Florida 2024 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1243 Introduced / Bill

Filed 01/04/2024

                       
 
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A bill to be entitled 1 
An act relating to homeowners' associations; amending 2 
s. 468.4334, F.S.; providing requirements for certain 3 
community association managers and community 4 
association management firms; amending s. 468.4337, 5 
F.S.; requiring certain community association manag ers 6 
to take a specific number of hours of continuing 7 
education biennially; amending s. 720.303, F.S.; 8 
requiring official records of a homeowners' 9 
association to be maintained for a certain number of 10 
years; requiring an association to post certain 11 
documents on its website or make such documents 12 
available through an application by a date certain; 13 
providing requirements for an association's website or 14 
application; requiring an association to provide 15 
certain information to parcel owners upon request; 16 
requiring an association to ensure certain information 17 
and records are not accessible on the website or 18 
application; providing that an association or its 19 
agent is not liable for the disclosure of certain 20 
information; requiring an association to adopt certain 21 
rules; requiring an association to provide or make 22 
available subpoenaed records within a certain 23 
timeframe; requiring an association to assist in a law 24 
enforcement investigation as allowed by law; requiring 25     
 
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that certain associations use an independent certified 26 
public accountant to prepare its annual budget; 27 
requiring certain associations to retain an attorney 28 
for certain purposes; prohibiting certain persons from 29 
acting as the accountant or attorney; amending s. 30 
720.3033, F.S.; providing education requirements fo r 31 
newly elected or appointed directors; providing 32 
requirements for the educational curriculum; requiring 33 
certain newly elected or appointed directors to 34 
complete a certain number of hours of continuing 35 
education annually; requiring the Department of 36 
Business and Professional Regulation to adopt certain 37 
rules; providing criminal penalties for certain 38 
actions by an officer, a director, or a manager of an 39 
association; amending s. 720.3035, F.S.; requiring an 40 
association or any architectural, construction 41 
improvement, or other such similar committee of an 42 
association to apply and enforce certain standards 43 
reasonably and equitably; requiring an association or 44 
any architectural, construction improvement, or other 45 
such similar committee of an association to provide 46 
certain written notice to a parcel owner; amending s. 47 
720.3085, F.S.; conforming a cross -reference; 48 
providing an effective date. 49 
 50     
 
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 51 
 52 
 Section 1.  Subsection (3) is added to section 468.4334, 53 
Florida Statutes, to read: 54 
 468.4334  Professional practice standards; liability ; 55 
community association manager requirements .— 56 
 (3)  A community association manager or community 57 
association management firm that is authorized by contract to 58 
provide community association management services to a 59 
homeowners' association must do all of the following: 60 
 (a)  Attend in person at least one member meeting or board 61 
meeting of the homeowners' association annually. 62 
 (b)  Provide to the members of the homeowners' associat ion 63 
the name and contact information for each community association 64 
manager or representative of a community association management 65 
firm assigned to the homeowners' association, the manager's or 66 
representative's hours of availability, and a summary of the 67 
duties for which the manager or representative is responsible. 68 
The homeowners' association must also post this information on 69 
the association's website or application required under s. 70 
720.303(4)(b). The community association manager or community 71 
association management firm must update the homeowners' 72 
association and its members within 14 business days after any 73 
change to such information. 74 
 (c)  Provide to any member upon request a copy of the 75     
 
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contract between the community association manager or community 76 
association management firm and the homeowners' association and 77 
include such contract with association's governing documents. 78 
 Section 2.  Section 468.4337, Florida Statutes, is amended 79 
to read: 80 
 468.4337  Continuing education. —The department may not 81 
renew a license until the licensee submits proof that the 82 
licensee has completed the requisite hours of continuing 83 
education. No more than 10 hours of continuing education 84 
annually shall be required for renewal of a license. The number 85 
of continuing education hours, criteria, and course content 86 
shall be approved by the council by rule. The council may not 87 
require more than 10 hours of continuing education annually for 88 
renewal of a license. A community association manager who 89 
provides community association mana gement services to a 90 
homeowners' association must biennially complete at least 5 91 
hours of continuing education that pertains specifically to 92 
homeowners' associations, 3 hours of which must relate to 93 
recordkeeping. 94 
 Section 3.  Subsections (4) and (5) and paragraphs (a), 95 
(d), and (f) of subsection (6) of section 720.303, Florida 96 
Statutes, are amended to read: 97 
 720.303  Association powers and duties; meetings of board; 98 
official records; budgets; financial reporting; association 99 
funds; recalls.— 100     
 
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 (4)  OFFICIAL RECORDS.— 101 
 (a) The association shall maintain each of the following 102 
items, when applicable, for at least 7 years, unless the 103 
governing documents of the association require a longer period 104 
of time, which constitute the official records of the 105 
association: 106 
 1.(a) Copies of any plans, specifications, permits, and 107 
warranties related to improvements constructed on the common 108 
areas or other property that the association is obligated to 109 
maintain, repair, or replace. 110 
 2.(b) A copy of the bylaws of the association and of each 111 
amendment to the bylaws. 112 
 3.(c) A copy of the articles of incorporation of the 113 
association and of each amendment thereto. 114 
 4.(d) A copy of the declaration of covenants and a copy of 115 
each amendment thereto. 116 
 5.(e) A copy of the current rules of the homeowners' 117 
association. 118 
 6.(f) The minutes of all meetings of the board of 119 
directors and of the members , which minutes must be retained for 120 
at least 7 years. 121 
 7.(g) A current roster of all members and the ir designated 122 
mailing addresses and parcel identifications. A member's 123 
designated mailing address is the member's property address, 124 
unless the member has sent written notice to the association 125     
 
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requesting that a different mailing address be used for all 126 
required notices. The association shall also maintain the e -mail 127 
addresses and the facsimile numbers designated by members for 128 
receiving notice sent by electronic transmission of those 129 
members consenting to receive notice by electronic transmission. 130 
A member's e-mail address is the e -mail address the member 131 
provided when consenting in writing to receiving notice by 132 
electronic transmission, unless the member has sent written 133 
notice to the association requesting that a different e -mail 134 
address be used for all re quired notices. The e -mail addresses 135 
and facsimile numbers provided by members to receive notice by 136 
electronic transmission must be removed from association records 137 
when the member revokes consent to receive notice by electronic 138 
transmission. However, the association is not liable for an 139 
erroneous disclosure of the e -mail address or the facsimile 140 
number for receiving electronic transmission of notices. 141 
 8.(h) All of the association's insurance policies or a 142 
copy thereof, which policies must be retained for at least 7 143 
years. 144 
 9.(i) A current copy of all contracts to which the 145 
association is a party, including, without limitation, any 146 
management agreement, lease, or other contract under which the 147 
association has any obligation or responsibility. Bids receive d 148 
by the association for work to be performed are must also be 149 
considered official records and must be kept for a period of 1 150     
 
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year. 151 
 10.(j) The financial and accounting records of the 152 
association, kept according to good accounting practices. All 153 
financial and accounting records must be maintained for a period 154 
of at least 7 years. The financial and accounting records must 155 
include: 156 
 a.1. Accurate, itemized, and detailed records of all 157 
receipts and expenditures. 158 
 b.2.  A current account and a periodic statem ent of the 159 
account for each member, designating the name and current 160 
address of each member who is obligated to pay assessments, the 161 
due date and amount of each assessment or other charge against 162 
the member, the date and amount of each payment on the accou nt, 163 
and the balance due. 164 
 c.3. All tax returns, financial statements, and financial 165 
reports of the association. 166 
 d.4. Any other records that identify, measure, record, or 167 
communicate financial information. 168 
 11.(k) A copy of the disclosure summary descri bed in s. 169 
720.401(1). 170 
 12.(l) Ballots, sign-in sheets, voting proxies, and all 171 
other papers and electronic records relating to voting by parcel 172 
owners, which must be maintained for at least 1 year after the 173 
date of the election, vote, or meeting. 174 
 13.(m) All affirmative acknowledgments made pursuant to s. 175     
 
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720.3085(3)(c)3. 176 
 14.(n) All other written records of the association not 177 
specifically included in this subsection which are related to 178 
the operation of the association. 179 
 (b)1.  By January 1, 2025, an association shall post a 180 
current digital copy of the documents specified in paragraph (a) 181 
on its website or make such documents available through an 182 
application that can be downloaded on a mobile device. 183 
 2.  The association's website or application must b e 184 
accessible through the Internet and must contain a subpage, web 185 
portal, or other protected electronic location that is 186 
inaccessible to the general public and accessible only to parcel 187 
owners and employees of the association. 188 
 3.  Upon written request by a parcel owner, the association 189 
must provide the parcel owner with a username and password and 190 
access to the protected sections of the association's website or 191 
application which contains the official documents of the 192 
association. 193 
 4.  The association shall ensure that the information and 194 
records described in paragraph (5)(d), which are not allowed to 195 
be accessible to parcel owners, are not posted on the 196 
association's website or application. If protected information 197 
or information restricted from being acces sible to parcel owners 198 
is included in documents that are required to be posted on the 199 
association's website or application, the association must 200     
 
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ensure the information is redacted before posting the documents. 201 
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the association or its authorized 202 
agent is not liable for disclosing information that is protected 203 
or restricted under paragraph (5)(d) unless such disclosure was 204 
made with a knowing or intentional disregard of the protected or 205 
restricted nature of such information. 206 
 (c) The association shall adopt written rules governing 207 
the method or policy by which the official records of the 208 
association are to be retained and for how long such records 209 
must be retained. Such information must be made available to the 210 
parcel owners through the association's website or application. 211 
 (5)  INSPECTION AND COPYING OF RECORDS. —Unless otherwise 212 
provided by law or the governing documents of the association, 213 
the official records must shall be maintained within the state 214 
for at least 7 years and shall be made available to a parcel 215 
owner for inspection or photocopying within 45 miles of the 216 
community or within the county in which the association is 217 
located within 10 business days after receipt by the board or 218 
its designee of a written request from the parcel owner. This 219 
subsection may be complied with by having a copy of the official 220 
records available for inspection or copying in the community or , 221 
at the option of the association, by making the records 222 
available to a parcel owner electronically via t he association's 223 
website or application Internet or by allowing the records to be 224 
viewed in electronic format on a computer screen and printed 225     
 
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upon request. If the association has a photocopy machine 226 
available where the records are maintained, it must prov ide 227 
parcel owners with copies on request during the inspection if 228 
the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages. An 229 
association shall allow a member or his or her authorized 230 
representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, 231 
tablet, portable scanner, or any other technology capable of 232 
scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of 233 
the official records in lieu of the association's providing the 234 
member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of 235 
such records. The association may not charge a fee to a member 236 
or his or her authorized representative for the use of a 237 
portable device. 238 
 (a)  The failure of an association to provide access to the 239 
records within 10 business days after receipt of a written 240 
request submitted by certified mail, return receipt requested, 241 
creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully 242 
failed to comply with this subsection. 243 
 (b)  A member who is denied access to official records is 244 
entitled to the actual damages or minimum dam ages for the 245 
association's willful failure to comply with this subsection. 246 
The minimum damages are to be $50 per calendar day up to 10 247 
days, the calculation to begin on the 11th business day after 248 
receipt of the written request. 249 
 (c)  The association may a dopt reasonable written rules 250     
 
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governing the frequency, time, location, notice, records to be 251 
inspected, and manner of inspections, but may not require a 252 
parcel owner to demonstrate any proper purpose for the 253 
inspection, state any reason for the inspection, or limit a 254 
parcel owner's right to inspect records to less than one 8 -hour 255 
business day per month. The association may impose fees to cover 256 
the costs of providing copies of the official records, including 257 
the costs of copying and the costs required for pe rsonnel to 258 
retrieve and copy the records if the time spent retrieving and 259 
copying the records exceeds one -half hour and if the personnel 260 
costs do not exceed $20 per hour. Personnel costs may not be 261 
charged for records requests that result in the copying of 25 or 262 
fewer pages. The association may charge up to 25 cents per page 263 
for copies made on the association's photocopier. If the 264 
association does not have a photocopy machine available where 265 
the records are kept, or if the records requested to be copied 266 
exceed 25 pages in length, the association may have copies made 267 
by an outside duplicating service and may charge the actual cost 268 
of copying, as supported by the vendor invoice. The association 269 
shall maintain an adequate number of copies of the recorded 270 
governing documents, to ensure their availability to members and 271 
prospective members. 272 
 (d) Notwithstanding this subsection paragraph, the 273 
following records are not accessible to members or parcel 274 
owners: 275     
 
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 1.  Any record protected by the lawyer -client privilege as 276 
described in s. 90.502 and any record protected by the work -277 
product privilege, including, but not limited to, a record 278 
prepared by an association attorney or prepared at the 279 
attorney's express direction which reflects a mental impression, 280 
conclusion, litigation strategy, or legal theory of the attorney 281 
or the association and which was prepared exclusively for civil 282 
or criminal litigation or for adversarial administrative 283 
proceedings or which was prepared in anticipation of such 284 
litigation or proceedings until the conclusion of the litigation 285 
or proceedings. 286 
 2.  Information obtained by an association in connection 287 
with the approval of the lease, sale, or other transfer of a 288 
parcel. 289 
 3.  Information an association obtains in a gated community 290 
in connection with guests' visits to parcel owners or community 291 
residents. 292 
 4.  Personnel records of association or management company 293 
employees, including, but not limited to, disciplinary, payroll, 294 
health, and insurance records. For purposes of this 295 
subparagraph, the term "personnel records" does not include 296 
written employment agreements with an association or management 297 
company employee or budgetary or financial records that indicate 298 
the compensation paid to an association or management company 299 
employee. 300     
 
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 5.  Medical records of parcel owners or community 301 
residents. 302 
 6.  Social security numbers, driver license numbers, credit 303 
card numbers, electronic mailing addresses, telephone numbers, 304 
facsimile numbers, emergency contact information, any addresses 305 
for a parcel owner other than as provided for association notice 306 
requirements, and other personal identifying information of any 307 
person, excluding the person's name, parcel designation, mailing 308 
address, and property address. Notwithstanding the restrictions 309 
in this subparagraph, an association may print and distribute to 310 
parcel owners a directory containing the name, parcel address, 311 
and all telephone numbers of each parcel owner. However, an 312 
owner may exclude his or her telephone numbers from the 313 
directory by so requesting in writing to the association. An 314 
owner may consent in writing to the disclosure of other contact 315 
information described in this subparagraph. The association is 316 
not liable for the disclosure of information that is protected 317 
under this subparagraph if the information is included in an 318 
official record of the association and is voluntarily provided 319 
by an owner and not requested by the association. 320 
 7.  Any electronic security measure that is used by the 321 
association to safeguard data, including passwor ds. 322 
 8.  The software and operating system used by the 323 
association which allows the manipulation of data, even if the 324 
owner owns a copy of the same software used by the association. 325     
 
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The data is part of the official records of the association. 326 
 9.  All affirmative acknowledgments made pursuant to s. 327 
720.3085(3)(c)3. 328 
 (e)(d) The association or its authorized agent is not 329 
required to provide a prospective purchaser or lienholder with 330 
information about the residential subdivision or the association 331 
other than information or documents required by this chapter to 332 
be made available or disclosed. The association or its 333 
authorized agent may charge a reasonable fee to the prospective 334 
purchaser or lienholder or the current parcel owner or member 335 
for providing good fai th responses to requests for information 336 
by or on behalf of a prospective purchaser or lienholder, other 337 
than that required by law, if the fee does not exceed $150 plus 338 
the reasonable cost of photocopying and any attorney fees 339 
incurred by the association i n connection with the response. 340 
 (f)  If an association receives a subpoena for records from 341 
a law enforcement agency, the association must provide a copy of 342 
such records or otherwise make the records available for 343 
inspection and copying to a law enforceme nt agency within 5 344 
business days after receipt of the subpoena, unless otherwise 345 
specified by the law enforcement agency or subpoena. An 346 
association must assist a law enforcement agency in its 347 
investigation to the extent permissible by law. 348 
 (6)  BUDGETS.— 349 
 (a)1. The association shall prepare an annual budget that 350     
 
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sets out the annual operating expenses. The budget must reflect 351 
the estimated revenues and expenses for that year and the 352 
estimated surplus or deficit as of the end of the current year. 353 
The budget must set out separately all fees or charges paid for 354 
by the association for recreational amenities, whether owned by 355 
the association, the developer, or another person. The 356 
association shall provide each member with a copy of the annual 357 
budget or a written notice that a copy of the budget is 358 
available upon request at no charge to the member. The copy must 359 
be provided to the member within the time limits set forth in 360 
subsection (5). 361 
 2.  An association that has 2,500 members or more must use 362 
an independent certified public accountant to prepare the 363 
association's annual budget. Such association must also retain 364 
an attorney to advise the association and its members on 365 
procedural matters relating to the annual budget and to foster 366 
communications between the boa rd and the members of the 367 
association. The independent certified public accountant or 368 
attorney required under this subparagraph may not be: 369 
 a.  The community association manager or an employee of the 370 
community association management firm providing communi ty 371 
association management services to the association; or 372 
 b.  An officer or a director of the association or an 373 
immediate family member of an officer or a director. 374 
 (d)  An association is deemed to have provided for reserve 375     
 
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accounts upon the affirmative approval of a majority of the 376 
total voting interests of the association. Such approval may be 377 
obtained by vote of the members at a duly called meeting of the 378 
membership or by the written consent of a majority of the total 379 
voting interests of the associatio n. The approval action of the 380 
membership must state that reserve accounts shall be provided 381 
for in the budget and must designate the components for which 382 
the reserve accounts are to be established. Upon approval by the 383 
membership, the board of directors or the independent certified 384 
public accountant, if required under paragraph (a), shall 385 
include the required reserve accounts in the budget in the next 386 
fiscal year following the approval and each year thereafter. 387 
Once established as provided in this subsectio n, the reserve 388 
accounts must be funded or maintained or have their funding 389 
waived in the manner provided in paragraph (f). 390 
 (f)  After one or more reserve accounts are established, 391 
the membership of the association, upon a majority vote at a 392 
meeting at which a quorum is present, may provide for no 393 
reserves or less reserves than required by this section. If a 394 
meeting of the parcel unit owners has been called to determine 395 
whether to waive or reduce the funding of reserves and such 396 
result is not achieved or a quorum is not present, the reserves 397 
as included in the budget go into effect. After the turnover, 398 
the developer may vote its voting interest to waive or reduce 399 
the funding of reserves. Any vote taken pursuant to this 400     
 
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subsection to waive or reduce reserves is applicable only to one 401 
budget year. 402 
 Section 4.  Subsections (1) and (3) of section 720.3033, 403 
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 404 
 720.3033  Officers and directors. — 405 
 (1)(a)  Within 90 days after being elected or appointed to 406 
the board, each director shall certify in writing to the 407 
secretary of the association that he or she has read the 408 
association's declaration of covenants, articles of 409 
incorporation, bylaws, and current written rules and policies; 410 
that he or she will work to uphold such documents and policies 411 
to the best of his or her ability; and that he or she will 412 
faithfully discharge his or her fiduciary responsibility to the 413 
association's members. Within 90 days after being elected or 414 
appointed to the board, in lieu of such written certificat ion, 415 
the newly elected or appointed director must may submit a 416 
certificate of having satisfactorily completed the educational 417 
curriculum administered by a department-approved division-418 
approved education provider. 419 
 1.  The newly elected or appointed directo r must complete 420 
the department-approved education within 90 days after being 421 
elected or appointed. 422 
 2.  The certificate of completion is valid for a maximum of 423 
4 years. 424 
 3.  A director must complete such education at least every 425     
 
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4 years. 426 
 4.  The department-approved educational curriculum must 427 
include training relating to financial literacy and 428 
transparency, recordkeeping, levying of fines, and notice and 429 
meeting requirements. 430 
 5.  A newly elected or appointed director of an association 431 
that has fewer than 1,000 members must complete at least 4 hours 432 
of continuing education annually. 433 
 6.  A newly elected or appointed director of an association 434 
that has 1,000 members or more must complete at least 8 hours of 435 
continuing education annually within 1 year before or 90 days 436 
after the date of election or appointment . 437 
 (b)  The written certification or educational certificate 438 
is valid for the uninterrupted tenure of the director on the 439 
board. A director who does not timely file the written 440 
certification or educational certificate is shall be suspended 441 
from the board until he or she complies with the requirement. 442 
The board may temporarily fill the vacancy during the period of 443 
suspension. 444 
 (c)  The association shall retain each director's written 445 
certification or educational certificate for inspection by the 446 
members for 5 years after the director's election. However, the 447 
failure to have the written certification or educational 448 
certificate on file does not affect the validity of any board 449 
action. 450     
 
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 (d)  The department shall adopt rules to implement and 451 
administer the educational curriculum and continuing education 452 
requirements under this subsection. 453 
 (3)  An officer, a director, or a manager may not solicit, 454 
offer to accept, or accept, or receive any thing or service of 455 
value for which consideration has not been provided for his or 456 
her benefit or for the benefit of a member of his or her 457 
immediate family from any person providing or proposing to 458 
provide goods or services to the association. An off icer, a 459 
director, or a manager who knowingly solicits, offers to accept, 460 
or accepts, or receives any thing or service of value or 461 
kickback that is at least $25 but not more than $1,000 for which 462 
consideration has not been provided for his or her own benefi t 463 
or that of his or her immediate family from any person providing 464 
or proposing to provide goods or services to the association 465 
commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as 466 
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 and is subject to monetary 467 
damages under s. 617.0834. If such thing or kickback is valued 468 
at $1,000 or more, the officer, director, or manager commits a 469 
felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 470 
775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084 and is subject to monetary 471 
damages under s. 617.0834. If the board finds that an officer or 472 
a director has violated this subsection, the board shall 473 
immediately remove the officer or director from office. The 474 
vacancy shall be filled according to law until the end of the 475     
 
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officer's or director's term o f office. However, an officer, a 476 
director, or a manager may accept food to be consumed at a 477 
business meeting with a value of less than $25 per individual or 478 
a service or good received in connection with trade fairs or 479 
education programs. 480 
 Section 5.  Subsections (1) and (4) of section 720.3035, 481 
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 482 
 720.3035  Architectural control covenants; parcel owner 483 
improvements; rights and privileges. — 484 
 (1)  The authority of an association or any architectural, 485 
construction improve ment, or other such similar committee of an 486 
association to review and approve plans and specifications for 487 
the location, size, type, or appearance of any structure or 488 
other improvement on a parcel, or to enforce standards for the 489 
external appearance of any structure or improvement located on a 490 
parcel, is shall be permitted only to the extent that the 491 
authority is specifically stated or reasonably inferred as to 492 
such location, size, type, or appearance in the declaration of 493 
covenants or other published guide lines and standards authorized 494 
by the declaration of covenants. An association or any 495 
architectural, construction improvement, or similar committee of 496 
an association must reasonably and equitably apply and enforce 497 
on all parcel owners the architectural and construction 498 
improvement standards authorized by the declaration of covenants 499 
or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the 500     
 
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declaration of covenants. 501 
 (4)  Each parcel owner is shall be entitled to the rights 502 
and privileges set forth in th e declaration of covenants or 503 
other published guidelines and standards authorized by the 504 
declaration of covenants concerning the architectural use of the 505 
parcel, and the construction of permitted structures and 506 
improvements on the parcel and such rights an d privileges may 507 
shall not be unreasonably infringed upon or impaired by the 508 
association or any architectural, construction improvement, or 509 
other such similar committee of the association. If the 510 
association or any architectural, construction improvement, or 511 
other such similar committee of the association denies a parcel 512 
owner's request or application for the construction of a 513 
structure or other improvement on a parcel, the association or 514 
committee must provide written notice to the parcel owner 515 
stating with specificity the rule or covenant on which the 516 
association or committee relied when denying the request or 517 
application and the specific aspect or part of the proposed 518 
improvement that does not conform to such rule or covenant. If 519 
the association or any ar chitectural, construction improvement, 520 
or other such similar committee of the association should 521 
unreasonably, knowingly, and willfully infringe upon or impair 522 
the rights and privileges set forth in the declaration of 523 
covenants or other published guideline s and standards authorized 524 
by the declaration of covenants, the adversely affected parcel 525     
 
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owner is shall be entitled to recover damages caused by such 526 
infringement or impairment, including any costs and reasonable 527 
attorney attorney's fees incurred in prese rving or restoring the 528 
rights and privileges of the parcel owner set forth in the 529 
declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and 530 
standards authorized by the declaration of covenants. 531 
 Section 6.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 532 
720.3085, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 533 
 720.3085  Payment for assessments; lien claims. — 534 
 (3)  Assessments and installments on assessments that are 535 
not paid when due bear interest from the due date until paid at 536 
the rate provided in the declaration o f covenants or the bylaws 537 
of the association, which rate may not exceed the rate allowed 538 
by law. If no rate is provided in the declaration or bylaws, 539 
interest accrues at the rate of 18 percent per year. 540 
 (c)1.  If an association sends out an invoice for 541 
assessments or a parcel's statement of the account described in 542 
s. 720.303(4)(a)10.b. s. 720.303(4)(j)2., the invoice for 543 
assessments or the parcel's statement of account must be 544 
delivered to the parcel owner by first -class United States mail 545 
or by electronic transmission to the parcel owner's e -mail 546 
address maintained in the association's official records. 547 
 2.  Before changing the method of delivery for an invoice 548 
for assessments or the statement of the account, the association 549 
must deliver a written notice of such change to each parcel 550     
 
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owner. The written notice must be delivered to the parcel owner 551 
at least 30 days before the association sends the invoice for 552 
assessments or the statement of the account by the new delivery 553 
method. The notice must be sent by f irst-class United States 554 
mail to the owner at his or her last address as reflected in the 555 
association's records and, if such address is not the parcel 556 
address, must be sent by first -class United States mail to the 557 
parcel address. Notice is deemed to have b een delivered upon 558 
mailing as required by this subparagraph. 559 
 3.  A parcel owner must affirmatively acknowledge his or 560 
her understanding that the association will change its method of 561 
delivery of the invoice for assessments or the statement of the 562 
account before the association may change the method of 563 
delivering an invoice for assessments or the statement of 564 
account. The parcel owner may make the affirmative 565 
acknowledgment electronically or in writing. 566 
 Section 7.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 567