Florida Condominium and HOA Arbitration Through the DBPR

Florida condo arbitration through the DBPR is the mandatory nonbinding process most owners and associations must use before taking governance disputes to court. The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes, inside the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, runs it under Florida Statute 718.1255. Filing costs $50, the proceeding moves faster than circuit court, and the losing side generally pays the winner’s attorney fees.¹

What Disputes Qualify

Section 718.1255 covers two kinds of condominium disagreements. The first is when the board claims authority to force an owner to do something, or refuses to let an owner do something, and the owner says the board is wrong. The second is when the board fails to follow procedural rules: holding elections properly, giving adequate meeting notice, or providing access to official records.¹

Election disputes and board member recall disputes also go through DBPR arbitration, under slightly different procedural rules.

What the DBPR Will Not Hear

The statute carves out several categories that must go to circuit court instead. Filing an ineligible petition wastes the $50, which is non-refundable once the Division receives it.

Title disputes over who owns a unit or common element.
Warranty interpretation or enforcement.
Assessment disputes and collection of unpaid assessments.
Evictions of tenants from units.
Claims that directors breached their fiduciary duties.
Property damage claims against the association for failure to maintain common elements.

The assessment exclusion catches owners off guard most often, because an argument over a special assessment feels like exactly the board-versus-owner conflict arbitration was designed for. The legislature drew the line at governance and records, not money.¹

HOA Members Have a Much Narrower Door

Homeowners’ associations operate under Section 720.311, which sends only two kinds of HOA disputes to the DBPR: election disputes and recall disputes. Everything else, including records access, meeting notice problems, and architectural control fights, must go through mediation, court, or whatever process the HOA’s governing documents require.² HOA members who assume their rights match a condo owner’s are often wrong.

The Presuit Demand Letter

For condominium disputes other than elections or recalls, the petition must include proof that you gave the other side three things before filing:

A written notice describing the specific dispute.
A demand for the relief you want, with a reasonable chance to fix the problem.
A warning that you intend to file for arbitration or go to court if the issue is not resolved.

The arbitrator cannot waive this. Missing any element means automatic dismissal without prejudice. You can refile, but you have lost weeks. Send the letter by certified mail and keep the receipt; that receipt is your proof.¹

Election and recall disputes are exempt from the demand letter requirement.

Mediation as an Alternative

Instead of arbitration, you can start with presuit mediation. Nothing in mediation is binding unless both sides agree, and the mediator facilitates discussion rather than issuing a ruling. If mediation fails, arbitration or court is still available.

Election and recall disputes cannot go to mediation. Those must proceed through DBPR arbitration or straight to court.¹

Filing the Petition

Use Form DBPR ARB 6000-001, the Mandatory Non-Binding Petition Form, available through the DBPR website.³ The petition must contain:

Full legal names and mailing addresses of all parties.
A chronological statement of facts citing the specific provisions of the governing documents that were violated.
Copies of the relevant bylaws, declaration of condominium, and articles of incorporation.
Your certified mail receipt or other proof you sent the demand letter, unless the dispute is an election or recall.
A clear statement of the specific relief you want the arbitrator to order.

The $50 fee, by check or money order, must accompany the petition. Without it, the Division will not process the filing, and once received the fee is non-refundable.

Mail or fax the petition to the Division’s Arbitration Section at 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1030. The fax number is 850-487-0870. There is no electronic filing option.⁴

What Happens After You File

An arbitrator reviews the filing for legal sufficiency. If something is missing, the arbitrator can order the petitioner to fix the defect or show cause why the petition should not be dismissed.

Once the petition passes review, the arbitrator sends a copy to the respondent with an order requiring an answer. The respondent has 20 days to file a written response addressing each allegation.⁵ The arbitrator can shorten that period when health, safety, or welfare is at risk. A respondent who ignores the deadline risks a default, which means losing without being heard.

The Hearing

After the pleadings are in, the arbitrator decides whether a hearing is necessary. Some cases are resolved on written submissions alone. When a hearing is held, the arbitrator can swear in witnesses, take testimony under oath, and review documents.

Hearings happen within Florida, scheduled near where the parties and witnesses live. The arbitrator can also conduct hearings by telephone or video conference without the parties’ agreement.⁶ That flexibility is one of the practical reasons arbitration moves faster than circuit court.

The Final Order and Attorney Fees

The arbitrator issues a written Final Order within 30 days after the hearing. It contains findings of fact, conclusions of law, and specific directives telling the parties what they must do or stop doing.

The prevailing party is entitled to arbitration costs and reasonable attorney fees. The statute says the prevailing party “shall be awarded” those costs, so it is not discretionary. The award covers fees from the arbitration itself and from any mediation that preceded it. To collect, the prevailing party files a separate motion within 45 days after the Final Order.⁷ If a trial de novo is filed, that clock does not start until the appeal concludes.

The fee-shifting rule is worth taking seriously. Bringing a weak case, or defending a position that plainly violates the governing documents, can get expensive.

Rejecting the Decision: Trial De Novo

Because the arbitration is nonbinding (unless both sides agreed in writing to make it binding), either party can reject the result and take the case to circuit court. The request for a trial de novo must be filed in the circuit court for the county where the condominium sits, within 30 days of the Final Order.¹

If no one files within 30 days, the arbitration decision becomes final and enforceable. Courts treat the trial de novo as a fresh case, though the arbitration record comes in as evidence. In practice, arbitration becomes a preview of both sides’ arguments, so a party heading to court should have a specific reason to expect a different result from a judge.

Discrimination Claims Go Elsewhere

Disputes involving housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability fall under the federal Fair Housing Act, not Section 718.1255. These claims go to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or to federal or state court.⁸ The DBPR has no jurisdiction over them.

Overlap matters when a single situation produces both kinds of claim. If a board denies a reasonable accommodation request for a disability-related modification and also refuses to turn over records about the denial, the records issue can go through DBPR arbitration, but the accommodation denial is a separate Fair Housing Act claim. A reasonable accommodation request requires a connection between the disability and the requested change, and housing providers cannot charge extra fees or deposits as a condition of granting one.⁹ Filing everything with the DBPR sends the discrimination claim to a forum that cannot decide it, while the deadline for the correct filing may run out.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 718.1255 – Alternative Dispute Resolution; Mediation; Nonbinding Arbitration; Applicability
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 720.311 – Dispute Resolution
3
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code 61B-45.017 – Initiation of Arbitration Proceedings; Content of Petition
4
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Frequently Asked Questions – Arbitration
5
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Florida Administrative Code Chapter 61B-45 – The Mandatory Non-Binding Arbitration Rules of Procedure
6
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Florida Administrative Code Chapter 61B-50 – Rules of Procedure Governing Recall Arbitration
7
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Florida Administrative Code Rule 61B-45.048 – Claim for Costs and Attorneys Fees
8
U.S. Department of Justice. The Fair Housing Act
9
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Joint Statement of HUD and DOJ – Reasonable Accommodations Under the Fair Housing Act