Florida Statute 720.305: HOA Fines, Hearings, and Suspensions

Florida Statute 720.305 is the enforcement section of the state’s Homeowners’ Association Act. It lets an HOA board fine rule-breakers up to $100 per violation, suspend a homeowner’s right to use common areas, and suspend voting rights when money owed to the association runs more than 90 days past due. It also limits that power: fines and use suspensions take effect only after a 14-day written notice and approval by an independent committee of neighbors, and the loser in any court fight pays the winner’s attorney fees.

Who Is Bound by the Rules

Section 720.305(1) creates a two-way obligation. Every homeowner, tenant, guest, and invitee has to comply with the community’s declaration of covenants, bylaws, and published rules.¹ The association is bound by those same documents. A board that ignores its own governing documents while enforcing them against a homeowner weakens the legal basis for the enforcement, which gives you a real defense if the board is picking and choosing who gets cited.

The obligation reaches everyone physically present on the property, not just the person on the deed. If your tenant’s guest parks a commercial vehicle in the driveway overnight, you as the owner carry the violation. A fine notice can land in your mailbox for something a houseguest did, and the statute gives you no procedural way to push the liability back onto the guest.

Fines for Rule Violations

A board can impose a fine of up to $100 for each individual violation of the declaration, bylaws, or community rules. For a continuing violation, the board can charge $100 per day, but the total cannot exceed $1,000 in the aggregate unless the governing documents specifically authorize a higher amount.¹ If your covenants are silent on amounts, $100 per incident and $1,000 total are hard caps.

Whether a violation is one-time or ongoing controls how fast fines pile up. An unauthorized yard sign that goes up and comes down the same day is one violation, one potential $100 fine. Unapproved exterior paint or an unrepaired fence is a continuing violation that can accrue $100 each day until the homeowner fixes it or the $1,000 ceiling is hit.

When a Fine Can Become a Lien

Under the statute, a fine of less than $1,000 cannot become a lien against your property.¹ A single $100 fine is a debt the HOA can try to collect, but it cannot attach to your title. Once fines reach the $1,000 threshold, the association gains the ability to record a lien.

Unpaid assessments are treated differently and carry much higher stakes. Section 720.3085 gives the association a lien on every parcel to secure assessments when the governing documents authorize it, and after required written notice the HOA can foreclose in the same manner as a mortgage.² Ignoring assessment bills carries a path to losing the home that ignoring a one-time fine does not.

The Required Notice and Hearing Process

No fine or use suspension takes effect until it clears a mandatory hearing process. Boards that skip the steps end up with penalties no court will enforce.

The board must first provide at least 14 days’ written notice to the parcel owner at the mailing or email address in the association’s official records.¹ The notice has to describe the alleged violation, explain what the homeowner needs to do to fix it, and give the hearing date, location, and access information if the hearing will be held by phone or video.

The hearing must happen within 90 days after the notice is sent, in front of a committee of at least three association members appointed by the board. Those committee members cannot be officers, directors, or employees of the association, and the statute specifically bars spouses, parents, children, brothers, and sisters of anyone holding those positions.¹ The hearing can be held by telephone or other electronic means, and the homeowner has the right to attend remotely.

The committee’s role is narrow: confirm or reject the fine or suspension the board proposed. If a majority of the committee does not approve the penalty, it cannot be imposed.³ Within seven days of the hearing, the committee has to send written notice of its findings to the homeowner, stating which fines or suspensions were approved or rejected and explaining how to cure the violation or pay the fine.⁴ The independent committee requirement is the single most important procedural safeguard in the statute. A board that tries to impose fines without one is acting outside its authority.

Suspension of Common Area Use

The association can suspend a homeowner’s right to use common areas and facilities for failing to comply with the declaration, bylaws, or reasonable community rules. The suspension can also reach the owner’s tenants, guests, and invitees.¹ Common areas typically mean amenities like pools, clubhouses, fitness centers, and tennis courts. The suspension must be for a “reasonable period of time.” The statute does not define that phrase, so the length is left to the committee’s judgment and, if challenged, to a court’s.

The same hearing process that applies to fines applies here. The board proposes the suspension, the homeowner receives 14 days’ notice, the independent committee votes to approve or reject it, and the committee sends written findings within seven days. A board that locks a homeowner out of the pool without going through those steps is exposed to a legal challenge and potentially to paying the homeowner’s attorney fees.

Voting Rights Suspension

Voting rights operate under a separate provision. Under Section 720.305(4), the association can suspend a member’s voting rights when any fee, fine, or other monetary obligation owed to the association is more than 90 days delinquent.¹ Unlike fines and common area suspensions, this does not require 14-day notice or an independent committee hearing. The board can impose it directly once the 90-day threshold is crossed.

The consequence goes beyond losing your vote at the annual meeting. Suspended voting interests are subtracted from the total count used to calculate quorum, election thresholds, and approval percentages for any community action.¹ In a community with many delinquent owners, decision-making power effectively concentrates among the paying members. The suspension ends only when all obligations currently due or overdue are paid in full.

Attorney Fees and the Reimbursement Rule

Section 720.305 includes a prevailing-party fee-shifting provision. Whoever wins in court is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs from the loser.¹ This applies equally to suits filed by the association against an owner and suits filed by an owner against the association.

Homeowners get an extra layer of protection. A member who prevails against the association can recover not only attorney fees but also additional amounts the court determines are necessary to reimburse the member for their share of assessments the association levied to fund its side of the litigation.¹ If the HOA raised your assessments to pay a lawyer to sue you, and you won, the court can order the HOA to give back the portion of your own assessments that funded the legal bill.

When fines are at issue, attorney fees and costs do not begin accruing until after the payment deadline stated in the committee’s written findings has passed and the time to appeal has expired.⁵ That gives the homeowner a window to pay or cure before legal costs start compounding.

Pre-Suit Mediation Before Court

If a dispute over rule enforcement reaches the point where either side is thinking about a lawsuit, Florida law generally requires a stop at mediation first. Section 720.311 mandates pre-suit mediation for disputes about how an owner uses the parcel, changes to common areas, covenant enforcement, amendments to association documents, board and committee meetings, and access to official records.⁶ The aggrieved party serves a written demand, and the other side has 20 days to respond. The mediation session must happen within 90 days unless both parties agree to extend.

Disputes about collecting assessments, fines, or other financial obligations are carved out and do not require mediation.⁶ If the HOA is simply trying to collect money, it can go straight to court. If the fight is about whether a rule was properly adopted or whether a covenant is being enforced selectively, mediation comes first.

Refusing to participate carries a real penalty. A party that fails or refuses to mediate forfeits the right to recover attorney fees, even if it later prevails in court.⁶ Combined with the fee-shifting in 720.305, that forfeiture can easily reach into the tens of thousands.

Federal Law That Can Override 720.305

A few federal statutes limit what the HOA can enforce under 720.305. The Fair Housing Act requires reasonable accommodations in rules and policies for residents with disabilities, so an association enforcing a “no pets” rule has to grant an exception for a documented assistance animal.⁷ The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act caps interest on pre-service debts at 6% per year during active duty and lets servicemembers request a stay of civil proceedings, including HOA enforcement actions.⁸ And bankruptcy does not wipe out HOA obligations that come due after the petition is filed as long as the debtor still holds an ownership interest in the property, so monthly assessments keep accruing even after a filing.⁹ Any of these can change how a 720.305 enforcement action should proceed, and they are worth raising at the hearing or in any response to the association.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 720.305 – Obligations of Members; Remedies at Law or in Equity; Levy of Fines and Suspension of Use Rights
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Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 720.3085 – Assessment; Lien and Foreclosure
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Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 720.305 – Obligations of Members; Remedies at Law or in Equity; Levy of Fines and Suspension of Use Rights
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Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 720.305 – Obligations of Members; Remedies at Law or in Equity; Levy of Fines and Suspension of Use Rights
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.305 – Obligations of Members; Remedies at Law or in Equity; Levy of Fines and Suspension of Use Rights
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.311 – Dispute Resolution
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3937 – Maximum Rate of Interest on Debts Incurred Before Military Service
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge