Florida 2024 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1243 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 01/24/2024

                       
 
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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 directors to complete a certain number of 34 
hours of continuing education annually; requiring the 35 
Department of Business and Professional Regulat ion to 36 
adopt certain rules; providing criminal penalties for 37 
certain actions by an officer, a director, or a 38 
manager of an association; amending s. 720.3035, F.S.; 39 
requiring an association or any architectural, 40 
construction improvement, or other such simil ar 41 
committee of an association to apply and enforce 42 
certain standards reasonably and equitably; requiring 43 
an association or any architectural, construction 44 
improvement, or other such similar committee of an 45 
association to provide certain written notice to a 46 
parcel owner; amending s. 720.3085, F.S.; conforming a 47 
cross-reference; providing an effective date. 48 
 49 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 50     
 
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 51 
 Section 1.  Subsection (3) is added to section 468.4334, 52 
Florida Statutes, to read: 53 
 468.4334  Professional practice standards; liability ; 54 
community association manager requirements .— 55 
 (3)  A community association manager or community 56 
association management firm that is authorized by contract to 57 
provide community association management serv ices to a 58 
homeowners' association must do all of the following: 59 
 (a)  Attend in person at least one member meeting or board 60 
meeting of the homeowners' association annually. 61 
 (b)  Provide to the members of the homeowners' association 62 
the name and contact in formation for each community association 63 
manager or representative of a community association management 64 
firm assigned to the homeowners' association, the manager's or 65 
representative's hours of availability, and a summary of the 66 
duties for which the manage r or representative is responsible. 67 
The homeowners' association must also post this information on 68 
the association's website or application required under s. 69 
720.303(4)(b). The community association manager or community 70 
association management firm must upd ate the homeowners' 71 
association and its members within 14 business days after any 72 
change to such information. 73 
 (c)  Provide to any member upon request a copy of the 74 
contract between the community association manager or community 75     
 
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association management firm and the homeowners' association and 76 
include such contract with association's governing documents. 77 
 Section 2.  Section 468.4337, Florida Statutes, is amended 78 
to read: 79 
 468.4337  Continuing education. —The department may not 80 
renew a license until the lice nsee submits proof that the 81 
licensee has completed the requisite hours of continuing 82 
education. No more than 10 hours of continuing education 83 
annually shall be required for renewal of a license. The number 84 
of continuing education hours, criteria, and cours e content 85 
shall be approved by the council by rule. The council may not 86 
require more than 10 hours of continuing education annually for 87 
renewal of a license. A community association manager who 88 
provides community association management services to a 89 
homeowners' association must biennially complete at least 5 90 
hours of continuing education that pertains specifically to 91 
homeowners' associations, 3 hours of which must relate to 92 
recordkeeping. 93 
 Section 3.  Subsections (4) and (5) and paragraphs (a), 94 
(d), and (f) of subsection (6) of section 720.303, Florida 95 
Statutes, are amended to read: 96 
 720.303  Association powers and duties; meetings of board; 97 
official records; budgets; financial reporting; association 98 
funds; recalls.— 99 
 (4)  OFFICIAL RECORDS. — 100     
 
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 (a) The association shall maintain each of the following 101 
items, when applicable, for at least 7 years, unless the 102 
governing documents of the association require a longer period 103 
of time, which constitute the official records of the 104 
association: 105 
 1.(a) Copies of any plans, specifications, permits, and 106 
warranties related to improvements constructed on the common 107 
areas or other property that the association is obligated to 108 
maintain, repair, or replace. 109 
 2.(b) A copy of the bylaws of the association and of each 110 
amendment to the bylaws. 111 
 3.(c) A copy of the articles of incorporation of the 112 
association and of each amendment thereto. 113 
 4.(d) A copy of the declaration of covenants and a copy of 114 
each amendment thereto. 115 
 5.(e) A copy of the current rules of t he homeowners' 116 
association. 117 
 6.(f) The minutes of all meetings of the board of 118 
directors and of the members , which minutes must be retained for 119 
at least 7 years. 120 
 7.(g) A current roster of all members and their designated 121 
mailing addresses and parcel ide ntifications. A member's 122 
designated mailing address is the member's property address, 123 
unless the member has sent written notice to the association 124 
requesting that a different mailing address be used for all 125     
 
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required notices. The association shall also main tain the e-mail 126 
addresses and the facsimile numbers designated by members for 127 
receiving notice sent by electronic transmission of those 128 
members consenting to receive notice by electronic transmission. 129 
A member's e-mail address is the e -mail address the mem ber 130 
provided when consenting in writing to receiving notice by 131 
electronic transmission, unless the member has sent written 132 
notice to the association requesting that a different e -mail 133 
address be used for all required notices. The e -mail addresses 134 
and facsimile numbers provided by members to receive notice by 135 
electronic transmission must be removed from association records 136 
when the member revokes consent to receive notice by electronic 137 
transmission. However, the association is not liable for an 138 
erroneous disclosure of the e-mail address or the facsimile 139 
number for receiving electronic transmission of notices. 140 
 8.(h) All of the association's insurance policies or a 141 
copy thereof, which policies must be retained for at least 7 142 
years. 143 
 9.(i) A current copy of all contracts to which the 144 
association is a party, including, without limitation, any 145 
management agreement, lease, or other contract under which the 146 
association has any obligation or responsibility. Bids received 147 
by the association for work to be performed are must also be 148 
considered official records and must be kept for a period of 1 149 
year. 150     
 
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 10.(j) The financial and accounting records of the 151 
association, kept according to good accounting practices. All 152 
financial and accounting records must be maintained for a period 153 
of at least 7 years. The financial and accounting records must 154 
include: 155 
 a.1. Accurate, itemized, and detailed records of all 156 
receipts and expenditures. 157 
 b.2.  A current account and a periodic statement of the 158 
account for each member, designatin g the name and current 159 
address of each member who is obligated to pay assessments, the 160 
due date and amount of each assessment or other charge against 161 
the member, the date and amount of each payment on the account, 162 
and the balance due. 163 
 c.3. All tax returns, financial statements, and financial 164 
reports of the association. 165 
 d.4. Any other records that identify, measure, record, or 166 
communicate financial information. 167 
 11.(k) A copy of the disclosure summary described in s. 168 
720.401(1). 169 
 12.(l) Ballots, sign-in sheets, voting proxies, and all 170 
other papers and electronic records relating to voting by parcel 171 
owners, which must be maintained for at least 1 year after the 172 
date of the election, vote, or meeting. 173 
 13.(m) All affirmative acknowledgme nts made pursuant to s. 174 
720.3085(3)(c)3. 175     
 
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 14.(n) All other written records of the association not 176 
specifically included in this subsection which are related to 177 
the operation of the association. 178 
 (b)1.  By January 1, 2025, an association shall post a 179 
current digital copy of the documents specified in paragraph (a) 180 
on its website or make such documents available through an 181 
application that can be downloaded on a mobile device. 182 
 2.  The association's website or application must be 183 
accessible through the Inter net and must contain a subpage, web 184 
portal, or other protected electronic location that is 185 
inaccessible to the general public and accessible only to parcel 186 
owners and employees of the association. 187 
 3.  Upon written request by a parcel owner, the associatio n 188 
must provide the parcel owner with a username and password and 189 
access to the protected sections of the association's website or 190 
application which contains the official documents of the 191 
association. 192 
 4.  The association shall ensure that the information a nd 193 
records described in paragraph (5)(d), which are not allowed to 194 
be accessible to parcel owners, are not posted on the 195 
association's website or application. If protected information 196 
or information restricted from being accessible to parcel owners 197 
is included in documents that are required to be posted on the 198 
association's website or application, the association must 199 
ensure the information is redacted before posting the documents. 200     
 
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, the association or its authorized 201 
agent is not liable for disclosing information that is protected 202 
or restricted under paragraph (5)(d) unless such disclosure was 203 
made with a knowing or intentional disregard of the protected or 204 
restricted nature of such information. 205 
 (c)  The association shall adopt written rules governing 206 
the method or policy by which the official records of the 207 
association are to be retained and for how long such records 208 
must be retained. Such information must be made available to the 209 
parcel owners through the association's website or application. 210 
 (5)  INSPECTION AND COPYING OF RECORDS. —Unless otherwise 211 
provided by law or the governing documents of the association, 212 
the official records must shall be maintained within the state 213 
for at least 7 years and shall be made available to a pa rcel 214 
owner for inspection or photocopying within 45 miles of the 215 
community or within the county in which the association is 216 
located within 10 business days after receipt by the board or 217 
its designee of a written request from the parcel owner . This 218 
subsection may be complied with by having a copy of the official 219 
records available for inspection or copying in the community or , 220 
at the option of the association, by making the records 221 
available to a parcel owner electronically via the association's 222 
website or application Internet or by allowing the records to be 223 
viewed in electronic format on a computer screen and printed 224 
upon request. If the association has a photocopy machine 225     
 
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available where the records are maintained, it must provide 226 
parcel owners with copies on request during the inspection if 227 
the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages. An 228 
association shall allow a member or his or her authorized 229 
representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, 230 
tablet, portable scanner, or any other technology capable of 231 
scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of 232 
the official records in lieu of the association's providing the 233 
member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of 234 
such records. The association may not charge a fee to a member 235 
or his or her authorized representative for the use of a 236 
portable device. 237 
 (a)  The failure of an association to provide access to the 238 
records within 10 business days after receipt of a written 239 
request submitted by certified mail, return receipt requested, 240 
creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully 241 
failed to comply with this subsection. 242 
 (b)  A member who is denied access to official records is 243 
entitled to the actual damages or minimum damages for the 244 
association's willful failure to comply with this subsection. 245 
The minimum damages are to be $50 per calendar day up to 10 246 
days, the calculation to begin on the 11th business day after 247 
receipt of the written request. 248 
 (c)  The association may adopt reasonable written rules 249 
governing the frequency, time, location, notice, records to be 250     
 
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inspected, and manner of inspections, but may not require a 251 
parcel owner to demonstrate any proper purpose for the 252 
inspection, state any reason for the inspection, or limit a 253 
parcel owner's right to inspect records to less than one 8 -hour 254 
business day per month. The association may impose fees to cover 255 
the costs of providing copies of the official records, including 256 
the costs of copying and the costs required for personnel to 257 
retrieve and copy the records if the time spent retrieving and 258 
copying the records exceeds one -half hour and if the personnel 259 
costs do not exceed $20 per hour. Personnel costs may not be 260 
charged for records requests that result in the copying of 25 or 261 
fewer pages. The associ ation may charge up to 25 cents per page 262 
for copies made on the association's photocopier. If the 263 
association does not have a photocopy machine available where 264 
the records are kept, or if the records requested to be copied 265 
exceed 25 pages in length, the as sociation may have copies made 266 
by an outside duplicating service and may charge the actual cost 267 
of copying, as supported by the vendor invoice. The association 268 
shall maintain an adequate number of copies of the recorded 269 
governing documents, to ensure their availability to members and 270 
prospective members. 271 
 (d) Notwithstanding this subsection paragraph, the 272 
following records are not accessible to members or parcel 273 
owners: 274 
 1.  Any record protected by the lawyer -client privilege as 275     
 
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described in s. 90.502 and any record protected by the work -276 
product privilege, including, but not limited to, a record 277 
prepared by an association attorney or prepared at the 278 
attorney's express direction which reflects a mental impression, 279 
conclusion, litigation strategy, or legal t heory of the attorney 280 
or the association and which was prepared exclusively for civil 281 
or criminal litigation or for adversarial administrative 282 
proceedings or which was prepared in anticipation of such 283 
litigation or proceedings until the conclusion of the l itigation 284 
or proceedings. 285 
 2.  Information obtained by an association in connection 286 
with the approval of the lease, sale, or other transfer of a 287 
parcel. 288 
 3.  Information an association obtains in a gated community 289 
in connection with guests' visits to parcel owners or community 290 
residents. 291 
 4.  Personnel records of association or management company 292 
employees, including, but not limited to, disciplinary, payroll, 293 
health, and insurance records. For purposes of this 294 
subparagraph, the term "personnel records " does not include 295 
written employment agreements with an association or management 296 
company employee or budgetary or financial records that indicate 297 
the compensation paid to an association or management company 298 
employee. 299 
 5.  Medical records of parcel owner s or community 300     
 
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residents. 301 
 6.  Social security numbers, driver license numbers, credit 302 
card numbers, electronic mailing addresses, telephone numbers, 303 
facsimile numbers, emergency contact information, any addresses 304 
for a parcel owner other than as provided for association notice 305 
requirements, and other personal identifying information of any 306 
person, excluding the person's name, parcel designation, mailing 307 
address, and property address. Notwithstanding the restrictions 308 
in this subparagraph, an association may print and distribute to 309 
parcel owners a directory containing the name, parcel address, 310 
and all telephone numbers of each parcel owner. However, an 311 
owner may exclude his or her telephone numbers from the 312 
directory by so requesting in writing to the associa tion. An 313 
owner may consent in writing to the disclosure of other contact 314 
information described in this subparagraph. The association is 315 
not liable for the disclosure of information that is protected 316 
under this subparagraph if the information is included in an 317 
official record of the association and is voluntarily provided 318 
by an owner and not requested by the association. 319 
 7.  Any electronic security measure that is used by the 320 
association to safeguard data, including passwords. 321 
 8.  The software and operatin g system used by the 322 
association which allows the manipulation of data, even if the 323 
owner owns a copy of the same software used by the association. 324 
The data is part of the official records of the association. 325     
 
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 9.  All affirmative acknowledgments made pursu ant to s. 326 
720.3085(3)(c)3. 327 
 (e)(d) The association or its authorized agent is not 328 
required to provide a prospective purchaser or lienholder with 329 
information about the residential subdivision or the association 330 
other than information or documents required by this chapter to 331 
be made available or disclosed. The association or its 332 
authorized agent may charge a reasonable fee to the prospective 333 
purchaser or lienholder or the current parcel owner or member 334 
for providing good faith responses to requests for infor mation 335 
by or on behalf of a prospective purchaser or lienholder, other 336 
than that required by law, if the fee does not exceed $150 plus 337 
the reasonable cost of photocopying and any attorney fees 338 
incurred by the association in connection with the response. 339 
 (f)  If an association receives a subpoena for records from 340 
a law enforcement agency, the association must provide a copy of 341 
such records or otherwise make the records available for 342 
inspection and copying to a law enforcement agency within 5 343 
business days after receipt of the subpoena, unless otherwise 344 
specified by the law enforcement agency or subpoena. An 345 
association must assist a law enforcement agency in its 346 
investigation to the extent permissible by law. 347 
 (6)  BUDGETS.— 348 
 (a)1. The association shall pre pare an annual budget that 349 
sets out the annual operating expenses. The budget must reflect 350     
 
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the estimated revenues and expenses for that year and the 351 
estimated surplus or deficit as of the end of the current year. 352 
The budget must set out separately all fees or charges paid for 353 
by the association for recreational amenities, whether owned by 354 
the association, the developer, or another person. The 355 
association shall provide each member with a copy of the annual 356 
budget or a written notice that a copy of the budget is 357 
available upon request at no charge to the member. The copy must 358 
be provided to the member within the time limits set forth in 359 
subsection (5). 360 
 2.  An association that has 2,500 members or more must use 361 
an independent certified public accountant to pre pare the 362 
association's annual budget. Such association must also retain 363 
an attorney to advise the association and its members on 364 
procedural matters relating to the annual budget and to foster 365 
communications between the board and the members of the 366 
association. The independent certified public accountant or 367 
attorney required under this subparagraph may not be: 368 
 a.  The community association manager or an employee of the 369 
community association management firm providing community 370 
association management services to the association; or 371 
 b.  An officer or a director of the association or an 372 
immediate family member of an officer or a director. 373 
 (d)  An association is deemed to have provided for reserve 374 
accounts upon the affirmative approval of a majority of the 375     
 
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total voting interests of the association. Such approval may be 376 
obtained by vote of the members at a duly called meeting of the 377 
membership or by the written consent of a majority of the total 378 
voting interests of the association. The approval action of the 379 
membership must state that reserve accounts shall be provided 380 
for in the budget and must designate the components for which 381 
the reserve accounts are to be established. Upon approval by the 382 
membership, the board of directors or the independent certified 383 
public accountant, if required under paragraph (a), shall 384 
include the required reserve accounts in the budget in the next 385 
fiscal year following the approval and each year thereafter. 386 
Once established as provided in this subsection, the reserve 387 
accounts must be funded or maintained or have their funding 388 
waived in the manner provided in paragraph (f). 389 
 (f)  After one or more reserve accounts are established, 390 
the membership of the association, upon a majority vote at a 391 
meeting at which a quorum is present, may provid e for no 392 
reserves or less reserves than required by this section. If a 393 
meeting of the parcel unit owners has been called to determine 394 
whether to waive or reduce the funding of reserves and such 395 
result is not achieved or a quorum is not present, the reserve s 396 
as included in the budget go into effect. After the turnover, 397 
the developer may vote its voting interest to waive or reduce 398 
the funding of reserves. Any vote taken pursuant to this 399 
subsection to waive or reduce reserves is applicable only to one 400     
 
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budget year. 401 
 Section 4.  Subsections (1) and (3) of section 720.3033, 402 
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 403 
 720.3033  Officers and directors. — 404 
 (1)(a)  Within 90 days after being elected or appointed to 405 
the board, each director shall certify in writing to the 406 
secretary of the association that he or she has read the 407 
association's declaration of covenants, articles of 408 
incorporation, bylaws, and current written rules and policies; 409 
that he or she will work to uphold such documents and policies 410 
to the best of his o r her ability; and that he or she will 411 
faithfully discharge his or her fiduciary responsibility to the 412 
association's members. Within 90 days after being elected or 413 
appointed to the board, in lieu of such written certification, 414 
the newly elected or appointe d director must may submit a 415 
certificate of having satisfactorily completed the educational 416 
curriculum administered by a department-approved division-417 
approved education provider. 418 
 1.  The newly elected or appointed director must complete 419 
the department-approved education for newly elected or appointed 420 
directors within 90 days after being elected or appointed. 421 
 2.  The certificate of completion is valid for a maximum of 422 
4 years. 423 
 3.  A director must complete the education specific to 424 
newly elected or appoint ed directors at least every 4 years. 425     
 
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 4.  The department-approved educational curriculum specific 426 
to newly elected or appointed directors must include training 427 
relating to financial literacy and transparency, recordkeeping, 428 
levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements. 429 
 5.  In addition to the educational curriculum specific to 430 
newly elected or appointed directors: 431 
 a.  A director of an association that has fewer than 2,500 432 
members must complete at least 4 hours of continuing education 433 
annually. 434 
 b. A director of an association that has 2,500 members or 435 
more must complete at least 8 hours of continuing education 436 
annually within 1 year before or 90 days after the date of 437 
election or appointment . 438 
 (b)  The written certification or educational certificate 439 
is valid for the uninterrupted tenure of the director on the 440 
board. A director who does not timely file the written 441 
certification or educational certificate is shall be suspended 442 
from the board until he or she complies with the requirement. 443 
The board may temporarily fill the vacancy during the period of 444 
suspension. 445 
 (c)  The association shall retain each director's written 446 
certification or educational certificate for inspection by the 447 
members for 5 years after the director's election. However, t he 448 
failure to have the written certification or educational 449 
certificate on file does not affect the validity of any board 450     
 
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action. 451 
 (d)  The department shall adopt rules to implement and 452 
administer the educational curriculum and continuing education 453 
requirements under this subsection. 454 
 (3)  An officer, a director, or a manager may not solicit, 455 
offer to accept, or accept, or receive any thing or service of 456 
value for which consideration has not been provided for his or 457 
her benefit or for the benefit of a member of his or her 458 
immediate family from any person providing or proposing to 459 
provide goods or services to the association. An officer, a 460 
director, or a manager who knowingly solicits, offers to accept, 461 
or accepts, or receives any thing or service of v alue or 462 
kickback that is at least $25 but not more than $1,000 for which 463 
consideration has not been provided for his or her own benefit 464 
or that of his or her immediate family from any person providing 465 
or proposing to provide goods or services to the associ ation 466 
commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as 467 
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 and is subject to monetary 468 
damages under s. 617.0834. If such thing or kickback is valued 469 
at $1,000 or more, the officer, director, or manager commits a 470 
felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 471 
775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084 and is subject to monetary 472 
damages under s. 617.0834. If the board finds that an officer or 473 
a director has violated this subsection, the board shall 474 
immediately remove the officer or director from office. The 475     
 
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vacancy shall be filled according to law until the end of the 476 
officer's or director's term of office. However, an officer, a 477 
director, or a manager may accept food to be consumed at a 478 
business meeting with a value of less than $25 per individual or 479 
a service or good received in connection with trade fairs or 480 
education programs. 481 
 Section 5.  Subsections (1) and (4) of section 720.3035, 482 
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 483 
 720.3035  Architectural control covenant s; parcel owner 484 
improvements; rights and privileges. — 485 
 (1)  The authority of an association or any architectural, 486 
construction improvement, or other such similar committee of an 487 
association to review and approve plans and specifications for 488 
the location, size, type, or appearance of any structure or 489 
other improvement on a parcel, or to enforce standards for the 490 
external appearance of any structure or improvement located on a 491 
parcel, is shall be permitted only to the extent that the 492 
authority is specifically stated or reasonably inferred as to 493 
such location, size, type, or appearance in the declaration of 494 
covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized 495 
by the declaration of covenants. An association or any 496 
architectural, construction improvem ent, or similar committee of 497 
an association must reasonably and equitably apply and enforce 498 
on all parcel owners the architectural and construction 499 
improvement standards authorized by the declaration of covenants 500     
 
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or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the 501 
declaration of covenants. 502 
 (4)  Each parcel owner is shall be entitled to the rights 503 
and privileges set forth in the declaration of covenants or 504 
other published guidelines and standards authorized by the 505 
declaration of covenants concerni ng the architectural use of the 506 
parcel, and the construction of permitted structures and 507 
improvements on the parcel and such rights and privileges may 508 
shall not be unreasonably infringed upon or impaired by the 509 
association or any architectural, constructio n improvement, or 510 
other such similar committee of the association. If the 511 
association or any architectural, construction improvement, or 512 
other such similar committee of the association denies a parcel 513 
owner's request or application for the construction of a 514 
structure or other improvement on a parcel, the association or 515 
committee must provide written notice to the parcel owner 516 
stating with specificity the rule or covenant on which the 517 
association or committee relied when denying the request or 518 
application and the specific aspect or part of the proposed 519 
improvement that does not conform to such rule or covenant. If 520 
the association or any architectural, construction improvement, 521 
or other such similar committee of the association should 522 
unreasonably, knowingly, and willfully infringe upon or impair 523 
the rights and privileges set forth in the declaration of 524 
covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized 525     
 
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by the declaration of covenants, the adversely affected parcel 526 
owner is shall be entitled to recover damages caused by such 527 
infringement or impairment, including any costs and reasonable 528 
attorney attorney's fees incurred in preserving or restoring the 529 
rights and privileges of the parcel owner set forth in the 530 
declaration of covenants or other publis hed guidelines and 531 
standards authorized by the declaration of covenants. 532 
 Section 6.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 533 
720.3085, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 534 
 720.3085  Payment for assessments; lien claims. — 535 
 (3)  Assessments and insta llments on assessments that are 536 
not paid when due bear interest from the due date until paid at 537 
the rate provided in the declaration of covenants or the bylaws 538 
of the association, which rate may not exceed the rate allowed 539 
by law. If no rate is provided in the declaration or bylaws, 540 
interest accrues at the rate of 18 percent per year. 541 
 (c)1.  If an association sends out an invoice for 542 
assessments or a parcel's statement of the account described in 543 
s. 720.303(4)(a)10.b. s. 720.303(4)(j)2., the invoice for 544 
assessments or the parcel's statement of account must be 545 
delivered to the parcel owner by first -class United States mail 546 
or by electronic transmission to the parcel owner's e -mail 547 
address maintained in the association's official records. 548 
 2.  Before changing the method of delivery for an invoice 549 
for assessments or the statement of the account, the association 550     
 
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must deliver a written notice of such change to each parcel 551 
owner. The written notice must be delivered to the parcel owner 552 
at least 30 days before the association sends the invoice for 553 
assessments or the statement of the account by the new delivery 554 
method. The notice must be sent by first -class United States 555 
mail to the owner at his or her last address as reflected in the 556 
association's records and, if su ch address is not the parcel 557 
address, must be sent by first -class United States mail to the 558 
parcel address. Notice is deemed to have been delivered upon 559 
mailing as required by this subparagraph. 560 
 3.  A parcel owner must affirmatively acknowledge his or 561 
her understanding that the association will change its method of 562 
delivery of the invoice for assessments or the statement of the 563 
account before the association may change the method of 564 
delivering an invoice for assessments or the statement of 565 
account. The parcel owner may make the affirmative 566 
acknowledgment electronically or in writing. 567 
 Section 7.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 568