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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
1
An act relating to homeowners' associations; providing 2
a short title; amending s. 720.303, F.S.; requiring 3
that notices for board meetings specifically identify 4
agenda items; requiring an association to maintain 5
designated addresses as official records; specifying 6
what constitutes a designated address; conforming 7
provisions to changes made by the act; prohibiting 8
certain funds from being commingled with other 9
association funds; authorizing a member to request an 10
accounting from an association under certain 11
circumstances; requiring an association to provide 12
such accounting and remit unused funds to the member 13
within specified timeframes; amending s. 720.3033, 14
F.S.; providing civil penalties for certain actions by 15
officers, directors, or managers of an association; 16
revising the circumstances under which a director or 17
an officer must be removed from office after being 18
charged by information or indictment; prohibiting s uch 19
officers and directors with pending criminal charges 20
from accessing the official records of any 21
association; providing an exception; requiring certain 22
directors and officers to make a specified disclosure; 23
specifying that the appointment of officers or 24
directors by a developer does not create a presumption 25
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of a conflict of interest for such officers or 26
directors; requiring directors and officers of the 27
association to disclose certain activity and 28
relationships to the association within a specified 29
timeframe; creating a rebuttable presumption of a 30
conflict of interest if certain acts occur; amending 31
s. 720.305, F.S.; restricting certain attorney fees 32
and fines; specifying the types of violations for 33
which an association may levy fines; specifying where 34
certain notice must be delivered; providing 35
requirements for such notice; authorizing parcel 36
owners to attend certain hearings by telephone or 37
other electronic means; requiring a specified notice 38
after a hearing; conforming provisions to changes made 39
by the act; creating s. 720.3065, F.S.; providing 40
criminal penalties for certain fraudulent voting 41
activities; providing an effective date. 42
43
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 44
45
Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Homeowners' 46
Associations Bill of Rights." 47
Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) and paragraph 48
(g) of subsection (4) of section 720.303, Florida Statutes, are 49
amended, and paragraph (d) is added to subsection (8) of that 50
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section, to read: 51
720.303 Association p owers and duties; meetings of board; 52
official records; budgets; financial reporting; association 53
funds; recalls.— 54
(2) BOARD MEETINGS. — 55
(c) The bylaws shall provide the following for giving 56
notice to parcel owners and members of all board meetings and, 57
if they do not do so, shall be deemed to include the following: 58
1. Notices of all board meetings must specifically 59
identify agenda items for the meetings and must be posted in a 60
conspicuous place in the community at least 48 hours in advance 61
of a meeting, except in an emergency. In the alternative, if 62
notice is not posted in a conspicuous place in the community, 63
notice of each board meeting must be mailed or delivered to each 64
member at least 7 days before the meeting, except in an 65
emergency. Notwithstandi ng this general notice requirement, for 66
communities with more than 100 members, the association bylaws 67
may provide for a reasonable alternative to posting or mailing 68
of notice for each board meeting, including publication of 69
notice, provision of a schedule of board meetings, or the 70
conspicuous posting and repeated broadcasting of the notice on a 71
closed-circuit cable television system serving the homeowners' 72
association. However, if broadcast notice is used in lieu of a 73
notice posted physically in the commun ity, the notice must be 74
broadcast at least four times every broadcast hour of each day 75
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that a posted notice is otherwise required. When broadcast 76
notice is provided, the notice and agenda must be broadcast in a 77
manner and for a sufficient continuous length of time so as to 78
allow an average reader to observe the notice and read and 79
comprehend the entire content of the notice and the agenda. In 80
addition to any of the authorized means of providing notice of a 81
meeting of the board, the association may, by rule, adopt a 82
procedure for conspicuously posting the meeting notice and the 83
agenda on the association's website or an application that can 84
be downloaded on a mobile device for at least the minimum period 85
of time for which a notice of a meeting is also required to be 86
physically posted on the association property. Any rule adopted 87
must, in addition to other matters, include a requirement that 88
the association send an electronic notice to members whose e -89
mail addresses are included in the association's official 90
records in the same manner as is required for a notice of a 91
meeting of the members. Such notice must include a hyperlink to 92
the website or such mobile application on which the meeting 93
notice is posted. The association may provide notice by 94
electronic transmission in a manner authorized by law for 95
meetings of the board of directors, committee meetings requiring 96
notice under this section, and annual and special meetings of 97
the members to any member who has provided a facsimile number or 98
e-mail address to the ass ociation to be used for such purposes; 99
however, a member must consent in writing to receiving notice by 100
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electronic transmission. 101
2. An assessment may not be levied at a board meeting 102
unless the notice of the meeting includes a statement that 103
assessments will be considered and the nature of the 104
assessments. Written notice of any meeting at which special 105
assessments will be considered or at which amendments to rules 106
regarding parcel use will be considered must be mailed, 107
delivered, or electronically transmi tted to the members and 108
parcel owners and posted conspicuously on the property or 109
broadcast on closed-circuit cable television not less than 14 110
days before the meeting. 111
3. Directors may not vote by proxy or by secret ballot at 112
board meetings, except that secret ballots may be used in the 113
election of officers. This subsection also applies to the 114
meetings of any committee or other similar body, when a final 115
decision will be made regarding the expenditure of association 116
funds, and to any body vested with the power to approve or 117
disapprove architectural decisions with respect to a specific 118
parcel of residential property owned by a member of the 119
community. 120
(4) OFFICIAL RECORDS. —The association shall maintain each 121
of the following items, when applicable, which constitute the 122
official records of the association: 123
(g) A current roster of all members and their designated 124
mailing addresses and parcel identifications. A member's 125
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designated mailing address is the member's property address, 126
unless the member has sent written notice to the association 127
requesting that a different mailing address be used for all 128
required notices. The association shall also maintain the e-mail 129
electronic mailing addresses and the facsimile numbers 130
designated by members for receiving notic e sent by electronic 131
transmission of those members consenting to receive notice by 132
electronic transmission. A member's e-mail address is the e -mail 133
address the member provided when consenting in writing to 134
receiving notice by electronic transmission, unles s the member 135
has sent written notice to the association requesting that a 136
different e-mail address be used for all required notices. The 137
e-mail electronic mailing addresses and facsimile numbers 138
provided by members unit owners to receive notice by electron ic 139
transmission must shall be removed from association records when 140
the member revokes consent to receive notice by electronic 141
transmission is revoked. However, the association is not liable 142
for an erroneous disclosure of the e-mail electronic mail 143
address or the facsimile number for receiving electronic 144
transmission of notices. 145
(8) ASSOCIATION FUNDS; COMMINGLING. — 146
(d) If an association collects a deposit from a member for 147
any reason, including to pay for expenses that may be incurred 148
as a result of construction on a member's parcel, such funds 149
must be maintained separately and may not be commingled with any 150
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other association funds. Upon completion of the member's 151
construction project or other reason for which the deposit was 152
collected, the member may re quest an accounting from the 153
association of his or her funds that were deposited, and the 154
association must provide such accounting to the member within 7 155
days after receiving the member's request. An association must 156
remit payment of any unused funds to th e member within 30 days 157
after receiving notice that the member's construction project, 158
or other reason for which the deposit was collected, is 159
complete. 160
Section 3. Subsections (3) and (4) of section 720.3033, 161
Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (6) is added to 162
that section, to read: 163
720.3033 Officers and directors. — 164
(3) An officer, a director, or a manager may not solicit, 165
offer to accept, or accept any thing good or service of value 166
for which consideration has not been provided for his or her 167
benefit or for the benefit of a member of his or her immediate 168
family from any person providing or proposing to provide goods 169
or services to the association. An officer, a director, or a 170
manager who knowingly solicits, offers to accept, or accepts any 171
thing or service of value or kickback for which consideration 172
has not been provided for his or her own benefit or that of his 173
or her immediate family from any person providing or proposing 174
to provide goods or ser vices to the association is subject to 175
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monetary damages under s. 617.0834. If the board finds that an 176
officer or a director has violated this subsection, the board 177
shall immediately remove the officer or director from office. 178
The vacancy shall be filled ac cording to law until the end of 179
the officer's or director's term of office. However, an officer, 180
a director, or a manager may accept food to be consumed at a 181
business meeting with a value of less than $25 per individual or 182
a service or good received in con nection with trade fairs or 183
education programs. 184
(4)(a) A director or an officer charged by information or 185
indictment with any of the following crimes must be removed from 186
office: 187
1. Forgery of a ballot envelope or voting certificate used 188
in a homeowners' association election as provided in s. 831.01. 189
2. Theft or embezzlement involving the association's funds 190
or property as provided in s. 812.014. 191
3. Destruction of or the refusal to allow inspection or 192
copying of an official record of a home owners' association which 193
is accessible to parcel owners within the time periods required 194
by general law, in furtherance of any crime. Such act 195
constitutes tampering with physical evidence as provided in s. 196
918.13. 197
4. Obstruction of justice as provided i n chapter 843. 198
(b) a felony theft or embezzlement offense involving the 199
association's funds or property is removed from office. The 200
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board shall fill the vacancy as provided in s. 720.306(9) 201
according to general law until the end of the period of the 202
suspension or the end of the director's term of office, 203
whichever occurs first. If such criminal charge is pending 204
against the officer or director, he or she may not be appointed 205
or elected to a position as an officer or a director of any 206
association and may n ot have access to the official records of 207
any association, except pursuant to a court order. However, if 208
the charges are resolved without a finding of guilt or without 209
acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, the director 210
or officer shall be rein stated for any remainder of his or her 211
term of office. A member who has such criminal charges pending 212
may not be appointed or elected to a position as a director or 213
officer. 214
(6)(a) Directors and officers of an association who are 215
appointed by the develop er must disclose to the association 216
their relationship to the developer each calendar year in which 217
they serve as a director or an officer. Directors and officers 218
appointed by the developer must disclose any other activity that 219
may reasonably be construed to be a conflict of interest 220
pursuant to paragraph (b). A developer's appointment of an 221
officer or director does not create a presumption that the 222
officer or director has a conflict of interest with regard to 223
the performance of his or her official duties. 224
(b) Directors and officers must disclose to the 225
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association any activity that may be reasonably construed to be 226
a conflict of interest at least 14 days before voting on an 227
issue or entering into a contract that is the subject of the 228
conflict. A rebuttabl e presumption of a conflict of interest 229
exists if any of the following acts occur without prior 230
disclosure to the association: 231
1. A director or an officer, or a relative of a director 232
or an officer, enters into a contract for goods or services with 233
the association. 234
2. A director or an officer, or a relative of a director 235
or an officer, holds an interest in a corporation, limited 236
liability company, partnership, limited liability partnership, 237
or other business entity that conducts business with the 238
association or proposes to enter into a contract or other 239
transaction with the association. 240
Section 4. Subsections (1), (2), and (5) of section 241
720.305, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 242
720.305 Obligations of members; remedies at law or in 243
equity; levy of fines and suspension of use rights. — 244
(1) Each member and the member's tenants, guests, and 245
invitees, and each association, are governed by, and must comply 246
with, this chapter, the governing documents of the community, 247
and the rules of the associati on. Actions at law or in equity, 248
or both, to redress alleged failure or refusal to comply with 249
these provisions may be brought by the association or by any 250
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member against: 251
(a) The association; 252
(b) A member; 253
(c) Any director or officer of an associati on who 254
willfully and knowingly fails to comply with these provisions; 255
and 256
(d) Any tenants, guests, or invitees occupying a parcel or 257
using the common areas. 258
259
The prevailing party in any such litigation is entitled to 260
recover reasonable attorney fees and costs as provided in 261
paragraph (2)(e). A member prevailing in an action between the 262
association and the member under this section, in addition to 263
recovering his or her reasonable attorney fees, may recover 264
additional amounts as determined by the court to b e necessary to 265
reimburse the member for his or her share of assessments levied 266
by the association to fund its expenses of the litigation. This 267
relief does not exclude other remedies provided by law. This 268
section does not deprive any person of any other ava ilable right 269
or remedy. 270
(2) An association may levy reasonable fines for 271
violations of the declaration, association bylaws, or reasonable 272
rules of the association . A fine may not exceed $100 per 273
violation against any member or any member's tenant, guest, or 274
invitee for the failure of the owner of the parcel or its 275
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occupant, licensee, or invitee to comply with any provision of 276
the declaration, the association bylaws, or reasonable rules of 277
the association unless otherwise provided in the governing 278
documents. A fine may be levied by the board for each day of a 279
continuing violation, with a single notice and opportunity for 280
hearing, except that the fine may not exceed $1,000 in the 281
aggregate unless otherwise provided in the governing documents. 282
A fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien against a 283
parcel. In any action to recover a fine, the prevailing party is 284
entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs from the 285
nonprevailing party as determined by the court. 286
(a) An association may suspend, for a rea sonable period of 287
time, the right of a member, or a member's tenant, guest, or 288
invitee, to use common areas and facilities for the failure of 289
the owner of the parcel or its occupant, licensee, or invitee to 290
comply with any provision of the declaration, the association 291
bylaws, or reasonable rules of the association. This paragraph 292
does not apply to that portion of common areas used to provide 293
access or utility services to the parcel. A suspension may not 294
prohibit an owner or tenant of a parcel from having ve hicular 295
and pedestrian ingress to and egress from the parcel, including, 296
but not limited to, the right to park. 297
(b) A fine or suspension levied by the board of 298
administration may not be imposed unless the board first 299
provides at least 14 days' notice to the parcel owner at his or 300
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her designated mailing or e -mail address in the association's 301
official records and, if applicable, any occupant, licensee, or 302
invitee of the parcel owner, sought to be fined or suspended and 303
an opportunity for a hearing before a committee of at least 304
three members appointed by the board who are not officers, 305
directors, or employees of the association, or the spouse, 306
parent, child, brother, or sister of an officer, director, or 307
employee. The notice must include a description of the alleged 308
violation, the specific action required to cure such violation, 309
if applicable, and the date and location of the hearing. A 310
parcel owner has the right to attend a hearing by telephone or 311
other electronic means. 312
(c) If the committee, by majority v ote, does not approve a 313
proposed fine or suspension, the proposed fine or suspension may 314
not be imposed. The role of the committee is limited to 315
determining whether to confirm or reject the fine or suspension 316
levied by the board. 317
(d) After the hearing, t he committee shall provide written 318
notice to the parcel owner at his or her designated mailing or 319
e-mail address in the association's official records and, if 320
applicable, any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the parcel 321
owner, of the committee's findings r elated to the violation, 322
including any applicable fines or suspensions that the committee 323
approved or rejected, and how the parcel owner or any occupant, 324
licensee, or invitee of the parcel owner may cure the violation, 325
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if applicable. 326
(e) If the proposed fine or suspension levied by the board 327
is approved by the committee by a majority vote, the fine 328
payment is due 5 days after notice of the approved fine required 329
under paragraph (d) is provided to the parcel owner and, if 330
applicable, to any occupant, licen see, or invitee of the parcel 331
owner. The association must provide written notice of such fine 332
or suspension by mail or hand delivery to the parcel owner and, 333
if applicable, to any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the 334
parcel owner. 335
(5) All suspensions im posed under pursuant to subsection 336
(3) or subsection (4) must be approved at a properly noticed 337
board meeting. Upon approval, the board association must send 338
written notice to notify the parcel owner and, if applicable, 339
the parcel's occupant, licensee, or invitee by mail or hand 340
delivery to the parcel owner's designated mailing or e -mail 341
address in the association's official records . 342
Section 5. Section 720.3065, Florida Statutes, is created 343
to read: 344
720.3065 Fraudulent voting activities relating to 345
association elections; penalties. —Each of the following acts is 346
a fraudulent voting activity relating to association elections 347
and constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as 348
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083: 349
(1) Willfully and falsel y swearing to or affirming an oath 350
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or affirmation, or willfully procuring another person to falsely 351
swear to or affirm an oath or affirmation, in connection with or 352
arising out of voting activities. 353
(2) Perpetrating or attempting to perpetrate, or aiding in 354
the perpetration of, fraud in connection with a vote cast, to be 355
cast, or attempted to be cast. 356
(3) Preventing a member from voting or preventing a member 357
from voting as he or she intended by fraudulently changing or 358
attempting to change a ballot, ba llot envelope, vote, or voting 359
certificate of the member. 360
(4) Menacing, threatening, or using bribery or any other 361
corruption to attempt, directly or indirectly, to influence, 362
deceive, or deter a member when the member is voting. 363
(5) Giving or promisin g, directly or indirectly, anything 364
of value to another member with the intent to buy the vote of 365
that member or another member or to corruptly influence that 366
member or another member in casting his or her vote. This 367
subsection does not apply to any food s erved which is to be 368
consumed at an election rally or a meeting or to any item of 369
nominal value which is used as an election advertisement, 370
including a campaign message designed to be worn by a member. 371
(6) Using or threatening to use, directly or indirec tly, 372
force, violence, or intimidation or any tactic of coercion or 373
intimidation to induce or compel a member to vote or refrain 374
from voting in an election or on a particular ballot measure. 375
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Section 6. This act shall take effect October 1, 2023. 376