Condo & HOA Hurricane Recovery Attorneys

Reviewed by Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA · September 23, 2026 · Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2026

Florida Community Association Disaster Recovery Attorneys

Florida community associations face unique challenges following hurricanes and other major disasters. Boards must make time-sensitive decisions regarding emergency powers, insurance claims, contractor selection, reconstruction projects, financing, owner communications, and long-term recovery planning.

Hamilton Mikes has guided dozens of condominiums, homeowners associations, and clubs through the aftermath of Hurricanes Charley, Wilma, Irma, Ian, and Milton. That experience shapes how we work: the decisions made in the first thirty days after a storm determine whether a community recovers in one year or spends five years in litigation. We help community leaders navigate each stage of the disaster-recovery process, and we help them prepare before the season begins.

Emergency Powers: What a Board May Do, and for How Long

Florida's community association statutes grant boards specific emergency powers during a declared state of emergency and for a reasonable time afterward. Chapter 718 (condominiums), Chapter 719 (cooperatives), and Chapter 720 (homeowners associations) allow a board, among other things, to:

Conduct board meetings and membership meetings with notice given as is practicable, and cancel or reschedule meetings
Designate assistant officers and relocate the association's principal office
Enter into agreements with local governments for debris removal and other services
Implement a disaster plan and determine which portions of the property are unavailable for entry or occupancy
Require evacuation and determine whether the property can safely be inhabited
Mitigate further damage, including removing wet drywall, carpet, and cabinetry and taking action to prevent mold
Contract on behalf of owners for items for which owners are otherwise responsible but which are necessary to prevent further damage
Levy special assessments and borrow money, pledging association assets, without a vote of the owners

These powers are limited to what is reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the association and its residents, and they end when the emergency does. Boards that exceed them, or rely on them after the emergency has passed, expose the association to challenges. We help boards document the basis for each emergency decision so that the record protects the directors who made it.

The First Thirty Days

In the weeks after a storm, we work alongside boards and managers on the decisions that carry the most risk:

Insurance notice and documentation. Florida law generally requires notice of a new property insurance claim within one year of the date of loss and of supplemental or reopened claims within eighteen months. Notice should be given immediately, in writing, with photographs and video preserved before any cleanup that is not required to prevent further damage.
Contractor selection. Post-storm markets attract out-of-state contractors and unlicensed operators. We verify licenses and insurance, and we review every mitigation, debris-removal, roofing, and restoration agreement before it is signed. Assignments of insurance benefits are prohibited for policies issued after January 1, 2023, roofing contractors may not offer to waive or pay deductibles, and price gouging during a declared emergency is unlawful. Two post-Ian matters the firm handled for Windsor West Condominium Association show what is at stake in these agreements: a $368,000 judgment against ShieldTech Roofing Solutions, LLC, a roofer that demanded advance payments in violation of Florida law (No. 24-CA-750, Fla. 20th Cir. Ct. Jan. 25, 2024), and the defense of a separate $1.4 million claim brought by Eco Roof & Solar, Inc., a mitigation and roofing contractor, which settled for a nominal $25,000 (No. 23-CA-13235, Fla. 20th Cir. Ct. Dec. 7, 2023).
Habitability and access. Deciding whether owners may return, which units are habitable, and how to communicate those decisions carries legal consequences. We help boards make and document those determinations.
Owner communications. Clear, consistent, and frequent communication reduces disputes. We prepare notices, FAQs, and assessment explanations that owners can understand.

Funding the Recovery

Reconstruction rarely waits for the insurance check. Boards must decide whether to levy special assessments, borrow, use reserves, or combine approaches, and every option has statutory conditions. Special assessment notices must state the specific purpose of the assessment, and the funds may be used only for that purpose. Reserve funds set aside for structural items under a Structural Integrity Reserve Study have their own restrictions. Loans require authority under the governing documents and careful attention to lender requirements for the association's assessment lien rights. We structure recovery funding so that the association can proceed with repairs while its insurance claim is pursued, and we coordinate with lenders, accountants, and managers on the documentation each requires.

We also help associations and owners identify assistance programs, such as SBA disaster loans and state mitigation grant programs, and evaluate whether they fit the community's circumstances.

Reconstruction Compliance

Storm damage frequently triggers requirements that did not apply before the storm. Buildings in Special Flood Hazard Areas may be subject to the substantial-damage rule, under which repairs approaching half of a building's value require compliance with current flood elevation standards. Milestone inspections and Structural Integrity Reserve Studies may be accelerated or complicated by storm damage. Local permitting, code upgrades, and ordinance-and-law insurance coverage must be aligned. We work with the association's engineer, adjuster, and contractor to build a repair scope that satisfies each requirement and is fully claimed against the policy.

Preparing Before the Season

The best disaster recovery begins in the spring. We help boards adopt disaster plans, confirm insurance coverage and appraisals, pre-qualify contractors, adopt emergency-powers resolutions, secure records off-site or in the cloud, and set communication protocols. Communities that prepare recover faster and litigate less.

Communities We Serve

Condominium Associations

We advise Condominium Associations concerning insurance claims, reconstruction, emergency powers, contractor selection, special assessments, milestone concerns, and long-term recovery planning.

Homeowners Associations

We assist Homeowners Associations (HOAs) with drainage infrastructure, stormwater systems, debris-removal contracts, insurance matters, contractor management, and post-storm restoration projects.

Cooperative Associations

We help Cooperative Associations navigate reconstruction, special assessments, contractor negotiations, emergency powers, and insurance recovery.

Mobile Home Communities

We advise Mobile Home Communities regarding damaged homes, infrastructure failures, utility restoration, redevelopment decisions, debris removal, and post-storm recovery efforts.

Country Clubs, Marinas, RV Resorts, and Hospitality Communities

We also assist Country Clubs and Golf Communities, Marinas and Waterfront Communities, Recreational Vehicle Resorts, Timeshare Condominiums, and Hotel Condominiums with operational recovery, insurance claims, reconstruction projects, vendor management, member communications, and long-term restoration planning.

Why Early Legal Involvement Matters

Every significant recovery dispute we have litigated traces back to a document signed, or a deadline missed, in the first weeks after the storm. A restoration contract with an assignment of benefits, a notice of claim sent late, a special assessment adopted without the required statement of purpose, or an emergency power exercised after the emergency ended each becomes the centerpiece of later litigation. Involving counsel before those decisions is far less expensive than defending them afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions About Disaster Recovery

Can our board levy a special assessment after a hurricane without an owner vote?

During a declared state of emergency and for a reasonable time afterward, Florida's emergency-powers statutes allow the board to levy special assessments and borrow money without an owner vote when reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the community. Outside that window, the governing documents control. Either way, the notice must state the purpose of the assessment and the funds must be used for that purpose.

How quickly do we need to notify our insurer?

Immediately, in writing. Florida law generally bars a new property insurance claim not noticed within one year of the date of loss, and a supplemental or reopened claim not noticed within eighteen months. Preserve photographs, video, and receipts for every mitigation expense.

Can we hire the first restoration company that arrives after the storm?

You can, but you should not sign its contract without review. Verify the license and insurance, remove any assignment-of-benefits language, refuse demands for large advance payments, confirm the scope and unit pricing, and make sure the agreement can be terminated if the carrier disputes the work. Emergency mitigation can begin on a limited, written work authorization while the full contract is reviewed.

What is the "50 percent rule" we keep hearing about?

In Special Flood Hazard Areas, local floodplain ordinances generally require a building that is substantially damaged, meaning repair costs approach fifty percent of its market value, to be brought into compliance with current flood elevation and construction standards when repaired. The threshold can change a repair project into a redevelopment decision, so boards should have the engineer and building department evaluate it early.

Are owners or the association responsible for repairing storm-damaged interiors?

For condominiums, Chapter 718 allocates responsibility: the association reconstructs the property it is required to insure, and owners are responsible for items the statute excludes from the association's policy, such as flooring, cabinets, and appliances, unless the association has voted to opt out of the statutory allocation. Homeowners associations and cooperatives look to their governing documents. We help boards communicate the allocation clearly before disputes arise.

Should the board hire a public adjuster?

Sometimes. Public adjusters can be valuable for documenting large, complex losses, and their fees are capped for claims arising from a declared emergency. The decision depends on the size of the loss, the carrier, and the professionals already engaged. We help boards evaluate the option and review the public adjuster agreement before it is signed.

Contact Hamilton Mikes

Contact Hamilton Mikes, P.A. at 239-594-7227 before signing major disaster-recovery, restoration, or reconstruction agreements. Related services: Insurance, Construction, Contract Management, and Risk Management.

About this page. This page is published by Hamilton Mikes, P.A. for general educational purposes. It is not legal advice, it is not a legal opinion, and it is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer who has reviewed your association's governing documents and the facts of your situation. Reading it, downloading it, or corresponding with the firm about it does not create an attorney-client relationship. No such relationship arises until the firm and the client have signed a written engagement agreement. Please do not send confidential or time-sensitive information to the firm until a conflicts check has been completed and an engagement is confirmed in writing; information sent before that point may not be treated as privileged.

Scope and currency. This article addresses Florida law as applied to Florida community associations, and the firm is licensed to practice in Florida only. Nothing here should be taken as a statement of the law of any other jurisdiction. Florida's community association statutes have been amended in every regular session since 2021, and subsection numbering has moved more than once in that period. Each page states the edition of the Florida Statutes it was written against. The law may have changed after that date, an appellate court may have construed a provision differently, and an administrative rule or a local ordinance may impose requirements this page does not address.

Your governing documents control. Much of what governs a Florida association is not in the statutes at all. Declarations, articles of incorporation, bylaws, rules, plats and recorded amendments differ from community to community, and on many questions they set the rule while the statute sets only a floor or a default. A procedure that is correct in one association may be a breach of the documents in the association next door. No general page can tell you which is which for your community.

Why general information is not advice. Legal questions are resolved by applying the law to particular facts as a judge, jury, arbitrator or hearing officer finds them. An outcome that appears clear in the abstract frequently turns on the documents, the chronology, the board's own prior conduct, and the procedural posture, none of which a general page can anticipate. A lawyer supplies what information cannot: the judgment to identify which facts matter, the experience to know how a court or the Division is likely to treat them, the ability to choose among the courses of action actually available, and the advocacy to carry the association's position through negotiation, hearing or trial.

The standard of care, and the protection the statute attaches to counsel. A director of a Florida community association is held to the standard in section 617.0830, Florida Statutes: to act in good faith, in a manner the director reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation, and to discharge the duties of the office with the care an ordinary prudent person in a like position would reasonably believe appropriate under similar circumstances. That standard is measured against the decision the board actually faced, on the record actually before it. The same statute supplies the protection that goes with the duty. Under section 617.0830(4) and (5)(b), a director who has no knowledge making reliance unwarranted is entitled to rely on information, opinions, reports and statements prepared or presented by legal counsel retained by the association as to matters the director reasonably believes are within counsel's professional competence. The Legislature has written the prudent course into the statute. A board that obtains advice on its own documents and its own facts, and acts on that advice, is standing on ground the statute expressly protects. Nothing on this website confers that protection. General information, however carefully prepared, is not advice on your declaration, your amendments, your board's history or your dispute, and a director who relies on it in place of counsel forgoes a statutory protection that was available for the asking.

Personal exposure is real. Service on an association board is usually uncompensated, but volunteer status is not itself immunity. Under section 617.0834, Florida Statutes, a director or an officer is not personally liable in monetary damages for a statement, vote, decision, or failure to act in that role unless two things are both true: the director or officer breached or failed to perform the duties of the office, and that breach was a violation of the criminal law, a transaction from which the director or officer derived an improper personal benefit, conscious disregard or willful misconduct in a proceeding brought by or in the right of the corporation, or recklessness or bad faith in a proceeding brought by anyone else. That protection turns on how the director acted, not on whether the director was paid. Chapters 718, 719 and 720 add consequences of their own, including removal from office, civil penalties assessed against the individual for certain willful and knowing violations, and in defined circumstances criminal liability. Whether any of that reaches a particular director depends entirely on the facts and on the director's conduct. The practical point is narrower and more useful: the decisions that generate this exposure — levying an assessment, enforcing a covenant, denying a transfer, withholding a record, entering a unit, terminating a contract, signing for construction work — are precisely the decisions on which general information is least adequate, and on which counsel costs least relative to what is at stake.

No guarantee; prior results. The firm makes no representation or warranty that the information on this page is complete, current or applicable to any particular matter, and disclaims liability to any person for any action taken or not taken in reliance on it. Any description of prior results does not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any other matter; every case turns on its own facts, documents and record.

Do not act on this page alone. If your association faces a decision of consequence, obtain advice from a Florida-licensed attorney who has read your governing documents and the relevant record before the board votes, signs, sends or forecloses. Hamilton Mikes, P.A. represents community associations throughout Southwest Florida and can be reached at 239-594-7227.

Disaster Recovery