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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
defining the term "kickback"; requiring directors and 21
officers of the association to disclose certain 22
activity to the association within a specified time 23
frame; creating a rebuttable presumption of a conflict 24
of interest if certain acts occur; amending s. 25
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720.305, F.S.; restricting certain attorney fees and 26
fines; specifying the types of violations for which an 27
association may levy fines; providing a maximum 28
aggregate fine amount; prohibiting a fine from 29
becoming a lien on a parcel; revising amount of notice 30
the board of administration must give a parcel owner 31
before imposing a fine or suspension; specifying where 32
such notice must be delivered; providing requirements 33
for such notice; authorizing parcel owners to attend 34
certain hearings by telephone or other electronic 35
means; expanding duties of a specified committee ; 36
requiring a specified notice after a hearing; 37
specifying how fines, suspensions, attorney fees, and 38
costs are determined; requiring a detailed accounting 39
of amounts due to the association be given to certain 40
persons within a certain timeframe upon writte n 41
request; providing for a complete waiver of a 42
violation under certain circumstances; specifying the 43
priority of payments made by a parcel owner to an 44
association; prohibiting the accrual of attorney fees 45
and costs after a specified time; authorizing cert ain 46
persons to request a hearing to dispute certain fees 47
and costs; providing for the waiver of certain fines 48
or suspensions; requiring certain fines, fees, or 49
other costs be paid by an association; conforming 50
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provisions to changes made by the act; creatin g s. 51
720.3065, F.S.; providing criminal penalties for 52
certain fraudulent voting activities; providing an 53
effective date. 54
55
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 56
57
Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Homeowners' 58
Associations Bill of Rights." 59
Section 2. Subsection (1) and paragraph (g) of subsection 60
(4) of section 720.303, Florida Statutes, are amended, and 61
paragraph (d) is added to subsection (8) of that section, to 62
read: 63
720.303 Association powers and duties; meetings of board; 64
official records; budgets; financial reporting; association 65
funds; recalls.— 66
(1) POWERS AND DUTIES. — 67
(a) An association which operates a community as defined 68
in s. 720.301, must be operated by an association that is a 69
Florida corporation. After October 1, 1995, the association must 70
be incorporated and the initial governing documents must be 71
recorded in the official records of the county in which the 72
community is located. An association may operate more than one 73
community. 74
(b)1. The officers and directors of an association have a 75
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fiduciary relationship to the members who are served by the 76
association. 77
2. An officer or a director charged by information or 78
indictment with one of the following crimes must be removed from 79
office, and the vacancy must be filled as provided in s. 80
720.306(9) until the end of the officer's or director's period 81
of suspension or the end of his or her term of office, whichever 82
occurs first: 83
a. Forgery of a ballot envelope or voting certificate used 84
in a homeowners' ass ociation election as provided in s. 831.01. 85
b. Theft or embezzlement of funds of a homeowners' 86
association as provided in s. 812.014. 87
c. Destruction of or the refusal to allow inspection or 88
copying of an official record of a homeowners' association tha t 89
is accessible to parcel owners within the time periods required 90
by general law in furtherance of any crime is tampering with 91
physical evidence as provided in s. 918.13. 92
d. Obstruction of justice under chapter 843. 93
3. If a criminal charge is pending a gainst the officer or 94
director, he or she may not be appointed or elected to a 95
position as an officer or a director of any association and may 96
not have access to the official records of any association, 97
except pursuant to a court order. However, if the cha rges are 98
resolved without a finding of guilt, the officer or director 99
must be reinstated for the remainder of his or her term of 100
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office, if any. 101
(c) The powers and duties of an association include those 102
set forth in this chapter and, except as expressly limited or 103
restricted in this chapter, those set forth in the governing 104
documents. 105
(d) After control of the association is obtained by 106
members other than the developer, the association may institute, 107
maintain, settle, or appeal actions or hearings in its name on 108
behalf of all members concerning matters of common interest to 109
the members, including, but not limited to, the common areas; 110
roof or structural components of a building, or other 111
improvements for which the association is responsible; 112
mechanical, electrical, or plumbing elements serving an 113
improvement or building for which the associ ation is 114
responsible; representations of the developer pertaining to any 115
existing or proposed commonly used facility; and protesting ad 116
valorem taxes on commonly used facilities. The association may 117
defend actions in eminent domain or bring inverse condemn ation 118
actions. Before commencing litigation against any party in the 119
name of the association involving amounts in controversy in 120
excess of $100,000, the association must obtain the affirmative 121
approval of a majority of the voting interests at a meeting of 122
the membership at which a quorum has been attained. This 123
paragraph subsection does not limit any statutory or common -law 124
right of any individual member or class of members to bring any 125
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action without participation by the association. 126
(e) A member does not have authority to act for the 127
association by virtue of being a member. An association may have 128
more than one class of members and may issue membership 129
certificates. 130
(f) An association of 15 or fewer parcel owners may 131
enforce only the requirements of t hose deed restrictions 132
established prior to the purchase of each parcel upon an 133
affected parcel owner or owners. 134
(4) OFFICIAL RECORDS. —The association shall maintain each 135
of the following items, when applicable, which constitute the 136
official records of t he association: 137
(g) A current roster of all members and their designated 138
mailing addresses and parcel identifications. A member's 139
designated mailing address is the member's property address, 140
unless the member has sent written notice to the association 141
requesting that a different mailing address be used for all 142
required notices. The association shall also maintain the e-mail 143
electronic mailing addresses and the facsimile numbers 144
designated by members for receiving notice sent by electronic 145
transmission of those members consenting to receive notice by 146
electronic transmission. A member's e-mail address is the e -mail 147
address the member provided when consenting in writing to 148
receiving notice by electronic transmission unless the member 149
has sent written notice t o the association requesting that a 150
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different e-mail address be used for all required notices. The 151
e-mail electronic mailing addresses and facsimile numbers 152
provided by members unit owners to receive notice by electronic 153
transmission must shall be removed from association records when 154
the member revokes consent to receive notice by electronic 155
transmission is revoked. However, the association is not liable 156
for an erroneous disclosure of the e-mail electronic mail 157
address or the facsimile number for receiving electronic 158
transmission of notices. 159
(8) ASSOCIATION FUNDS; COMMINGLING. — 160
(d) If an association collects a deposit from a member for 161
any reason, including to pay for expenses that may be incurred 162
as a result of construction on a member's parcel, such f unds 163
must be maintained separately and may not be comingled with any 164
other association funds. Upon completion of the member's 165
construction project, or other reason for which the deposit was 166
collected, the member may request an accounting from the 167
association of his or her funds that were deposited and the 168
association must provide such accounting to the member within 7 169
days after the member's request. An association must remit 170
payment of any and all unused funds to the member within 30 days 171
after receiving notice that the member's construction project, 172
or other reason for which the deposit was collected, is 173
complete. 174
Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 720.3033, Florida 175
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Statutes, is amended, and subsection (6) is added to that 176
section, to read: 177
720.3033 Officers and directors. — 178
(3) An officer, a director, or a manager may not solicit, 179
offer to accept, or accept any thing good or service of value 180
for which consideration has not been provided for his or her 181
benefit or for the benefit of a member of his or her immediate 182
family from any person providing or proposing to provide goods 183
or services to the association. An officer, a director, or a 184
manager who knowingly solicits, offers to accept, or accepts any 185
thing or service of value or kickback in an amount less than 186
$1,000 commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as 187
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, or if such value or 188
kickback is $1,000 or more the officer, director, or manager 189
commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided i n 190
s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, and is subject to a civil 191
penalty under s. 718.501(1)(d). For purposes of this subsection, 192
the term "kickback" means remuneration, whether in cash or in 193
kind, paid by or on behalf of a person providing or offering t o 194
provide goods or services to an association, the purpose of 195
which is to influence the performance of an act or omission by 196
such association, when the remuneration is not tax deductible as 197
an ordinary business expense or not supported by consideration 198
of like value. If the board finds that an officer or a director 199
has violated this subsection, the board shall immediately remove 200
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the officer or director from office. The vacancy shall be filled 201
according to law until the end of the officer's or director's 202
term of office. However, an officer, a director, or a manager 203
may accept food to be consumed at a business meeting with a 204
value of less than $25 per individual or a service or good 205
received in connection with trade fairs or education programs. 206
(6) Directors and officers of an association must disclose 207
to the association any activity that may reasonably be construed 208
to be a conflict of interest at least 14 days before voting on 209
an issue or entering into a contract that is the subject of the 210
conflict. A rebuttable presumption of a conflict of interest 211
exists if any of the following acts occur without prior 212
disclosure to the association: 213
(a) A director or an officer, or a relative of a director 214
or an officer, enters into a contract for goods or services with 215
the association. 216
(b) A director or an officer, or a relative of a director 217
or an officer, holds an interest in a corporation, limited 218
liability company, partnership, limited liability partnership, 219
or other business entity that conducts business with the 220
association or proposes to enter into a contract or other 221
transaction with the association. 222
Section 4. Subsections (1), (2), and (5) of section 223
720.305, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (7) is 224
added to that section to read: 225
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720.305 Obligations of members; remedies at law or in 226
equity; levy of fines and suspension of use rights. — 227
(1) Each member and the member's tenants, guests, and 228
invitees, and each association, are governed by, and must comply 229
with, this chapter, the governing document s of the community, 230
and the rules of the association. Actions at law or in equity, 231
or both, to redress alleged failure or refusal to comply with 232
these provisions may be brought by the association or by any 233
member against: 234
(a) The association; 235
(b) A member; 236
(c) Any director or officer of an association who 237
willfully and knowingly fails to comply with these provisions; 238
and 239
(d) Any tenants, guests, or invitees occupying a parcel or 240
using the common areas. 241
242
The prevailing party in any such litigation is entitled to 243
recover reasonable attorney fees and costs as provided in 244
paragraph (2)(e). A member prevailing in an action between the 245
association and the member under this section, in addition to 246
recovering his or her reasonable attorney fees, may recover 247
additional amounts as determined by the court to be necessary to 248
reimburse the member for his or her share of assessments levied 249
by the association to fund its expenses of the litigation. This 250
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relief does not exclude other remedies provided by law. This 251
section does not deprive any person of any other available right 252
or remedy. 253
(2) An association may levy reasonable fines for 254
violations of the declaration, association's bylaws, or 255
reasonable rules of the association . A fine may not exceed $100 256
per violation against any member or any member's tenant, guest, 257
or invitee for the failure of the owner of the parcel or its 258
occupant, licensee, or invitee to comply with any provision of 259
the declaration, the association bylaws, or reasonable rules of 260
the association unless otherwise provided in the governing 261
documents. A fine may be levied by the board for each day of a 262
continuing violation, with a single notice and opportunity for 263
hearing, except that the fine may not exceed $1,000 in the 264
aggregate unless otherwise provided in the governing documents . 265
A fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien against a 266
parcel. In any action to recover a fine, the prevailing party is 267
entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs from the 268
nonprevailing party as provided in paragraph (e) determined by 269
the court. 270
(a) An association may suspend, for a reasonable period of 271
time, the right of a member, or a member's tenant, guest, or 272
invitee, to use common areas and facilities for the failure of 273
the owner of the parcel or its occup ant, licensee, or invitee to 274
comply with any provision of the declaration, the association 275
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bylaws, or reasonable rules of the association. This paragraph 276
does not apply to that portion of common areas used to provide 277
access or utility services to the parce l. A suspension may not 278
prohibit an owner or tenant of a parcel from having vehicular 279
and pedestrian ingress to and egress from the parcel, including, 280
but not limited to, the right to park. 281
(b) A fine or suspension levied for a violation by the 282
board of administration may not be imposed unless the board 283
first provides at least 30 14 days' notice to the parcel owner 284
at his or her designated mailing or e -mail address in the 285
association's official records and, if applicable, any occupant, 286
licensee, or invitee of the parcel owner, sought to be fined or 287
suspended and an opportunity for a hearing before a committee of 288
at least three members appointed by the board who are not 289
officers, directors, or employees of the association, or the 290
spouse, parent, child, brot her, or sister of an officer, 291
director, or employee. The notice must include a description of 292
the alleged violation, the specific action required to cure such 293
violation, and the date and location of the hearing. A parcel 294
owner has the right to attend a hea ring by telephone or other 295
electronic means. 296
(c) If the committee, by majority vote, does not approve a 297
proposed fine or suspension, the proposed fine or suspension may 298
not be imposed. If the committee, by majority vote, determines 299
that a violation does not exist then no other action may be 300
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taken related to that alleged violation. The role of the 301
committee is limited to determining whether a violation exists 302
and whether to approve confirm or reject the fine or suspension 303
levied by the board. 304
(d) After the hearing, the committee shall provide written 305
notice to the parcel owner at his or her designated mailing or 306
e-mail address in the association's official records and, if 307
applicable, any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the parcel 308
owner, of the committee 's findings related to the violation, 309
including any applicable fines or suspensions that the committee 310
approved or rejected, and how the parcel owner or any occupant, 311
licensee, or invitee of the parcel owner may cure the violation. 312
(e) Fines, suspensions , attorney fees, and costs are 313
imposed as follows: 314
1. If a violation is found by the committee, but is cured 315
before the hearing, a fine or suspension may not be imposed and 316
attorney fees and costs may not be awarded. 317
2. If a violation is found and the proposed fine or 318
suspension levied by the board is approved by the committee, the 319
committee must decide, by majority vote, a date that the fine 320
payment is due, which date must be at least 30 days after 321
delivery of the written notice required in paragr aph (d). 322
3. If a violation is found and the proposed fine or 323
suspension levied by the board is approved by the committee, but 324
the violation is cured within 30 days after delivery of the 325
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written notice required in paragraph (d), the fine must be 326
reduced by 50 percent, any applicable suspensions must be 327
lifted, and attorney fees and costs may not be awarded. 328
4. If a violation is found and the proposed fine or 329
suspension levied by the board is approved by the committee and 330
the violation is not cured or the fine is not paid within 30 331
days after delivery of the written notice required in paragraph 332
(d), reasonable attorney fees and costs may be awarded to the 333
association. 334
(f) A parcel owner or any occupant, licensee, or invitee 335
of the parcel owner may, at an y time, make a written request for 336
a detailed accounting of any amounts he or she owes to the 337
association and the board shall provide such information within 338
10 days after receipt of the written request. Failure by the 339
board to respond to a written request for a detailed accounting 340
constitutes a complete waiver of the violation. 341
(g) Upon receipt of a payment for any outstanding fines 342
from a parcel owner or any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the 343
parcel owner, the board must apply the payment first to th e fine 344
before satisfying any other amounts due to the association. 345
Attorney fees and costs may not continue to accrue after a 346
parcel owner or any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the parcel 347
owner pays the fine. 348
(h) A parcel owner or any occupant, licens ee, or invitee 349
of the parcel owner may request a hearing before the board to 350
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dispute the reasonableness of the attorney fees and costs 351
awarded to the association 5 days after notice of the approved 352
fine is provided to the parcel owner and, if applicable, t o any 353
occupant, licensee, or invitee of the parcel owner. The 354
association must provide written notice of such fine or 355
suspension by mail or hand delivery to the parcel owner and, if 356
applicable, to any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the parcel 357
owner. 358
(5) All suspensions imposed under pursuant to subsection 359
(3) or subsection (4) must be approved at a properly noticed 360
board meeting. Upon approval, the board association must send 361
written notice to notify the parcel owner and, if applicable, 362
the parcel's occupant, licensee, or invitee by mail or hand 363
delivery to the parcel owner's designated mailing or e -mail 364
address in the association's official records . 365
(7) The failure of the association or committee to comply 366
with this section constitutes a waiver of all fines or 367
suspensions imposed or proposed for a violation. Any fines, 368
fees, or other costs incurred by a parcel owner or any occupant, 369
licensee, or invitee of the parcel owner which is related to a 370
fine that is waived under this subsection must also be waived or 371
paid by the association if such fine, fee, or other cost is not 372
waivable. 373
Section 5. Section 720.3065, Florida Statutes, is created 374
to read: 375
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720.3065 Fraudulent voting activities relating to 376
association elections; penalties. —Each of the following acts is 377
a fraudulent voting activity relating to association elections 378
and constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as 379
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083: 380
(1) Willfully and falsely swearing to or affirming an oath 381
or affirmation, or willfully procuring another person to falsely 382
swear to or affirm an oath or affirmation, in connection with or 383
arising out of voting activities. 384
(2) Perpetrating or attempting to perpetrate, or aiding in 385
the perpetration of, fraud in connection with a vote cast, to be 386
cast, or attempted to be cast. 387
(3) Preventing a member from voting or preventing a member 388
from voting as he or she intended by fraudulently changing or 389
attempting to change a ballot, ballot envelope, vote, or voting 390
certificate of the member. 391
(4) Menacing, threatening, or using bribery or any other 392
corruption to attempt, directly or indirectly, to influence, 393
deceive, or deter a member when voting. 394
(5) Giving or promising, directly or indirectly, anything 395
of value to another member with the intent to buy the vote of 396
that member or another member or to corruptly influence that 397
member or another member in casting his or her vote. This 398
paragraph does not apply to any food served which is to be 399
consumed at an election rally or a meeting or to any item of 400
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nominal value which is used as an election advertisement, 401
including a campaign message designed to be worn by a member. 402
(6) Using or threatening to use, directly or indirectly, 403
force, violence, or intimidation or any tactic of coercion or 404
intimidation to induce or compel a member to vote or refrain 405
from voting in an election or on a particular ballot measure. 406
Section 6. This act shall take effect October 1, 2023. 407