Do Deed Restrictions Expire in Florida Under MRTA?

Yes. Deed restrictions in Florida do expire, and the main reason is a state law called the Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA). Under MRTA, most HOA covenants become unenforceable 30 years after a property’s “root of title” unless the association filed a preservation notice in time or a later deed in the chain of title specifically referenced the covenants. The expiration happens automatically and lot by lot, so one house in a subdivision can be free of the restrictions while the house next door is still fully bound.¹

The 30-Year Clock and Why It Runs Lot by Lot

MRTA is codified in Chapter 712 of the Florida Statutes. It wipes out most interests and encumbrances recorded more than 30 years before a property’s root of title, unless someone has taken specific steps to keep them alive. Florida courts have confirmed that HOA deed restrictions, including covenants on paint colors, fencing, landscaping, and building modifications, fall within the statute’s reach.

Your root of title is the most recent deed or title transaction in your property’s history that was recorded at least 30 years ago.¹ Once that 30-year mark passes, any deed restriction recorded before the root of title is extinguished unless an exception applies.

Because every house has its own sales history, the clock runs on a different schedule for every lot. Picture a subdivision whose covenants were recorded in 1988. One home was sold with a new deed in 1994, making that 1994 deed the root of title; in 2024, the 30-year clock ran out and the 1988 restrictions were extinguished for that lot. A neighboring home that last sold in 2002 will not reach the same point until 2032. The result is a patchwork, where an HOA may have full authority over some addresses and none over others.

What Keeps Restrictions From Expiring

MRTA lists several categories of interests that survive the 30-year cutoff. The ones that matter most for HOA covenants are these.

A specific reference in the chain of title. If a deed recorded at or after the root of title identifies the original covenants by their official records book and page number, or by instrument number, the covenants remain enforceable. Generic language like “subject to easements and restrictions of record” is not enough. The reference must point to the specific recorded document.² This is the exception that most often saves older HOA covenants, and it is the first thing a title company or attorney should check.

Interests recorded after the root of title. Restrictions recorded after the root of title’s effective date are not subject to MRTA extinguishment yet, because the 30-year clock has not run on them.²

A preservation notice filed by the HOA. An association can file a notice in the county’s official records before the 30-year window closes, which resets the clock and keeps the covenants enforceable for another 30 years.¹ Florida law allows the association’s board to approve the filing without a full membership vote, provided a disclosure statement is sent to every member and an officer’s affidavit confirming that mailing is recorded with the notice.³

Environmental, utility, and government interests. Restrictions recorded under Florida’s environmental cleanup statutes (Chapters 376 and 403) are permanently exempt, and easements held by public utilities or government agencies survive as long as any portion of the easement remains in use.² These rarely come up in a dispute over HOA covenants, but they are the reason an old pipeline easement or contamination restriction on your property will not quietly disappear.

Other Ways Restrictions Can Become Unenforceable

MRTA is not the only reason a covenant might lose its teeth. Even restrictions well inside the 30-year window can become unenforceable if the association has not applied them consistently.

Florida courts recognize a defense called laches. It applies when an HOA knew about a violation, unreasonably delayed taking action, and the homeowner was harmed by that delay. Both elements have to be present. If the association ignored your fence for five years and you spent thousands of dollars landscaping around it, a court may find it unfair to let the HOA suddenly demand removal. Time alone is not enough; you have to show real prejudice.

A related defense is abandonment or waiver. If an HOA has selectively enforced a restriction for years, letting some owners violate it while punishing others, a court may find the restriction abandoned for the community as a whole. A handful of violations will not usually meet that bar, but widespread, long-standing non-enforcement can.

If Your Community’s Covenants Have Already Lapsed

When covenants have been extinguished under MRTA, the situation is not necessarily permanent. Florida Statutes Sections 720.403 through 720.407 allow an HOA to revitalize lapsed covenants. The process starts when at least three owners propose it, requires distribution of the proposed documents, a membership meeting with certified notice, a majority vote, and state review of the final package. The revitalized declaration cannot be stricter than the original, though it can carry a longer term, cover fewer lots, drop old restrictions, or add new amendments.

Revitalization is harder than preservation, which is why associations treat the 30-year filing deadline as one of the most important dates on their calendar. For a homeowner, it also means that “the HOA missed the deadline” is not always the end of the story: your community may be moving to reinstate the covenants, and you should pay attention to any notices about a membership vote.

How to Check Your Own Property

Whether the restrictions on your specific lot are still enforceable is a title question, not a general one. Start with your own deed and your title insurance policy; both should reference any applicable covenants.

From there, the analysis usually involves four steps:

Find your root of title, meaning the most recent deed or title transaction in your property’s history recorded at least 30 years ago.¹
Search the county’s official records for a notice of preservation filed by the HOA before the 30-year deadline.
Read every deed from the root of title forward to see whether any of them specifically references the original covenants by book and page number or instrument number.²
Check whether the covenants, or amended versions, were re-recorded after the root of title’s effective date.

Getting the analysis wrong is expensive in either direction. Homeowners who assume their restrictions have expired and go ahead with a prohibited renovation can face lawsuits. Associations that assume their covenants are still good can discover mid-enforcement that they lost authority years earlier. A Florida real estate attorney who works with MRTA can run the title analysis for your specific lot and give you a definitive answer before you rely on it.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 712 – Marketable Record Titles to Real Property
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 712.03 – Exceptions to Marketability
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 712.06 – Contents of Notice Recording and Indexing