Management Agreement Review Checklist: Reviewing a Community Association Management Contract Before the Board Signs

Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA
Founder & Managing Shareholder

• Checklist
• Published September 26, 2026
• Reviewed by Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA, September 26, 2026
• Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2026
• Applies to: Condominiums · HOAs · Cooperatives

The management agreement is the contract that decides how every other contract gets handled. It sets who may spend money without asking, who owns the records, what the association pays beyond the monthly fee, and how quickly the board can change course. Use this checklist on the proposed agreement before the board votes, and again a few months before each renewal date.

Chapter 718 prescribes what a condominium management contract must say on its face. Chapters 719 and 720 do not, which means a cooperative or HOA board has to negotiate in writing what a condominium board gets by statute. Items below that apply to one chapter only are labeled. See also our guidance on management agreement review and on official records.

The firm, the manager and the license

• Confirm the management firm holds a current community association management firm license.A firm responsible for more than 10 units or a budget of $100,000 or greater must be licensed.§ 468.432(2)
• Confirm every individual who will manage your association holds a current CAM license, and check it by name.§ 468.432(1)
• Name the assigned manager in the agreement, and require the association's consent before the firm replaces them.Boards select a person and sign with a company. Without this clause the person can be moved the week after signing.
• Confirm the hours the manager will be on site and where those hours are spent, in the agreement rather than in the proposal.

What the statute requires on the face of the contract

• For a condominium, confirm the contract specifies the services, obligations and responsibilities the firm will perform.§ 718.3025(1)(a)
• For a condominium, confirm the contract identifies the costs incurred in performing the services that are to be reimbursed, separately from the management fee.§ 718.3025(1)(b)
• For a condominium, confirm the contract states the frequency of each service or category of service.§ 718.3025(1)(c)
• For a condominium, confirm the contract states minimum staffing levels.§ 718.3025(1)(d)
• For a condominium, confirm the contract discloses any financial interest the developer holds in the service provider, and any financial interest a director or officer holds in the contracting party.§ 718.3025(1)(e)-(f)
• For a condominium, understand the consequence of leaving something out: services or obligations not stated on the face of the contract are unenforceable.§ 718.3025(3)
• For a cooperative or an HOA, negotiate every one of the above into the agreement expressly.Chapters 719 and 720 have no counterpart to § 718.3025. A cooperative or HOA board gets nothing by default, so what is not written is simply not owed.

Scope of authority and spending limits

• State the dollar amount above which the manager may not commit the association without board approval, and put the number in the agreement rather than in a policy.
• State separately what the manager may do in a genuine emergency, what counts as one, and how fast the board must be told afterward.
• Confirm the manager may not sign a contract on the association's behalf unless the board has approved that specific contract.
• Confirm who is authorized to sign checks, whether two signatures are required above a threshold, and that the association owns the operating and reserve accounts in its own name and tax identification number.Association funds must never sit in an account titled to the management firm.
• Confirm the manager's obligation to take the association's contracts through the competitive bid process when the threshold is crossed, and to document the bids for the packet.§ 718.3026(1); § 719.3026(1); § 720.3055(1)

On-site staff: whose employees are they

• Say in writing whether on-site staff are employees of the association or of the management firm.This decides who carries workers' compensation, who is liable for employment claims, who can fire, and who keeps the personnel file. Boards regularly sign without knowing the answer.
• If staff are the firm's employees, confirm the firm carries workers' compensation and employment practices coverage and indemnifies the association for employment claims.
• If staff are the association's employees, confirm what the firm is doing for the payroll and administration fee it charges, and who signs employment decisions.
• Confirm what happens to on-site staff if the association changes management firms.A non-solicitation clause that stops the association from retaining the on-site manager it has employed for six years is worth negotiating out before signature.

Records, transition and the exit

• State that all association records, in every form, are the property of the association and not of the management firm, including data held in the firm's software.
• Confirm the firm will return all official records in its possession on termination, and know the statutory deadline.A manager or management firm must return all official records in its possession within 20 business days after termination of the agreement or a written request. Late return carries a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for up to 10 business days, beginning on the 21st business day, and creates a rebuttable presumption of willful failure to comply.§ 468.4334(4)
• Confirm the firm will deliver a transition package: owner ledgers, vendor list, contracts, keys, fobs, codes, bank signature cards and pending violation and collection files.
• Confirm the firm may not withhold records over a fee dispute.Write it in. Records are the association's property and the statutory return obligation does not have a payment condition.
• Confirm the firm's obligation to maintain the association's website or app where the association is required to have one.Condominiums with 25 or more units, § 718.111(12)(g); HOAs with 100 or more parcels, § 720.303(4)(b). Cooperatives have no posting obligation.

Conflicts of interest

• Confirm the agreement requires the manager to disclose to the board any activity that may reasonably be construed to be a conflict of interest.§ 468.4335
• Identify every affiliate of the management firm that might sell the association something: maintenance, insurance, collections, construction, technology.A rebuttable presumption of conflict arises where the manager or a relative proposes a contract for non-management services, or receives compensation from a vendor doing business with the association.
• Where a proposed contract may involve a manager conflict and the bid exceeds $2,500, confirm the association solicited multiple bids from unrelated third-party providers.§ 468.4335
• Confirm a conflicted proposal is placed on the meeting agenda with the disclosure and the contract documents attached.§ 468.4335
• Know the consequence of a violation before you need it.If the board finds a violation, the contract is voidable and the association may terminate the management contract. On termination the association owes only the reasonable value of the management services provided, and is not liable for termination fees, liquidated damages or any other penalty. That is the strongest exit right in the whole agreement.§ 468.4335

Fees, ancillary charges and escalation

• List the base management fee and what it includes, in one place.
• List every ancillary charge separately: estoppel certificates, transfer and application processing, violation letters, copying, postage, after-hours calls, special meetings, insurance claim administration, construction project administration.Ancillary income is often larger than the management fee. Ask the firm what it billed its last three clients in ancillary charges.
• For a condominium or cooperative, strike any escalation clause tied to a price index or cost-of-living measure.Escalation clauses in management contracts for condominiums and cooperatives are void as against public policy. Chapter 720 has no equivalent, so an HOA escalation clause is enforceable and has to be negotiated on business terms.§ 718.302(5); § 719.302(5)
• For an HOA, cap any annual increase at a fixed percentage and require written notice before the increase takes effect.

Insurance, fidelity coverage and indemnity

• Obtain the firm's certificates for general liability and professional liability, and confirm the association is an additional insured on the general liability policy by endorsement.
• Confirm the firm and its personnel are covered by insurance or a fidelity bond in an amount at least equal to the maximum funds in the custody of the association or its management agent at any one time.The association's own fidelity coverage must extend to persons who control or disburse association funds, which includes the management agent's personnel.§ 718.111(11)(h); § 720.3033
• Read the indemnity clause both ways. The firm should indemnify the association for the firm's negligence and for employment claims involving its own staff.
• Strike or narrow any clause requiring the association to indemnify the firm, and refuse one that covers the firm's own negligence.
• Check the limitation of liability clause, and refuse a cap set at one month's management fee.

Term, renewal and termination

• Find the automatic renewal clause, count backward from expiration, and put the non-renewal notice date on the association calendar today.
• Confirm the association has a termination for convenience right on notice, and negotiate for 30 to 60 days.
• Confirm termination for cause is available on written notice and a short cure period, and that a material failure to perform is stated as cause.
• Confirm what the association owes on termination, and refuse an early termination fee, a liquidated damages figure or a payout of the remaining term.
• Confirm the agreement cannot be assigned, including by sale of the firm, without the board's written consent.Management firms are bought and sold constantly. Without this clause the association wakes up with a new firm it never selected.
• Confirm the board approved the agreement at a properly noticed meeting, that the minutes record the vote, and that the executed agreement goes into the official records.§ 718.111(12); § 719.104(2); § 720.303(4)

Contact Hamilton Mikes

Hamilton Mikes reviews and negotiates management agreements for Southwest Florida condominium, cooperative and homeowners associations, including spending authority, records ownership, conflict provisions and the terms that govern a change of management firm. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Contract Management page.