FLA opposed this bill when it was first introduced, as it would have created a regulatory environment that would have opened the door to the type of chaotic mismanagement that legislators purported to prevent. CAI-FLA suggested changes that would have fixed many of the issues in the legislation but they were not made by the bill Sponsor. 

HB 657 would have created challenges for community associations, which would have led to unintended consequences for association governance, financial stability, and day-to-day operations. The bill made sweeping changes to association termination rules, meeting procedures, board rules and responsibilities, dispute resolution, and governing document amendment procedures. Under HB 657, an association would have governing documents amended with a minority vote of owners and could see associations terminated just with the petition of 20% of residents. The instability these provisions would cause cannot be understated - associations across the state could have rules rewritten or be dissolved altogether by a small group of disgruntled residents with no way for other homeowners to stop the process. 

This bill also would have created a community association court to decide on disputes. In practice, this would mean another layer of bureaucracy for associations to navigate, and another opportunity for the state to interfere in internal community matters. 

A grassroots call to action email campaign, which encouraged advocates to send a message to legislators opposing the bill, was launched by CAI to support FLA’s advocacy efforts. In total, 399 advocates sent messages to 94 different legislators across both chambers. 

Status: Passed in the house, Died in Senate Committee 

FLA actively engaged with legislators prior to and after the initial filing of this bill to ensure it reflects the full range of professional management models used across Florida. Our focus has been on pursuing targeted amendments, so the legislation worked in practice for professionally managed communities, including those utilizing direct-hire on-site management and other operational structures. 

As originally filed, the bill would have required community associations in Florida with annual revenues of $500,000 or more to contract with a community association management firm. As the bill evolved, FLA was able to collaborate successfully with the Senate to amend SB 522 thresholds and provisions to provide greater flexibility in how associations meet management requirements. Unfortunately, the House version, HB 465, did not ultimately align with those amendments. 

FLA’s engagement throughout the process was aimed at strengthening the legislation to better align with real-world practices while supporting professionalism and consumer protection in community association management. 

Status: DIED in Committee. 

This bill would have updated the definition of a story for the purposes of a reserve study to be a level which is habitable. It also would have updated the definition of common area to include recreational areas and substituted “electronic transmission” in statutory language with “e-mail”.

Status: DIED in Committee. 

This bill would have updated existing statutes to accommodate audioconferencing for meetings, including updates to quorum rules and the recording of meeting minutes. It also would have mandated that audioconference meetings be recorded and that the recordings be made available on a website. 

Status: DIED in Committee. 

Similar to SB 1744, this bill would have updated existing statutes to accommodate audioconferencing for meetings, including updates to quorum rules and the recording of meeting minutes. The major difference is that this bill included an explicit requirement to store audioconference recordings and video recordings for 1 full year. 

Status: DIED in Committee. 

These identical bills would have required condominium associations to maintain detailed turnover certificates and annual reports as part of their official records. They also would have required boards to file turnover certificates with the Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes and establish a new statewide, searchable database of turnover information. 

Status: DIED in Committee.