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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to homeowners' associations; providing 2
a short title; amending s. 720.303, F.S.; requiring 3
certain officers or directors of an association be 4
removed from office under certain circumstances; 5
specifying how a vacancy on the board must be fil led; 6
providing restrictions on certain officers and 7
directors; specifying when an officer or director may 8
be reinstated; requiring an association to maintain 9
designated addresses as official records; specifying 10
what constitutes a designated address; making 11
conforming changes; prohibiting certain funds from 12
being comingled with other association funds; 13
authorizing a member to request an accounting from an 14
association under certain circumstances; requiring an 15
association to provide such accounting and remit 16
unused funds to the member within specified 17
timeframes; amending s. 720.3033, F.S.; providing 18
criminal and civil penalties for certain actions by 19
officers, directors, or managers of an association; 20
requiring directors and officers of the association to 21
disclose certain activity to the association within a 22
specified time frame; creating a rebuttable 23
presumption of a conflict of interest if certain acts 24
occur; amending s. 720.305, F.S.; restricting certain 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
attorney fees and fines; specifying the types of 26
violations for which an association may levy fines; 27
providing a maximum aggregate fine amount; prohibiting 28
a fine from becoming a lien on a parcel; revising 29
amount of notice the board of administration must give 30
a parcel owner before imposing a fine or suspensi on; 31
specifying where such notice must be delivered; 32
providing requirements for such notice; authorizing 33
parcel owners to attend certain hearings by telephone 34
or other electronic means; expanding duties of a 35
specified committee; requiring a specified notice 36
after a hearing; specifying how fines, suspensions, 37
attorney fees, and costs are determined; requiring a 38
detailed accounting of amounts due to the association 39
be given to certain persons within a certain timeframe 40
upon written request; providing for a com plete waiver 41
of a violation under certain circumstances; specifying 42
the priority of payments made by a parcel owner to an 43
association; prohibiting the accrual of attorney fees 44
and costs after a specified time; authorizing certain 45
persons to request a heari ng to dispute certain fees 46
and costs; providing for the waiver of certain fines 47
or suspensions; requiring certain fines, fees, or 48
other costs be paid by an association; conforming 49
provisions to changes made by the act; creating s. 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
720.3065, F.S.; providing criminal penalties for 51
certain fraudulent voting activities; providing an 52
effective date. 53
54
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 55
56
Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Homeowners' 57
Associations Bill of Rights." 58
Section 2. Subsection (1) and paragraph (g) of subsection 59
(4) of section 720.303, Florida Statutes, are amended, and 60
paragraph (d) is added to subsection (8) of that section, to 61
read: 62
720.303 Association powers and duties; meetings of board; 63
official records; budg ets; financial reporting; association 64
funds; recalls.— 65
(1) POWERS AND DUTIES. — 66
(a) An association which operates a community as defined 67
in s. 720.301, must be operated by an association that is a 68
Florida corporation. After October 1, 1995, the associat ion must 69
be incorporated and the initial governing documents must be 70
recorded in the official records of the county in which the 71
community is located. An association may operate more than one 72
community. 73
(b)1. The officers and directors of an association have a 74
fiduciary relationship to the members who are served by the 75
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association. 76
2. An officer or a director charged by information or 77
indictment with one of the following crimes must be removed from 78
office, and the vacancy must be filled as provided in s. 79
720.306(9) until the end of the officer's or director's period 80
of suspension or the end of his or her term of office, whichever 81
occurs first: 82
a. Forgery of a ballot envelope or voting certificate used 83
in a homeowners' association election as provided in s. 831.01. 84
b. Theft or embezzlement of funds of a homeowners' 85
association as provided in s. 812.014. 86
c. Destruction of or the refusal to allow inspection or 87
copying of an official record of a homeowners' association that 88
is accessible to parcel owne rs within the time periods required 89
by general law in furtherance of any crime is tampering with 90
physical evidence as provided in s. 918.13. 91
d. Obstruction of justice under chapter 843. 92
3. If a criminal charge is pending against the officer or 93
director, he or she may not be appointed or elected to a 94
position as an officer or a director of any association and may 95
not have access to the official records of any association, 96
except pursuant to a court order. However, if the charges are 97
resolved without a fi nding of guilt, the officer or director 98
must be reinstated for the remainder of his or her term of 99
office, if any. 100
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(c) The powers and duties of an association include those 101
set forth in this chapter and, except as expressly limited or 102
restricted in this chapter, those set forth in the governing 103
documents. 104
(d) After control of the association is obtained by 105
members other than the developer, the association may institute, 106
maintain, settle, or appeal actions or hearings in its name on 107
behalf of all members concerning matters of common interest to 108
the members, including, but not limited to, the common areas; 109
roof or structural components of a building, or other 110
improvements for which the association is responsible; 111
mechanical, electrical, or plumbing elements serving an 112
improvement or building for which the associ ation is 113
responsible; representations of the developer pertaining to any 114
existing or proposed commonly used facility; and protesting ad 115
valorem taxes on commonly used facilities. The association may 116
defend actions in eminent domain or bring inverse condemn ation 117
actions. Before commencing litigation against any party in the 118
name of the association involving amounts in controversy in 119
excess of $100,000, the association must obtain the affirmative 120
approval of a majority of the voting interests at a meeting of 121
the membership at which a quorum has been attained. This 122
paragraph subsection does not limit any statutory or common -law 123
right of any individual member or class of members to bring any 124
action without participation by the association. 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(e) A member does not have authority to act for the 126
association by virtue of being a member. An association may have 127
more than one class of members and may issue membership 128
certificates. 129
(f) An association of 15 or fewer parcel owners may 130
enforce only the requirements of t hose deed restrictions 131
established prior to the purchase of each parcel upon an 132
affected parcel owner or owners. 133
(4) OFFICIAL RECORDS. —The association shall maintain each 134
of the following items, when applicable, which constitute the 135
official records of t he association: 136
(g) A current roster of all members and their designated 137
mailing addresses and parcel identifications. A member's 138
designated mailing address is the member's property address, 139
unless the member has sent written notice to the association 140
requesting that a different mailing address be used for all 141
required notices. The association shall also maintain the e-mail 142
electronic mailing addresses and the facsimile numbers 143
designated by members for receiving notice sent by electronic 144
transmission of those members consenting to receive notice by 145
electronic transmission. A member's e-mail address is the e -mail 146
address the member provided when consenting in writing to 147
receiving notice by electronic transmission unless the member 148
has sent written notice t o the association requesting that a 149
different e-mail address be used for all required notices. The 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
e-mail electronic mailing addresses and facsimile numbers 151
provided by members unit owners to receive notice by electronic 152
transmission must shall be removed from association records when 153
the member revokes consent to receive notice by electronic 154
transmission is revoked. However, the association is not liable 155
for an erroneous disclosure of the e-mail electronic mail 156
address or the facsimile number for receiving electronic 157
transmission of notices. 158
(8) ASSOCIATION FUNDS; COMMINGLING. — 159
(d) If an association collects a deposit from a member for 160
any reason, including to pay for expenses that may be incurred 161
as a result of construction on a member's parcel, such f unds 162
must be maintained separately and may not be comingled with any 163
other association funds. Upon completion of the member's 164
construction project, or other reason for which the deposit was 165
collected, the member may request an accounting from the 166
association of his or her funds that were deposited and the 167
association must provide such accounting to the member within 7 168
days after the member's request. An association must remit 169
payment of any and all unused funds to the member within 30 days 170
after receiving notice that the member's construction project, 171
or other reason for which the deposit was collected, is 172
complete. 173
Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 720.3033, Florida 174
Statutes, is amended, and subsection (6) is added to that 175
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
section, to read: 176
720.3033 Officers and directors. — 177
(3) An officer, a director, or a manager may not solicit, 178
offer to accept, or accept any thing good or service of value 179
for which consideration has not been provided for his or her 180
benefit or for the benefit of a member of his or her immediate 181
family from any person providing or proposing to provide goods 182
or services to the association. An officer, a director, or a 183
manager who knowingly solicits, offers to accept, or accepts any 184
thing or service of value or kickback in an amount less than 185
$1,000 commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as 186
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, or if such value or 187
kickback is $1,000 or more the officer, director, or manager 188
commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided i n 189
s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, and is subject to a civil 190
penalty under s. 718.501(1)(d). If the board finds that an 191
officer or a director has violated this subsection, the board 192
shall immediately remove the officer or director from office. 193
The vacancy shall be filled according to law until the end of 194
the officer's or director's term of office. However, an officer, 195
a director, or a manager may accept food to be consumed at a 196
business meeting with a value of less than $25 per individual or 197
a service or good received in connection with trade fairs or 198
education programs. 199
(6) Directors and officers of an association must disclose 200
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
to the association any activity that may reasonably be construed 201
to be a conflict of interest at least 14 days before votin g on 202
an issue or entering into a contract that is the subject of the 203
conflict. A rebuttable presumption of a conflict of interest 204
exists if any of the following acts occur without prior 205
disclosure to the association: 206
(a) A director or an officer, or a re lative of a director 207
or an officer, enters into a contract for goods or services with 208
the association. 209
(b) A director or an officer, or a relative of a director 210
or an officer, holds an interest in a corporation, limited 211
liability corporation, partnership , limited liability 212
partnership, or other business entity that conducts business 213
with the association or proposes to enter into a contract or 214
other transaction with the association. 215
Section 4. Subsections (1), (2), and (5) of section 216
720.305, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (7) is 217
added to that section to read: 218
720.305 Obligations of members; remedies at law or in 219
equity; levy of fines and suspension of use rights. — 220
(1) Each member and the member's tenants, guests, and 221
invitees, and each association, are governed by, and must comply 222
with, this chapter, the governing documents of the community, 223
and the rules of the association. Actions at law or in equity, 224
or both, to redress alleged failure or refusal to comply with 225
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
these provisions may be brought by the association or by any 226
member against: 227
(a) The association; 228
(b) A member; 229
(c) Any director or officer of an association who 230
willfully and knowingly fails to comply with these provisions; 231
and 232
(d) Any tenants, guests, or invitees oc cupying a parcel or 233
using the common areas. 234
235
The prevailing party in any such litigation is entitled to 236
recover reasonable attorney fees and costs as provided in 237
paragraph (2)(e). A member prevailing in an action between the 238
association and the member unde r this section, in addition to 239
recovering his or her reasonable attorney fees, may recover 240
additional amounts as determined by the court to be necessary to 241
reimburse the member for his or her share of assessments levied 242
by the association to fund its expen ses of the litigation. This 243
relief does not exclude other remedies provided by law. This 244
section does not deprive any person of any other available right 245
or remedy. 246
(2) An association may levy reasonable fines for 247
violations of the declaration, associati on's bylaws, or 248
reasonable rules of the association . A fine may not exceed $100 249
per violation against any member or any member's tenant, guest, 250
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or invitee for the failure of the owner of the parcel or its 251
occupant, licensee, or invitee to comply with any p rovision of 252
the declaration, the association bylaws, or reasonable rules of 253
the association unless otherwise provided in the governing 254
documents. A fine may be levied by the board for each day of a 255
continuing violation, with a single notice and opportunity for 256
hearing, except that the fine may not exceed $1,000 in the 257
aggregate unless otherwise provided in the governing documents . 258
A fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien against a 259
parcel. In any action to recover a fine, the prevailing party is 260
entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs from the 261
nonprevailing party as provided in paragraph (e) determined by 262
the court. 263
(a) An association may suspend, for a reasonable period of 264
time, the right of a member, or a member's tenant, guest, or 265
invitee, to use common areas and facilities for the failure of 266
the owner of the parcel or its occupant, licensee, or invitee to 267
comply with any provision of the declaration, the association 268
bylaws, or reasonable rules of the association. This paragraph 269
does not apply to that portion of common areas used to provide 270
access or utility services to the parcel. A suspension may not 271
prohibit an owner or tenant of a parcel from having vehicular 272
and pedestrian ingress to and egress from the parcel, including, 273
but not limited to, the right to park. 274
(b) A fine or suspension levied for a violation by the 275
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board of administration may not be imposed unless the board 276
first provides at least 30 14 days' notice to the parcel owner 277
at his or her designated mailing or e -mail address in the 278
association's official records and, if applicable, any occupant, 279
licensee, or invitee of the parcel owner, sought to be fined or 280
suspended and an opportunity for a hearing before a committee of 281
at least three members appointed by the board who are n ot 282
officers, directors, or employees of the association, or the 283
spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of an officer, 284
director, or employee. The notice must include a description of 285
the alleged violation, the specific action required to cure such 286
violation, and the date and location of the hearing. A parcel 287
owner has the right to attend a hearing by telephone or other 288
electronic means. 289
(c) If the committee, by majority vote, does not approve a 290
proposed fine or suspension, the proposed fine or suspensio n may 291
not be imposed. If the committee, by majority vote, determines 292
that a violation does not exist then no other action may be 293
taken related to that alleged violation. The role of the 294
committee is limited to determining whether a violation exists 295
and whether to approve confirm or reject the fine or suspension 296
levied by the board. 297
(d) After the hearing, the committee shall provide written 298
notice to the parcel owner at his or her designated mailing or 299
e-mail address in the association's official records a nd, if 300
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applicable, any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the parcel 301
owner, of the committee's findings related to the violation, 302
including any applicable fines or suspensions that the committee 303
approved or rejected, and how the parcel owner or any occupant , 304
licensee, or invitee of the parcel owner may cure the violation. 305
(e) Fines, suspensions, attorney fees, and costs are 306
imposed as follows: 307
1. If a violation is found by the committee, but is cured 308
before the hearing, a fine or suspension may not be im posed and 309
attorney fees and costs may not be awarded. 310
2. If a violation is found and the proposed fine or 311
suspension levied by the board is approved by the committee, the 312
committee must decide, by majority vote, a date that the fine 313
payment is due, which date must be at least 30 days after 314
delivery of the written notice required in paragraph (d). 315
3. If a violation is found and the proposed fine or 316
suspension levied by the board is approved by the committee, but 317
the violation is cured within 30 days afte r delivery of the 318
written notice required in paragraph (d), the fine must be 319
reduced by 50 percent, any applicable suspensions must be 320
lifted, and attorney fees and costs may not be awarded. 321
4. If a violation is found and the proposed fine or 322
suspension levied by the board is approved by the committee and 323
the violation is not cured or the fine is not paid within 30 324
days after delivery of the written notice required in paragraph 325
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(d), reasonable attorney fees and costs may be awarded to the 326
association. 327
(f) A parcel owner or any occupant, licensee, or invitee 328
of the parcel owner may, at any time, make a written request for 329
a detailed accounting of any amounts he or she owes to the 330
association and the board shall provide such information within 331
10 days after receipt of the written request. Failure by the 332
board to respond to a written request for a detailed accounting 333
constitutes a complete waiver of the violation. 334
(g) Upon receipt of a payment for any outstanding fines 335
from a parcel owner or any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the 336
parcel owner, the board must apply the payment first to the fine 337
before satisfying any other amounts due to the association. 338
Attorney fees and costs may not continue to accrue after a 339
parcel owner or any occupant, licensee, or i nvitee of the parcel 340
owner pays the fine. 341
(h) A parcel owner or any occupant, licensee, or invitee 342
of the parcel owner may request a hearing before the board to 343
dispute the reasonableness of the attorney fees and costs 344
awarded to the association 5 days after notice of the approved 345
fine is provided to the parcel owner and, if applicable, to any 346
occupant, licensee, or invitee of the parcel owner. The 347
association must provide written notice of such fine or 348
suspension by mail or hand delivery to the parcel ow ner and, if 349
applicable, to any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the parcel 350
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
owner. 351
(5) All suspensions imposed under pursuant to subsection 352
(3) or subsection (4) must be approved at a properly noticed 353
board meeting. Upon approval, the board association must send 354
written notice to notify the parcel owner and, if applicable, 355
the parcel's occupant, licensee, or invitee by mail or hand 356
delivery to the parcel owner's designated mailing or e -mail 357
address in the association's official records . 358
(7) The failure of the association or committee to comply 359
with this section constitutes a waiver of all fines or 360
suspensions imposed or proposed for a violation. Any fines, 361
fees, or other costs incurred by a parcel owner or any occupant, 362
licensee, or invitee of the parcel owner which is related to a 363
fine that is waived under this subsection must also be waived or 364
paid by the association if such fine, fee, or other cost is not 365
waivable. 366
Section 5. Section 720.3065, Florida Statutes, is created 367
to read: 368
720.3065 Fraudulent voting activities relating to 369
association elections; penalties. —Each of the following acts is 370
a fraudulent voting activity relating to association elections 371
and constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as 372
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083: 373
(1) Willfully and falsely swearing to or affirming an oath 374
or affirmation, or willfully procuring another person to falsely 375
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swear to or affirm an oath or affirmation, in connection with or 376
arising out of voting activities. 377
(2) Perpetrating or attempting to perpetrate, or aiding in 378
the perpetration of, fraud in connection with a vote cast, to be 379
cast, or attempted to be cast. 380
(3) Preventing a member from voting or preventing a member 381
from voting as he or she intended by fraudulently changing o r 382
attempting to change a ballot, ballot envelope, vote, or voting 383
certificate of the member. 384
(4) Menacing, threatening, or using bribery or any other 385
corruption to attempt, directly or indirectly, to influence, 386
deceive, or deter a member when voting. 387
(5) Giving or promising, directly or indirectly, anything 388
of value to another member with the intent to buy the vote of 389
that member or another member or to corruptly influence that 390
member or another member in casting his or her vote. This 391
paragraph does not apply to any food served which is to be 392
consumed at an election rally or a meeting or to any item of 393
nominal value which is used as an election advertisement, 394
including a campaign message designed to be worn by a member. 395
(6) Using or threatening to use, directly or indirectly, 396
force, violence, or intimidation or any tactic of coercion or 397
intimidation to induce or compel a member to vote or refrain 398
from voting in an election or on a particular ballot measure. 399
Section 6. This act shall take effect October 1, 2023. 400