Chapter 720 enforcement is not Chapter 718 enforcement with the word parcel substituted for unit. The HOA statute prescribes what the notice must say, gives the owner a statutory right to cure before the hearing, requires written findings within 7 days, sets the payment date at least 30 days out, lets the governing documents raise the caps, and makes some fines lienable. It also bars fining for two things outright.
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This sheet is for an HOA board or manager working a single violation file. Nodes that mark a difference from the condominium track are labeled. If your community is a condominium or a cooperative, use the general violation enforcement flowchart instead.
Part one: can this be fined at all?
Is the restriction in the recorded declaration or in a rule the board adopted under an express or reasonably inferred grant of authority in the governing documents?
Yes — record the article and section on the file. Go on.
It is a policy the board announced in a newsletter — stop. A newsletter is not a covenant and is not a rule. Adopt it properly or drop it.
Is the conduct one of the things § 720.305(7) says an association may not fine or suspend for?
A garbage receptacle left at the curb or in the driveway within 24 hours before or after the designated collection day or time — stop. No fine, no suspension. This is an outright bar.
Holiday decorations or lights left up longer than the governing documents allow — you may not fine immediately. Send written notice of the violation first; only if the decorations remain more than one week after that notice may a fine or suspension follow.
Neither — continue.
Is this an architectural or construction-improvement matter?
Yes — check § 720.3035 before the enforcement letter. The association's review authority reaches only what is stated or reasonably inferred in the governing documents, and a denial must be in writing identifying the covenant and the nonconforming aspect.
Yes, and the committee refused to review the application because no building permit had been issued — stop and reverse. Since July 1, 2026, an association or its architectural or construction-improvement committee may not require a building permit as a prerequisite for its review. § 720.3035(1)(c).
No — continue.
Which remedy is the board levying: a fine, a suspension of the right to use common areas and facilities, or a court action to enforce the covenant?
Fine or suspension for a violation — the § 720.305(2) track applies. Continue.
Suspension because the owner is more than 90 days delinquent — leave this tree. Those suspensions skip the committee entirely; they are approved at a properly noticed board meeting and noticed to the owner by mail or hand delivery.
Court action — go to the presuit mediation node at the end of this sheet before anything is filed.
Part two: the § 720.305(2) hearing track
Does the 14-day written notice contain all three things the statute requires: a description of the alleged violation, the specific action required to cure it if applicable, and the hearing date, location and access information if the hearing is held by telephone or other electronic means?
All three — send it and calendar the hearing no earlier than day 15.
Missing the cure instruction — stop and rewrite. This is the most common defect, and it matters twice: the notice is defective, and the owner's statutory right to cure in the manner the notice specifies cannot be exercised against a notice that does not specify one.
Missing the electronic access information for a hearing held by phone or video — stop and rewrite.
Has the owner cured the violation before the hearing, or in the manner specified in the written notice?
Yes — stop. A fine or suspension may not be imposed. § 720.305(2)(e). This is a hard bar and it has no condominium equivalent. Close the file in writing and keep the closing letter.
No — hold the hearing.
Is the committee properly constituted: at least three members appointed by the board, none of whom is an officer, director or employee of the association, or the spouse, parent, child, brother or sister of an officer, director or employee?
Yes — proceed, and write down who served and that each is eligible.
No — stop. Reconstitute and re-notice. The manager is an employee for this purpose in most arrangements, and a director's adult child is disqualified even if the child lives elsewhere.
Did the committee confirm the fine or suspension the board levied, by majority vote?
Confirmed — record the vote and go to the findings node.
Rejected — stop. The fine or suspension may not be imposed, and the board may not overrule the committee. If the conduct continues, the next step is a fresh notice on a fresh violation date, not a second bite at this one.
Did written notice of the committee's findings go out within 7 days after the hearing, stating the findings, what was approved or rejected, and how to cure if a cure is still possible?
Yes — keep proof of delivery. The payment clock runs from delivery of this notice, not from the hearing.
No, day 8 has passed — stop and call counsel before you try to collect. The statute sets the deadline and this association missed it.
Does the payment date the committee set fall at least 30 days after delivery of the findings notice?
Yes — calendar it. Attorney fees and costs may not begin to accrue until after that date and the time for an appeal has expired.
No, the letter demands payment in 10 days — stop and reissue with a compliant date. Demanding early does not accelerate anything; it hands the owner a defect.
Part three: unpaid fines, liens and getting to court
The payment date has passed and the fine is unpaid. Is the fine $1,000 or more, and do the governing documents authorize an aggregate above $1,000?
Under $1,000 — no lien. A fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien against a parcel. Collection is a money claim, and that claim is excluded from presuit mediation.
$1,000 or more, and the documents raise the cap — a lien may be available. Take the documents and the file to counsel before anything is recorded.
$1,000 or more, but the documents are silent — stop. Without a governing-documents override the aggregate cap is $1,000, and you cannot get above it by adding violations after the fact.
The board wants to sue to enforce the covenant. Has a Statutory Offer to Participate in Presuit Mediation been served by certified mail, return receipt requested, with a copy by regular first-class mail?
Yes, and the process is complete or the owner refused — the board may proceed. A party who fails or refuses to participate in the entire mediation process may not recover attorney fees and costs in the litigation, which cuts both ways.
No — serve it. Covenant enforcement disputes, disputes over use of or changes to a parcel or the common areas, amendments, board and committee meetings, non-election membership meetings, and access to official records all require presuit mediation.
The suit is only to collect the fine — presuit mediation does not apply to collection of an assessment, fine or other financial obligation. Election and recall disputes are also outside it and go to arbitration or to court.
Where Chapter 720 gives the board more room than Chapter 718
- The HOA caps are both subject to "unless otherwise provided in the governing documents." The condominium and cooperative caps are not.§ 720.305(2)
- § 720.305(2)
- The statute permits a lien for a fine of $1,000 or more. It does not create one where the declaration does not.
Where Chapter 720 gives the board less room
- § 720.305(7)
- This one is not an absolute bar. It is a mandatory written notice plus a one-week grace period, after which a fine may follow.§ 720.305(7)
- § 720.305(2)(b), (2)(e)
- § 720.305(2)(d)
- Fees and costs may not begin to accrue until after the noticed payment date and the time for an appeal has expired.§ 720.305(2)(g)
- § 720.311(2)(a)
The file
Statutes and authorities referenced
- § 720.305(1), Fla. Stat. (actions to enforce the governing documents; attorney fees)
- § 720.305(2), Fla. Stat. (fines and suspensions; caps; lien bar)
- § 720.305(2)(b), Fla. Stat. (14-day notice contents and hearing committee)
- § 720.305(2)(c)-(g), Fla. Stat. (committee vote, 7-day findings, cure bar, payment date, attorney fee accrual)
- § 720.305(3)-(6), Fla. Stat. (suspensions for delinquency; board approval; notice)
- § 720.305(7), Fla. Stat. (violations for which a fine or suspension may not be levied)
- § 720.3035, Fla. Stat. (architectural and construction improvement review authority)
- § 720.311(2)(a), Fla. Stat. (presuit mediation and the Statutory Offer to Participate)
Contact Hamilton Mikes
Hamilton Mikes represents HOA boards across Lee, Collier and Charlotte Counties on covenant enforcement, from the form of the notice through the committee hearing, presuit mediation and suit. We review enforcement letters before they go out, which is considerably cheaper than defending them afterward. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Covenant Enforcement page.