The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Rules
BILL: CS/CS/SB 56
INTRODUCER: Rules Committee; Community Affairs Committee; and Senator Rodriguez
SUBJECT: Community Association Assessment Notices
DATE: March 11, 2021 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Oxamendi Imhof RI Favorable
2. Paglialonga Ryon CA Fav/CS
3. Oxamendi Phelps RC Fav/CS
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
CS/CS/SB 56 provides additional notice requirements for condominium, cooperative, and
homeowners' associations when collecting assessments.
For community associations that send out invoices for assessments or statements of the account
to unit or parcel owners, the bill revises how an association may deliver and change its method of
delivery:
 Requires any invoice for assessments or statement of account to be sent by first-class mail or
electronic transmission to the owner's email address maintained in the association's official
records.
 Requires the association, before changing the method of delivery for any invoice for
assessment or statement of account, to deliver the written notice of such change to the owner.
 Requires the notice to be sent by first-class mail and delivered to the owner's address
maintained in the association's official records at least 30 days before the delivery method is
changed.
 Requires the owner to affirmatively acknowledge his or her understanding that the
association has changed its method of delivering the invoice for assessment or statement of
account to delivery by electronic transmission.
 Requires the owner's affirmative acknowledgment to be maintained by the association as an
official record, but such record is not accessible to other owners as an official record.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 56 Page 2
The bill provides that community associations may not require the payment of attorney fees
related to past due assessments without first delivering a written notice of late assessment to the
unit or parcel owners. The written notice must specify the amount owed and allow the owner to
pay past due assessments without paying additional attorney fees. The bill provides the form of
this written notice. The bill authorizes the use of a sworn affidavit as the method for associations
to provide a rebuttable presumption that the association complied with these notice and delivery
requirements for the notice of late assessment.
The bill also increases the period of time a condominium or cooperative unit owner has to pay a
monetary obligation after receiving an association's Notice of Intent to Record a Claim of Lien.
This period is increased from 30 days to 45 days. The bill revises the timeframe for
condominium and cooperative unit owners to conform to current law's 45-day payment period to
parcel owners in a homeowners' association.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2021.
II. Present Situation:
Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes
The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes (division) within the
Department of Business the Professional Regulation (DBPR) administers the provisions of
chs. 718 and 719, F.S., for condominium and cooperative associations, respectively. The division
may investigate complaints and enforce compliance with chs. 718 and 719, F.S., for associations
that are still under developer control.1 The division also has the authority to investigate
complaints against developers involving improper turnover or failure to transfer control to the
association.2 After control of the condominium is transferred from the developer to the unit
owners, the division has jurisdiction to investigate complaints related to financial issues,
elections, and unit owner access to association records.3 For cooperatives, the division's
jurisdiction extends to the development, construction, sale, lease, ownership, operation, and
management of residential cooperative units.4
As part of the division's authority to investigate complaints, the division may subpoena
witnesses, take sworn statements from witnesses, issue cease and desist orders, and impose civil
penalties against developers, associations, and association board members.5
If the division has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of any provision of ch. 718, F.S.,
ch. 719, F.S., or a related rule has occurred, the division may institute enforcement proceedings
in its name against any developer, bulk assignee, bulk buyer, association, officer, or member of
the board of administration, or its assignees or agents. The division may conduct an investigation
and issue an order to cease and desist from unlawful practices and take affirmative action to
carry out the applicable chapter's purposes. Also, Florida law authorizes the division to petition a
1
Sections 718.501(1) and 719.501(1), F.S.
2
Id.
3
Section 718.501(1), F.S.
4
Section 719.501(1), F.S.
5
Sections 718.501(1) and 719.501(1), F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 56 Page 3
court to appoint a receiver or conservator to implement a court order or enforce an injunction or
temporary restraining order. The division may also impose civil penalties.6
Unlike condominium and cooperative associations, homeowners' associations are not regulated
by a state agency. Section 720.302(2), F.S., expresses the legislative intent regarding the
regulation of homeowners' associations:
The Legislature recognizes that it is not in the best interest of
homeowners' associations or the individual association members thereof to
create or impose a bureau or other agency of state government to regulate
the affairs of homeowners' associations. However, in accordance with
s. 720.311, F.S., the Legislature finds that homeowners' associations and
their individual members will benefit from an expedited alternative
process for resolution of election and recall disputes and presuit mediation
of other disputes involving covenant enforcement and authorizes the
department to hear, administer, and determine these disputes as more fully
set forth in this chapter. Further, the Legislature recognizes that certain
contract rights have been created for the benefit of homeowners'
associations and members thereof before the effective date of this act and
that ss. 720.301-720.407 F.S., are not intended to impair such contract
rights, including, but not limited to, the rights of the developer to complete
the community as initially contemplated.
For homeowners' associations, the division's authority is limited to the arbitration of recall
election disputes.7
Chapters 718, 719, and 720, F.S.
Chapter 718, F.S., relating to condominiums, ch. 719, F.S., relating to cooperatives, and ch. 720,
F.S., relating to homeowners' associations, provide for the governance of these community
associations. The chapters delineate requirements for notices of meetings,8 recordkeeping
requirements, including which records are accessible to the association members,9 and financial
reporting.10 Timeshare condominiums are generally governed by ch. 721, F.S., the "Florida
Vacation Plan and Timesharing Act."
Condominium
A condominium is a "form of ownership of real property created under ch. 718, F.S."11
Condominium unit owners are in a unique legal position because they are exclusive owners of
6
Id.
7
See s. 720.306(9)(c), F.S.
8
See ss. 718.112(2), 719.106(2)(c), and 720.303(2), F.S., for condominium, cooperative, and homeowners’ associations,
respectively.
9
See ss. 718.111(12), 719.104(2), and 720.303(4), F.S., for condominium, cooperative, and homeowners’ associations,
respectively.
10
See ss. 718.111(13), 719.104(4), and 720.303(7), F.S., for condominium, cooperative, and homeowners’ associations,
respectively.
11
Section 718.103(11), F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 56 Page 4
property within a community, joint owners of community common elements, and members of
the condominium association.12 For unit owners, membership in the association is an unalienable
right and required condition of unit ownership.13 A condominium is created by recording a
declaration of the condominium in the public records of the county where the condominium is
located.14 A declaration is similar to a constitution in that it:
[S]trictly governs the relationships among condominium unit owners and
the condominium association. Under the declaration, the Board of the
condominium association has broad authority to enact rules for the benefit
of the community.15
Condominium associations are creatures of statute and private contracts. Under the Florida
Condominium Act, associations must be incorporated as a Florida for-profit corporation or a
Florida not-for-profit corporation.16 Although unit owners are considered shareholders of this
corporate entity, like other corporations, a unit owner's role as a shareholder does not implicitly
provide them any authority to act on behalf of the association.
A condominium association is administered by a board of directors referred to as a "board of
administration."17 The board of administration comprises individual unit owners elected by the
members of a community to manage community affairs and represent the interests of the
association. Association board members must enforce a community's governing documents and
are responsible for maintaining a condominium's common elements, owned in undivided shares
by unit owners.18 In litigation, an association's board of administration is in charge of directing
attorney actions.19
Cooperative Associations
Section 719.103(12), F.S., defines a "cooperative" to mean:
[T]hat form of ownership of real property wherein legal title is vested in a
corporation or other entity and the beneficial use is evidenced by an
ownership interest in the association and a lease or other muniment of title
or possession granted by the association as the owner of all the
cooperative property.
A cooperative differs from a condominium because, in a cooperative, no unit is individually
owned. Instead, a cooperative owner receives an exclusive right to occupy the unit based on their
ownership interest in the cooperative entity as a whole. A cooperative owner is either a
stockholder or member of a cooperative apartment corporation who is entitled, solely because of
12
See s. 718.103, F.S.
13
Id.
14
Section 718.104(2), F.S.
15
Neuman v. Grandview at Emerald Hills, 861 So. 2d 494, 496-97 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (internal citations omitted).
16
Section 718.303(3), F.S.
17
Section 718.103(4), F.S.
18
Section 718.103(2), F.S.
19
Section 718.103(30), F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 56 Page 5
ownership of stock or membership in the corporation, to occupy an apartment in a building
owned by the corporation.20 The cooperative holds the legal title to the unit and all common
elements. The cooperative association may assess costs for the maintenance of common
expenses.21
Homeowners' Associations
Chapter 720, F.S., provides statutory recognition to corporations that operate residential
communities in Florida and procedures for operating homeowners' associations. These laws
protect the rights of association members without unduly impairing such associations' ability to
perform their functions.22
A "homeowners' association" is defined as a "Florida corporation responsible for the operation of
a community or a mobile home subdivision in which the voting membership is made up of parcel
owners or their agents, or a combination thereof, and in which membership is a mandatory
condition of parcel ownership, and which is authorized to impose assessments that, if unpaid,
may become a lien on the parcel."23 Unless expressly stated to the contrary in the articles of
incorporation, homeowners' associations are also governed by ch. 607, F.S., relating to for-profit
corporations or by ch. 617, F.S., relating to not-for-profit corporations.24
Homeowners' associations are administered by a board of directors whose members are elected.25
The powers and duties of homeowners' associations include the powers and duties provided in
ch. 720, F.S., and in the association's governing documents, which include a recorded declaration
of covenants, bylaws, articles of incorporation, and duly-adopted amendments to these
documents.26 The officers and members of a homeowners' association have a fiduciary
relationship with the members who the association serves.27
Homeowners associations mainly differ from condominiums in the type of property individually
owned. Condominium unit owners essentially own airspace within a building, whereas
homeowner association members own a parcel of real property or land.
Collection of Assessment Debts
Members of community associations may receive a document, i.e., a statement of the account,
designating the due date and amount of each assessment, the amount paid on the account, and the
owner's balance owed to the association. Current law does not specify how the statement of
account must be transmitted to members of the association, e.g., by regular mail or electronic
transmission (email). If an association alters its method of delivering the statement of account,
20
See Walters v. Agency for Health Care Administration, 2019 WL 6691513, 44 Fla. L. Weekly D2898 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2019)
21
See ss. 719.106(1)(g) and 719.107, F.S.
22
See s. 720.302(1), F.S.
23
Section 720.301(9), F.S.
24
Section 720.302(5), F.S.
25
See ss. 720.303 and 720.307, F.S.
26
See ss. 720.301 and 720.303, F.S.
27
Section 720.303(1), F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 56 Page 6
current law does not provide a process to provide the unit or parcel owner notice that the method
of delivering the statement of account has changed.
Community associations may file a lien on a unit or parcel for unpaid assessments, also known
as maintenance amounts.28 Before filing a claim of lien, the association must give the unit or
parcel owner a Notice of Intent to Record a Claim of Lien that provides the unit or parcel owner
with an opportunity to remit the past due amount before the association files a claim of a lien.29
In a homeowners' association, the notice provides the parcel owner 45 days after receipt of the
notice to pay the past due amount. Condominium and cooperative unit owners are provided 30
days after receipt of the notice to pay the past due amount. The past due amount includes the
maintenance amount, any applicable late fee, interest, certified mail charges, and other costs,
possibly including attorney fees.30
Official Records – Condominium, Cooperative, and Homeowners' Associations
Florida law specifies the official records that condominium, cooperative, and homeowners'
associations must maintain.31 Generally, the official records must be maintained in Florida for at
least seven years.32 Certain records must be accessible to the members of an association.33
Additionally, certain records are protected or restricted from disclosure to members, such as
records protected by attorney-client privilege, personnel records, and personal identifying
records of owners.34 Community associations must maintain a copy of each unit or parcel
owner's statement of the account, designating each assessment's due date and amount, the
amount paid on the account, and the balance due.35
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
The bill provides additional notice requirements for condominium, cooperative, and
homeowners' associations relating to the collection of assessments.
For community associations that send out invoices for assessments or statements of the account
to unit