HOA Research Guides

The due diligence checklist every Florida home buyer needs before closing on a property in an HOA community — documents, finances, red flags, and your legal rights.

• What documents to request before closing
• How to read a reserve study
• Special assessment red flags
• Governing documents explained
• Verifying the management company

Where Florida HOA governing documents are kept, how to search county official records for a declaration and its amendments, and what buyers are entitled to. Includes all 67 county records links.

• Which HOA documents are public record, and where each one lives
• How to find the association's legal name
• How to search county records for the declaration and every amendment
• The one recorded notice that lists an HOA's covenants for you
• What Florida law entitles buyers to see before closing
• Official records links for all 67 Florida counties

Understand HOA dues, reserve funds, special assessments, and what makes a community financially healthy — before you buy or as a current resident.

• What monthly dues actually cover
• Reserve fund vs. operating fund
• How special assessments happen
• Signs of a financially healthy HOA
• Fee increase limits under Florida law

A Florida CDD (community development district) is a local government that builds and maintains a community's infrastructure. Here's what CDD fees pay for, how they show up on your tax bill, how long they last, and how they differ from HOA fees.

• What a community development district is, and who runs it
• The two parts of a CDD fee, and which one ends
• How CDD fees appear on your property tax bill
• CDD vs. HOA, side by side
• Paying off the bond portion early
• What to check before you buy in a CDD

A plain-language overview of Florida Statutes 718 and 720 — homeowner rights, enforcement procedures, financial requirements, and dispute resolution in Florida HOA communities.

• Florida Statute 718 (Condos) vs. 720 (HOAs)
• Homeowner rights under Florida law
• How violation fines actually work
• Budgets, reserves and special assessment notice
• Free dispute resolution options

Florida Statute 718, the Condominium Act, explained in plain language: owner rights, board meetings and elections, budgets and reserves, SIRS and milestone inspections, fines, assessments and liens, buying and selling, and where to take a dispute.

• What Chapter 718 covers, and when it applies
• Owner rights to records, meetings and votes
• Board elections, term limits and director education
• Budgets, reserves, SIRS and milestone inspections
• Fines, late fees, liens and foreclosure
• Buying and selling a condo, and resolving disputes

Your rights as a Florida HOA resident — how to attend board meetings, run for the board, challenge violations, request records, and resolve disputes.

• Attending and speaking at board meetings
• Running for the board
• How to challenge a fine or violation
• Requesting HOA records in writing
• Florida's free dispute resolution program

A plain-language summary of recent Florida HOA reforms under HB 1203 — homeowner rights, fines and enforcement, board member education, and online records requirements.

• What HB 1203 changed for HOAs
• New homeowner protections and notice rules
• Board member education requirement
• Online records for larger communities
• Stronger penalties for board misconduct

What a Florida estoppel certificate is, what it costs, and how long an HOA or condo association has to deliver one — essential reading before you buy or sell.

• What an estoppel certificate shows
• Statutory fee caps and free re-requests
• The 10-business-day delivery deadline
• Why it matters at closing

Florida's post-Surfside condo safety laws explained — milestone structural inspections, Structural Integrity Reserve Studies (SIRS), and why SIRS reserves can no longer be waived.

• Which buildings need a milestone inspection
• 30-year inspection timeline (25 where the local building official requires it)
• What a SIRS reserve study covers
• Why SIRS reserves can no longer be waived
• What buyers should ask before closing

Your right to inspect HOA records under Florida Statute 720.303: what counts as an official record, the 10-business-day deadline, copy fees, what's off-limits, the website rule for 100+ parcels, and what to do if the board refuses.

• What records you're entitled to see
• The 10-business-day response rule
• What copies can cost
• Records the association may withhold
• Penalties for a board that refuses
• How to write an effective request

How to run for and serve on a Florida HOA board — eligibility, elections, the new director education requirement, term limits, and your fiduciary duties.

• Who can run for the board
• How HOA elections work
• The new board member education requirement
• Your fiduciary duties as a director
• Common mistakes that create liability

How to resolve a dispute with your Florida HOA — internal appeals, mandatory pre-suit mediation and arbitration, the DBPR, and when to go to court.

• Start with the internal process
• Mandatory pre-suit mediation for many disputes
• Condo arbitration through the DBPR
• Recall and election disputes
• When court or small claims makes sense

A free Florida HOA board code of conduct template, plus what Chapter 720 actually requires on conflicts of interest, kickbacks, and confidentiality.

• What a code of conduct can and can't do
• The §720.3033 conflict disclosure rule
• Kickbacks and mandatory removal
• Executive session confidentiality
• How to adopt it properly

A free Florida HOA board meeting minutes template, plus what Chapter 720 requires minutes to contain, how long to keep them, and what to leave out.

• What Florida law requires minutes to contain
• What to leave out — and why over-recording creates risk
• How long you must keep minutes (and the 7-year rule)
• Who can inspect minutes and how fast you must respond
• A free, statute-aware minutes template

The Florida HOA board certification requirement explained — the 90-day deadline, annual continuing education, what happens if you miss it, and how condo rules differ.

• The 90-day deadline every new director faces
• What the state-approved course actually covers
• Annual continuing education on top of the course
• What happens if you miss the deadline
• How this differs for condo boards

How to tell whether a Florida HOA rule is actually enforceable — the four-part test, the rules statute overrides, selective enforcement, and what to do next.

• The four-part test for whether a rule is enforceable
• Rules Florida statute overrides outright
• How selective enforcement makes a valid rule unenforceable
• Rules that were never properly adopted
• What to do when you think a rule is unenforceable

What actually happens if you don't pay a Florida HOA fine — the fine cap, why fines under $1,000 can't become a lien, and how that differs from unpaid assessments.

• Why unpaid fines and unpaid assessments are completely different
• The most a Florida HOA can fine you
• Why a fine under $1,000 cannot become a lien
• The step-by-step escalation timeline
• How to challenge a fine before it grows

Parking, pets, rentals, solar, flags and more — what a Florida HOA is allowed to restrict, what state law protects, and how to tell the difference.

• The general test for whether a restriction is valid
• Parking and vehicles — what HB 1203 changed
• Pets, rentals, and short-term lets
• Solar, flags, and hurricane protection the law protects
• When a restriction is in your declaration but not in statute

What fiduciary duty means for a Florida HOA director, how the business judgment rule and the July 2026 update to §617.0834 protect you, and where personal liability still attaches.

• What "fiduciary duty" actually asks of you, in plain terms
• The business judgment rule and how courts apply it to HOA boards
• The July 2026 change to director liability protection
• When personal liability can still attach
• D&O insurance, fidelity bonds, and indemnification
• Habits that keep you inside the protections

What HOA board members actually do — the three core duties, directors vs. officers, each officer's role, what needs a board vote, and what boards cannot do under Florida law.

• The three duties every board member owes
• Board of directors vs. officers, and why the president isn't the boss
• President, vice president, secretary, and treasurer, role by role
• What you can decide alone and what needs a vote
• What boards cannot do
• A first-90-days checklist for new Florida directors

A side-by-side comparison of Florida condo (Chapter 718) and HOA (Chapter 720) board duties — education, term limits, meetings, records, reserves, SIRS, milestone inspections, fines, and disputes.

• How to tell which chapter governs your association
• A side-by-side table of board obligations under both chapters
• Education, term limits, and meeting rules compared
• Records, financial reports, and reserves compared
• Why SIRS and milestone inspections apply to condos, not HOAs
• Master associations and mixed communities

What Florida law requires HOA and condo boards to reserve, when owners can waive it, and what a structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) demands of a condo board.

• Why HOA reserves are optional until owners vote them in
• What condo budgets must reserve, and the 2026 threshold
• What a structural integrity reserve study requires of the board
• Which reserves owners can and can't waive
• The relief options for condos facing milestone repairs
• HOA and condo reserve rules side by side

The Villages, Florida has no mandatory HOA. Here's who runs it instead — community development districts, the monthly amenity fee, the bond and maintenance assessments, and who enforces the deed restrictions.

• Why The Villages has no mandatory homeowners' association
• What the community development districts do
• The monthly amenity fee and how it rises
• The bond and maintenance assessments on your tax bill
• Who enforces the deed restrictions
• The POA and VHA, and what they can't do

Florida law splits condo insurance between the association's master policy and the unit owner's HO-6 policy. Here's who insures what under §718.111(11), who pays deductibles and water damage, and how loss assessment coverage works.

• Where Florida law draws the line between the master policy and your HO-6
• Who pays for water damage, deductibles and upgrades
• Loss assessment coverage, and why the $2,000 minimum is rarely enough
• Whether you're required to carry an HO-6
• Flood insurance and Citizens
• What to check before you buy a condo

What Florida Statute 718.111(12) requires condo associations to keep, how long, what owners can inspect, the 10-working-day deadline, $50-a-day damages, what must be posted online, and how to force access if the board refuses.

• The records every Florida condo association must keep, and for how long
• Your right to inspect, and the 10-working-day deadline
• What the association can withhold
• Damages, criminal penalties and removal from office
• The website requirement for associations with 25 or more units
• How to write a request, and what to do if it's ignored