imposed for destroying or withholding records under certain circumstances.

• Financial Reporting
  • Associations with 1,000 or more parcels must prepare audited financial statements on an annual basis regardless of the total overall budget.
  • Associations may not vote to waive down the required type of financial statement (compilation, review, or audit) for consecutive years. F.S. 720.303(7)
  • Associations may not use debit cards. F.S. 720.303(13)
  • Association members may make a written request for a detailed accounting of any amounts owed to the Association. If the Association fails to provide the accounting within 15 business days of a written request, any outstanding fines of the requester are waived if the fine is more than 30 days past due and the Association did not give prior written notice that the fine was imposed. Members may only request one detailed accounting every 90 days. F.S. 720.303(14)
• Director Education
  • Newly elected or appointed directors must, within 90 days of being elected or appointed, complete a certification course by a State approved provider. The educational curriculum must include training relating to financial literacy and transparency, recordkeeping, levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements. The educational certification must be renewed every 4 years. F.S. 720.3033
  • Directors must now also complete ongoing continuing education as follows:
    • Directors in Associations with fewer than 2,500 parcels must complete at least four hours of continuing education annually.
    • Directors in Associations with 2,500 or more parcels must complete at least eight hours of continuing education annually.

• Fining and Enforcement
  • When denying an architectural application, the Association must provide written notice to the parcel owner of the rule or covenant relied upon for such denial. F.S. 720.3035
  • The Association cannot require review of an HVAC, refrigeration, heating, or ventilating system that is not visible from a parcel’s frontage, an adjacent parcel, common area, or community golf course, if a substantially similar system has been previously approved.
  • Associations may not prohibit an owner from inviting, hiring, or allowing entry to a contractor or worker on the owner’s parcel solely because the contractor or worker is not on a preferred vendor list of the homeowners’ Association or does not have a professional or occupational license.
  • Adding to the “backyard” enforcement rule passed last year, Associations may not prevent a homeowner from installing or displaying vegetable gardens and clotheslines (in addition to other items) in areas not visible from the frontage of the parcel, an adjacent parcel, an adjacent common area, or a community golf course. This clarifies that the Association may still issue backyard violations if the violation can be observed from Association common area in addition to the frontage of the parcel and an adjoining parcel. F.S. 720.3045
  • Associations may not prohibit the parking of a personal vehicle, including a pickup truck, in the property owner’s driveway or in any other area where they have a right to park. F.S. 720.3075(3)(b)
  • Associations may not prohibit a work vehicle, which is not a commercial motor vehicle as defined by statute, in the property owner’s driveway. Florida Statute 320.01(25) defines a commercial vehicle as exceeding 26,001 lbs. or 3 or more axels, so these are the only commercial vehicles that can be prohibited from being parked in public view on the owner’s driveway. F.S. 720.3075(3)(b)
  • Members may not be prohibited from operating a vehicle in conformance with state traffic laws on public roads or rights-of-way or the property owner’s parcel, unless the vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle.
  • First responder vehicles may be parked anywhere that other permitted vehicles may be parked, including on public roads or rights-of-way within the Association.
  • The fining process has been modified to require the following (F.S. 720.305):
    • The 14-day notice of the hearing must be in writing.
    • The fining hearing must be held within 90 days of the notice of hearing.
    • The committee may hold the hearing by telephone or other electronic means.
    • If the violation is cured by the hearing, a fine cannot be imposed.
    • The fining committee’s decision must be provided to the owner within 7 days of the hearing, and such letter must also advise how the violation may be cured.
    • The due date for paying the fine must be at least 30 days after delivery of the written notice of the committee’s decision.
    • Attorney fees and costs cannot be incurred for the violation the owner is being fined for between the fining hearing and the date set for the fine to be paid. Practically, this means that if the Association’s governing documents permit pre-litigation attorney fees to be assessed to the owner, such fees can be incurred before the fine is levied, and after the fining process is complete.
    • Associations may not fine for an owner leaving garbage receptacles at the curb or end of the driveway less than 24 hours before or after the designated garbage collection day or time.
    • Association may not fine for leaving holiday decorations or lights up longer than indicated in the governing documents, unless such decorations or lights are left up for longer than one week after the Association provides written notice of the violation to the parcel owner.

CONDOMINIUMS

HB 1021

• Community Association Manager (“CAM”) Regulations and Conflicts of Interest - (F.S. 468.4334):
  • The CAM or CAM firm must return all community Association records in their possession within 20 business days of termination of a services agreement or a written request whichever occurs first, with license suspension and civil penalties for noncompliance, except that the time frames applicable to timeshare plans apply to the records of a timeshare plan.
  • The following activities create a rebuttable presumption that a conflict of interest exists and must be disclosed prior to contract being entered:
    • The CAM or CAM firm (or their relatives) enters into a contract for goods and services with the Association.
    • The CAM or CAM firm (or their relatives) hold a financial interest in a company that enters into or proposes to enter into a contract for goods and services with the Association.
  • The proposed activity that may be a conflict of interest must be listed on, and all contracts and transactional documents related to the proposed activity must be attached to, the board’s meeting agenda and entered into the meeting minutes.
  • The Board must approve contracts with a potential conflict of interest, and all management contracts, by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of all directors present.
  • If the Association receives and considers a bid to provide a good or service that exceeds $2,500, other than community Association management services, from a CAM or CAM firm, including directors, officers, persons with a financial interest in a CAM firm, or a relative of such persons, the Association must also solicit multiple bids from other third-party providers of such good or service.
  • If a CAM or CAM firm violates these conflict-of-interest provisions, the Association may terminate their contract without penalty.

• Hurricane Protection
  • The uniform definition of “hurricane protection” includes shutters, impact glass, code-compliant windows and doors, and other code-compliant hurricane protection products used to preserve and protect the condominium property
  • Installation and maintenance of hurricane protection is not a material alteration.
  • Condominium declarations must delineate the responsibilities of unit owners and Associations for the costs of maintenance, repair, and replacement of hurricane protections, exterior doors, windows, and glass apertures.
  • Associations may obtain a majority vote of the membership to require all owners to install hurricane protection. A certificate of the vote must be recorded in the public record.
  • Unit owners are not responsible for the cost of removal and reinstallation of hurricane protection if the removal is necessary to repair condominium property, unless the owner is made responsible for these costs in the Declaration.
  • If hurricane protection that complies with or exceeds the current applicable building code has been previously installed, the Board may not install the same type of hurricane protection or require that unit owners install the same type of hurricane protection unless the unit owner installed hurricane protection has reached the end of its useful life or it is necessary to prevent damage to the common elements or the unit.
  • The Board may require that owners adhere to an existing unified building scheme regarding the external appearance of the condominium when installing hurricane protection.
  • Unit owners are not responsible for the cost of any removal or reinstallation of hurricane protection if its removal is necessary for the maintenance repair, or replacement of the condominium property or Association property for which the Association is responsible.
    • If such removal or reinstallation is completed by the Association, the Association may not charge the costs incurred to the owner.
    • If such reinstallation of removal is completed by the owner, the Association must reimburse the owner for the cost or apply the cost as a credit toward future assessments in the amount of the owner’s cost to remove or reinstall the hurricane protection.
    • The Board is responsible to determine if removal or reinstallation of hurricane protection must be completed by the owner or Association.
  • If the removal or reinstallation of hurricane protection is the responsibility of the unit owner and the Association completes such removal or reinstallation and then charges the unit owner for such removal or reinstallation, such charges are enforceable as an assessment and may be collected in the same manner as assessments under the statute.

• Milestone and SIRS
  • Currently, single-family, two-family, and three-family dwellings are exempt from the milestone inspection requirements. The bill now exempts four-family dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories above ground.
  • Associations must notify the Division within 45 days after the SIRS is completed. By January 1, 2025, the Division must create a database of Associations that have completed the SIRS. After December 31, 2024, the Division must include in its annual report a list of all Associations that have completed the SIRS.
  • Associations must provide unit owners with a notice that the SIRS is available for inspection and copying within 45 days of completion of the study. The notice may be provided electronically to those members who have consented to receive electronic notices.

• Official Records
  • Effective January 1, 2026, condominiums with 25 or more units must maintain specified records on a website or mobile app.
  • The division may request access to an Association’s website to investigate complaints related to unit owner access to official records on such website.
  • If official records are lost or destroyed, the Association has a good faith obligation to obtain and recover the records as is reasonably possible.
  • E-mail addresses and facsimile numbers are accessible to unit owners if consent to receive notice by electronic transmission has been provided.
  • The sale or sharing of personal information to third parties is prohibited.
  • Associations must maintain the official records in an organized manner that facilitates inspection of the records by a unit owner.
  • Associations must maintain a checklist of all records made available for inspection when responding to a record inspection request. The checklist must also identify the records that were not made available for inspection.
  • Associations must maintain additional financial records (e.g., invoices and other documentation that substantiates any receipt or expenditure).

• Financial Reporting and Reserves
  • Associations may not reduce the required type of financial statement (compiled, reviewed, or audited financial statements) for consecutive years.
  • Associations may temporarily pause the funding of reserves or reduce reserve funding if the entire condominium building is uninhabitable due to a natural emergency, as determined by the local enforcement agency, upon majority approval of the Board.

• Board Meetings
  • Associations of 10 or more units must meet at least quarterly.
  • Four times each year the agenda must allow members to ask questions to the Board – i.e., an open forum agenda item.
  • At all Board meetings, members are permitted to ask questions concerning the status of construction or repair projects, revenues and expenditures, and “other issues affecting the condominium,” regardless of whether such items are on the agenda.
  • Notice of meetings regarding regular or special assessments must state that such assessments will be considered and include the cost and purpose of such assessments.
  • If the agenda includes approval of a contract, a copy of the proposed contract must be provided with the meeting notice.

• Director Education
  • Within 90 days of being elected or appointed directors must submit both the written certification that they have read the Association’s governing documents, will work to uphold the documents to the best of their ability and faithfully discharge their duties, and submit a certificate of completion of an approved condominium education course. The course must be 4 hours of training which includes instruction on milestone inspections, SIRS, elections, recordkeeping, financial literacy and transparency, levying of fines, and meeting requirements.
  • ALL directors, including those who were elected prior to 7/1/24, regardless of whether they previously took a certification course, MUST complete the new certification course curriculum by 6/30/25.
  • In addition to the initial certification class, all directors must complete 1 hour of continuing education annually about recent changes to the condominium laws and rules during the past year.
  • Proof of compliance with the above requirements must be kept in the official records.

• Voting
  • Associations must notify an owner that his or her voting rights may be suspended due to nonpayment of a fee or other monetary obligation at least 90 days before an election.
  • Unit owners may consent to electronic voting in elections by using an electronic means of consent.
  • If the Association authorizes online voting, the Board must honor an owner's request to vote electronically at all subsequent elections, unless the owner opts out.

• SLAPP and Defamation Suits
  • The law revises the prohibitions against “strategic lawsuits against public participation” or “SLAPP” suits, which occur when Association members are sued by individuals, business entities, or governmental entities for matters arising out of a unit owner's appearance and presentation before a governmental entity on matters related to the Association. The bill includes condominium Associations in the SLAPP suit prohibition, and protects unit owners who report complaints to government agencies or law enforcement, or make public statements critical of the operation or management of an Association by prohibiting Associations from:
    • Retaliating against unit owners by increasing assessments, threatening to bring an action for possession or other civil action; and
    • Spending Association funds in support of defamation, libel, or tortious interference actions against a unit owner

• The Division of Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes (“The Division”)
  • The bill expands the Division’s post-turnover jurisdiction to include:
    • Procedures and records related to financial issues, including annual financial reporting, assessments for common expenses, fines, and commingling funds;
    • Elections, including election and voting requirements, and recall of board members;
    • The maintenance of and unit owner access to Association records;
    • The procedural aspects of meetings, such as unit owner meetings, quorums, voting requirements, proxies, board of administration meetings, and budget meetings;
    • Disclosure of conflicts of interest;
    • Removal of a board director or officer under chapter 718, F.S.;
    • The procedural completion of structural integrity reserve studies; and
    • Any written inquiries by unit owners to the Association.
  • In addition, the bill:
    • Requires that the Division must refer to local law enforcement authorities any person it believes has engaged in any criminal activity.
    • Provides that the Division and the office of the condominium ombudsman may attend and observe any meeting of the board or any unit owner meeting, for the purpose of performing the duties of the division or the office of the ombudsman.
    • For Fiscal Year 2024-2025, appropriates $6,122,390 in recurring and $1,293,879 in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and 65 full-time equivalent positions with an associated salary rate, for the purpose of implementing the bill.

• Criminal Violations
  • The bill provides the following criminal penalties for the below acts:
    • Second degree misdemeanor for any director or member of the board or Association to knowingly, willfully, and repeatedly violate (two or more violations within a 12-month period) any specified requirements relating to inspection and copying of official records of an Association;
    • First degree misdemeanor for knowingly and intentionally defacing or destroying required accounting records, or failing to create or maintain required accounting records, with the intent of causing harm to the Association or one or more of its members;
    • Third degree felony to willfully and knowingly refuse to release or produce Association records, with the intent to avoid or escape detection, arrest, trial, or punishment for the commission of a crime, or to assist another person with such avoidance or escape;
    • Third degree felony for an officer, director, or manager of a condominium Association to knowingly solicit, offer to accept, or accept a kickback; and
    • First degree misdemeanor for engaging in specified fraudulent voting activity, and knowingly aiding, abetting, or advising a person in the commission of a fraudulent voting activity related to Association elections.

• Miscellaneous
  • The attendance of a director at a meeting of the board is sufficient to constitute a quorum for the meeting, and for any vote taken in his or her absence, if the director is required to leave the room during the discussion and voting on a contract in which the director, or a relative, has an interest.
  • The statute of repose (the ultimate deadline for filing legal action) for certain actions will not begin to run until the unit owners have elected a majority of the members of the Board. This is especially relevant for construction defect claims.
  • The annual financial statement and annual budget of the Association must be given to a prospective purchaser of a unit by a non-developer seller of a unit.
  • Developers of nonresidential condominiums have the option of delivering to the escrow agent a surety bond or an irrevocable letter of credit with specified conditions.
  • Escrow requirements for developers have been revised.
  • The definition for the term “condominium property” is revised to mean “the lands, leaseholds, improvements, any personal property, and all easements and rights appurtenant thereto, regardless of whether contiguous, which are subjected to condominium ownership.”
  • Effective October 1, 2024, the bill provides disclosure requirements for the creation of condominiums within a portion of a building or within a multiple parcel building. The Association of a condominium created within a portion of a building or within a multiple parcel building has the right to inspect and copy the books and records upon which the costs for maintaining and operating the shared facilities are based and to receive an annual budget with respect to such costs.

MY SAFE FLORIDA HOME

HB 1029

• The program is available to condominium Associations located within 15 miles of a coastline and is regulated by the Department of Financial Services (“DFS”). It provides for hurricane mitigation inspections and grants to Associations if the following conditions are met:
  • Inspections
    • Must be approved by either a majority of the Board or a majority of the total voting interests of the community.
    • Will be conducted at no cost to the Association and will identify:
      • The present mitigation measures that are needed.
      • Insurance premium discounts that may be available.
      • The improvements to existing Association property that are needed to reduce the property’s vulnerability to hurricane damage.
    • The inspection will include, at a minimum:
      • An inspection of the property.
      • A report that summarizes the results of the inspection.
      • Recommended mitigation improvements.
      • Estimated cost of such improvements.
      • Information regarding potential insurance premium savings.
    • The application for inspection must contain a signed or electronically verified statement made under penalty of perjury by the president of the Board that the Association has submitted only a single application for each property the Association operates or maintains.
    • The Association may apply for an inspection without also applying for a grant.
  • Grants
    • The grant may be used to make improvements recommended in the hurricane mitigation inspection report.
    • The application for grant must:
      • Contain a signed or electronically verified statement made under penalty of perjury by the president of the Board that the Association has submitted only a single application for each property the Association operates or maintains.
      • Include a notarized statement from the President of the Board containing the name and license number of each contractor the Association intends to use for the mitigation projects.
      • Include a notarized statement from the President of the Board which commits to the DFS that the Association will complete the mitigation projects.
    • For common element projects, the grant application must be approved by either a majority of the Board or a majority of the total voting interest.
    • For grants benefiting individual units, the grant application must be approved by a unanimous vote of all unit owners within the structure or building that is the subject of the grant.
    • The Association may choose its own contractors so long as they meet all qualification, certification, and licensing requirements in general law.
    • The mitigation projects must be completed, or an extension requested, within 1 year of the grant approval. The projects must be completed and pass inspection before the grant money is issued.
    • Grants shall be awarded as follows:
      • All grants must be matched on the basis of $1 provided by the Association and $2 provided by the State.
      • For roof-related projects, the grant contribution is $11 per square foot multiplied by the square footage of the replacement roof, not to exceed $1,000 per unit, with a maximum grant award of 50% of the cost of the project.
      • For opening-related projects, the grant contribution is a maximum of $750 per replacement window or door, not to exceed $1,500 per unit, with a maximum grant award of 50% of the cost of the project.
      • An Association may receive grant funds for both roof and opening projects, but the maximum total award is $175,000 per Association.