If you own a home in a Florida community with a mandatory homeowners association, HOA laws in Florida are set primarily by Chapter 720 of the Florida Statutes. That chapter controls how your association collects assessments, imposes fines, holds meetings, keeps records, and runs elections. It also caps several of the fees your HOA can charge, carves out activities your covenants cannot restrict, and makes certain kinds of board misconduct a crime. Your own community’s declaration, articles, and bylaws fill in the details, but they cannot override the statute.
What Law Governs Your HOA
Chapter 720, the Homeowners’ Association Act, applies to residential communities with mandatory membership.1Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes Chapter 720 – Homeowners Associations It is a different statute from Chapter 718, which governs condominiums. If you own a single-family home, a townhome, or a similar residential lot in a mandatory-membership community, Chapter 720 is the law that controls your association.
Below the statute, your community runs on a stacked set of documents. The Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions sits on top and sets the land-use rules and your assessment obligations. The Articles of Incorporation create the association as a legal entity. The Bylaws spell out how the board meets, votes, and holds elections. Any rule the board later adopts has to line up with those higher documents and with Chapter 720 to be enforceable.
Assessments, Liens, and Foreclosure
Your HOA can levy regular and special assessments to fund the operation of common areas and community infrastructure. If you fall behind, the association can record a lien against your property that covers the unpaid assessments plus interest, late charges, and the attorney fees it incurs collecting.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.3085 – Payment for Assessments; Lien Claims
Before the association can foreclose, it has to give you written notice of its intent to foreclose and then wait at least 45 days.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 720.3085 – Payment for Assessments; Lien Claims If you contest the lien, the association has 90 days from service to file an enforcement action, or the lien becomes void. A foreclosure under Chapter 720 proceeds the same way a mortgage foreclosure does, so unpaid HOA dues can cost you the house.
The statute also caps the add-on charges:
- Late fees cannot exceed the greater of $25 or 5% of the past-due installment, and only if the governing documents authorize them.
- Interest runs at the rate set by the declaration or bylaws up to the statutory maximum. If no rate is specified, unpaid assessments accrue simple interest at 18% per year. Compound interest is prohibited regardless of what your documents say.
A board cannot vote itself around these caps.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.3085 – Payment for Assessments; Lien Claims
Fines and the Hearing You Are Entitled To
Your board can fine you up to $100 per violation per day. For a continuing violation, the total cannot exceed $1,000 unless the governing documents set a higher ceiling.4The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.305 – Obligations of Members; Remedies at Law or in Equity; Levy of Fines and Suspension of Use Rights A fine under $1,000 cannot become a lien on your property, so the association cannot foreclose over a small fine.
The process has procedural safeguards boards often skip. Before any fine takes effect, the board has to give you at least 14 days’ written notice of a hearing. The hearing is conducted by an independent committee of at least three members who are not officers, directors, or employees of the association. If the committee does not approve the fine by majority vote, it cannot be imposed.5The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.305 – Obligations of Members; Remedies at Law or in Equity; Levy of Fines and Suspension of Use Rights The committee has seven days to notify you of its decision, including how to cure the violation. If you fix the problem before the hearing or within the time the notice gives you, no fine can be imposed.
What Your HOA Cannot Restrict
Florida law pulls several categories of activity out of your association’s reach, regardless of what the covenants say.
Parking a Personal Vehicle in Your Driveway
Your association cannot prohibit you, a tenant, or a guest from parking a personal vehicle, including a pickup truck, in your driveway or any other spot where you have the right to park under state, county, or municipal rules. Work vehicles are protected too, as long as they do not qualify as commercial motor vehicles under Florida’s statutory definition.6Florida Senate. Florida Code 720.3075 – Prohibited Clauses in Association Documents A longstanding practice of banning trucks and work vans from driveways on aesthetic grounds no longer holds up.
Solar Panels and Clotheslines
No covenant can prohibit the installation of solar collectors, clotheslines, or other renewable energy devices on your residential property.7The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 163.04 – Energy Devices Based on Renewable Resources The association can specify where on the roof panels sit, but only if the location does not impair their effectiveness. If you have to sue to enforce this right and win, you can recover attorney fees and costs.
Flags
You may display up to two portable, removable flags from a specific list regardless of HOA rules: the U.S. flag, the Florida flag, or a flag representing a branch of the U.S. military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Coast Guard). Flags cannot exceed 4½ by 6 feet and must be displayed respectfully.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 720.304 – Right of Owners to Peaceably Assemble; Display of Flag; SLAPP Suits You may also erect a freestanding flagpole up to 20 feet tall on your own property, provided it does not block intersection sightlines and complies with local building codes and setbacks.
Satellite Dishes and Antennas
A federal FCC rule, Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD), overrides HOA restrictions that prevent or delay installation of certain antennas and satellite dishes in areas under your exclusive use.9Federal Communications Commission. Installing Consumer-Owned Antennas and Satellite Dishes This covers satellite dishes one meter or less in diameter and antennas designed to pick up local broadcast television. The association can require safe fastening but cannot demand prior approval or ban the devices outright. In a dispute, the association carries the burden of proving its restriction is valid.
Vegetable Gardens: A Boundary Worth Noting
Florida law bars counties and municipalities from regulating vegetable gardens on residential property, but that statute is aimed at local governments, not private associations.10The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 604.71 – Local Regulation of Vegetable Gardens Whether your HOA can limit a backyard garden depends on your community’s declaration.
Meeting Notices, Speaking Rights, and Records
Board meetings require at least 48 hours’ advance notice with the agenda posted in a conspicuous location in the community.11The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.303 – Association Powers and Duties; Meetings of Board; Official Records; Budgets; Financial Reporting; Association Funds; Recalls Meetings where special assessments or rule changes about parcel use will be discussed require 14 days’ written notice, mailed, delivered, or electronically transmitted to every member and posted on the property.
You have the right to attend every board meeting and to speak on any agenda item. The association can set reasonable rules on length and format, but it cannot shut members out. If 20% of the voting interests petition the board to address a particular item, the board must put it on the next regular meeting agenda or call a special meeting within 60 days, and each member gets at least three minutes to speak on the petitioned item.11The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.303 – Association Powers and Duties; Meetings of Board; Official Records; Budgets; Financial Reporting; Association Funds; Recalls Membership meetings, including annual elections, require at least 14 days’ notice.12The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.306 – Meetings of Members; Voting and Election Procedures; Amendments
You can also inspect the association’s official records: governing documents, meeting minutes, insurance policies, financial ledgers, and contracts. The association has to make them available within 10 business days of a written request.11The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.303 – Association Powers and Duties; Meetings of Board; Official Records; Budgets; Financial Reporting; Association Funds; Recalls Send the request by certified mail with return receipt; if the association still fails to produce records, the law presumes the failure was willful. Statutory damages start at $50 per calendar day beginning on the 11th business day after the request, up to 10 days, which caps minimum damages at $500. Court costs and attorney fees can also be awarded if you have to sue.
Board Obligations and Criminal Penalties
Every board member owes a fiduciary duty to the whole membership. Recent legislation has added enforcement to that duty. The board must adopt the annual budget at an open meeting, and associations with at least 1,000 parcels have to prepare audited financial statements. Debit cards issued in the association’s name are prohibited entirely; using one for anything that is not a lawful association obligation is theft. Knowingly soliciting or accepting a kickback is a third-degree felony, and knowingly destroying or failing to keep required accounting records with intent to harm the association is a first-degree misdemeanor.11The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.303 – Association Powers and Duties; Meetings of Board; Official Records; Budgets; Financial Reporting; Association Funds; Recalls
Newly elected or appointed directors have to complete a department-approved education course within 90 days of taking office, covering financial literacy, recordkeeping, fines, and meeting requirements.13The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.3033 – Officers and Directors A director who fails to submit the certificate on time is automatically suspended until they comply.
Buying or Selling a Home in an HOA
Before you sign a purchase contract for property in an HOA community, the seller has to give you a disclosure summary. It tells you that association membership is mandatory, that the property is subject to restrictive covenants, and that assessments are required, and it has to state the current regular and special assessment amounts.14Florida Senate. Florida Code 720.401 – Disclosure Prior to Sale of Residential Parcels The contract itself must include a conspicuous clause stating that if the disclosure was not provided before you signed, the contract is voidable. If a seller skips the disclosure, the buyer can walk away.
When you sell, the buyer’s title company will request an estoppel certificate showing what you owe. The association must issue it within 10 business days of a written or electronic request.15The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.30851 – Estoppel Certificates The fees are capped: up to $250 for a standard certificate when nothing is owed, an additional $100 for expedited delivery within 3 business days, and an additional $150 if the account is delinquent. If the association misses the 10-business-day deadline, it cannot charge any fee. The caps adjust every five years for inflation.
Fair Housing Protections
Florida HOAs are bound by the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and familial status. That reaches covenant enforcement, architectural review, and refusal to grant reasonable accommodations for residents with disabilities. The Act also protects religious displays like a mezuzah on a doorframe or a cross at an entryway unless the association’s restriction has a legitimate, non-discriminatory basis applied equally to all decorative items.
You can file a discrimination complaint with HUD online, by phone at 1-800-669-9777, or by mail.16U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Report Housing Discrimination Time limits apply, so act quickly. Retaliation against anyone who files or participates in an investigation is itself a Fair Housing Act violation.
When You Have a Dispute With Your HOA
Most HOA disputes have to go through pre-suit mediation before anyone can file in court. This covers covenant enforcement, use of property or common areas, amendments to governing documents, board meeting procedures, and records access.17The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.311 – Dispute Resolution Only if mediation fails can you proceed to circuit court.
Elections and recalls are different. The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes at the Department of Business and Professional Regulation can arbitrate election and recall disputes.18Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes – Homeowners Associations That is the limit of its reach. The division does not investigate general complaints about rule enforcement or financial mismanagement.19MyFloridaLicense.com. Homeowners Associations – FAQs For those complaints, mediation and the courts are your route.