Condo & HOA Fair Housing Attorneys

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

Florida Community Association Fair Housing Attorneys

Fair housing issues present significant legal and operational challenges for community associations. Boards must balance legitimate community policies with obligations imposed by federal and Florida fair housing laws. A pet restriction, an occupancy limit, an age-verification policy, or a rule about who may use the pool can each become a discrimination complaint if it is written or applied without attention to those laws, and fair housing complaints are among the few association disputes that can end in an administrative enforcement action, federal court, and uninsured personal exposure for directors.

Hamilton Mikes helps communities evaluate accommodation requests, modification requests, occupancy issues, and discrimination concerns while promoting both compliance and fairness. We also defend associations, boards, and managers when complaints are filed.

The Laws That Apply

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. The Florida Fair Housing Act, found in Chapter 760 of the Florida Statutes, mirrors the federal law and is enforced by the Florida Commission on Human Relations, and some counties and municipalities have adopted ordinances of their own. Community associations are covered because they control the terms, conditions, and privileges of housing through their governing documents, rules, and approval processes. Liability can arise not only from formal policies but from the way a board, committee, or manager responds to a single request. One recent development is easy to misread: HUD rescinded its 2016 guidance on the use of criminal records by housing providers on November 25, 2025, but that is not an opening to loosen screening, because HUD's discriminatory effects rule at 24 C.F.R. § 100.500 remains in effect, section 760.23 of the Florida Statutes is independent state law, and a criminal-history standard still has to be reasonable, written down, and applied uniformly.

Two obligations generate most association complaints: the duty to grant reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, and services when necessary to afford a person with a disability equal use and enjoyment of the dwelling, and the duty to permit reasonable modifications to the premises at the requesting resident's expense. Neither duty is unlimited. An association may decline a request that would impose an undue financial and administrative burden or fundamentally alter the nature of its operations, and it may request reliable information supporting a request when the disability or the need is not obvious. The difficulty lies in applying those standards consistently, quickly, and in writing.

Assistance Animals

Requests to keep emotional support animals in pet-restricted communities are the most frequent fair housing issue our clients face. Florida addressed the subject directly in 2020 in section 760.27, which allows a housing provider to request reliable supporting information when a disability is not readily apparent, including documentation from a health care practitioner with personal knowledge of the person's disability, and which provides that registrations, certificates, and identification cards obtained online are not, by themselves, sufficient. The statute provides that a person with a disability or a disability-related need may not be required to pay extra compensation for the animal, which in practice rules out a pet fee and a pet deposit; it prohibits requiring a specific form or a notarized statement; and it holds the animal's owner responsible for damage the animal causes. Falsifying supporting documentation is a criminal offense. On what may be asked, section 760.27(3)(a) draws a firm line: a housing provider may not request information that discloses the diagnosis or severity of a person's disability, or any medical records relating to the disability. A resident may volunteer that information. The association may not ask for it.

Service animals, which are individually trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability, are treated differently from emotional support animals under federal guidance, and different rules again apply in places of public accommodation such as a club restaurant or a sales office. We help boards adopt assistance-animal policies that follow current federal guidance and section 760.27, evaluate individual requests, ask only the questions the law permits, and document each decision.

Occupancy, Familial Status, and Age-Restricted Communities

Rules limiting the number of occupants, restricting children's use of amenities, or reserving quiet hours for adults can discriminate on the basis of familial status even when no one intended them to. Occupancy limits must be reasonable in light of the size of the unit and local codes, and amenity rules must be written in terms of safety and conduct rather than age.

Many Southwest Florida communities lawfully restrict residency to older persons under the Housing for Older Persons exemption. To keep that exemption, a 55-and-over community must have at least 80 percent of its occupied units occupied by at least one person 55 or older, must publish and adhere to policies demonstrating its intent to operate as housing for older persons, and must verify occupant ages through reliable surveys and records, updated at least every two years. Florida also requires 55-and-over communities to register with the Florida Commission on Human Relations and to renew that registration on the schedule the statute sets. Communities that let their verification lapse, or that admit under-55 households casually, put the exemption itself at risk. We audit age-restriction documents, verification procedures, and registrations, and we help boards handle the hardship and inheritance situations that test them.

Reasonable Modifications and Accessibility

Residents with disabilities may request ramps, grab bars, widened doorways, pool lifts, accessible parking, and similar changes to their units, limited common elements, and common areas. The resident generally bears the cost of a modification, but the association must permit it if it is reasonable, and it may condition approval on permits, workmanlike construction, and, in some cases, restoration of interior modifications when the resident leaves. Parking accommodations, such as an assigned space near an entrance, are among the most common requests and are frequently mishandled when spaces are deeded or assigned as limited common elements. We help boards evaluate these requests and impose only the conditions the law allows.

Religious Accommodations and Displays

Rules about holiday decorations, door displays, and use of common facilities for religious observance can raise both fair housing and statutory issues. Florida's condominium statute expressly permits a unit owner to display one portable, removable religious object of limited size on the mantel or frame of the unit entry door, and recent legislation has extended similar protection to homeowners associations. We help boards write display and decoration rules that are neutral, enforceable, and consistent with those statutes.

Complaint Defense

Fair housing complaints may be filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Florida Commission on Human Relations, or a local agency, and may also be brought directly in court. The administrative process involves an investigation, requests for records and interviews, and an opportunity for conciliation; a finding of reasonable cause can lead to an enforcement action with damages, civil penalties, and attorney's fees. Directors and managers can be named individually. Hamilton Mikes represents associations from the first notice of a complaint through investigation, conciliation, and litigation, and coordinates with the association's directors and officers insurer, whose policy often covers defense costs when notice is given promptly.

Communities We Serve

Condominium Associations

We assist Condominium Associations with disability accommodations, emotional support animals, service animals, modifications, and discrimination-related concerns.

Homeowners Associations

We advise Homeowners Associations (HOAs) regarding religious accommodations, disability accommodations, emotional support animals, familial status protections, and related claims.

Cooperatives, Mobile Home Communities, Clubs, and RV Resorts

Age-restricted cooperatives and mobile home communities, clubs with dining open to the public, and resorts with seasonal occupancy face fair housing and public accommodation questions of their own. We help each adopt policies that fit how the community actually operates.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fair Housing

Can our no-pet community refuse an emotional support animal?

Not simply because the documents prohibit pets. If the resident has a disability and a disability-related need for the animal, the association must generally grant the accommodation. It may request reliable supporting information when the disability or need is not apparent, may decline a specific animal that poses a direct threat or would cause substantial physical damage that cannot be reduced by another accommodation, and may enforce reasonable conduct rules. It may not require extra compensation for the animal, which rules out a pet fee and a pet deposit.

What documentation can we ask for?

For a disability that is not readily apparent, Florida law allows the association to request reliable information that the person has a disability and a disability-related need for the animal, such as documentation from a health care practitioner with personal knowledge of the disability. The association may not require a particular form or a notarized statement, and it should not treat an online registration or certificate as sufficient by itself. One limit is settled. Section 760.27(3)(a) provides that a housing provider may not request information disclosing the diagnosis or severity of a person's disability, or any medical records relating to the disability; the resident may choose to provide that information, but the association may not ask for it. What is unsettled is what may be asked short of that line, and whether such an inquiry is lawful at all. There is little guidance on the question, and federal guidance discourages requests for medical records or detailed diagnostic information. Associations should proceed carefully, on a case-by-case basis, under the guidance and direction of legal counsel.

Is our 55-and-over community required to verify ages?

Yes. Keeping the Housing for Older Persons exemption requires that at least 80 percent of occupied units have at least one occupant 55 or older, that the community publish and follow policies demonstrating its intent, and that it verify ages through reliable records updated at least every two years. Florida also requires registration with the Florida Commission on Human Relations. Without those steps, the age restriction itself may be treated as familial status discrimination.

Can we limit the number of people who live in a unit?

Reasonable occupancy limits tied to the size of the unit and local codes are generally permitted, and federal guidance treats two persons per bedroom as a reasonable starting point in most circumstances. Limits stricter than that, or rules that single out children, invite familial status complaints.

Who pays for a wheelchair ramp or grab bars?

The resident requesting the modification generally pays for it, and the association must permit reasonable modifications to the unit and the common areas. The association may require permits and workmanlike construction and, for certain interior modifications, restoration when the resident leaves. When the association itself decides to improve accessibility for everyone, the cost is a common expense.

What should the board do when a fair housing complaint arrives?

Notify the association's insurer and counsel immediately, preserve the records related to the request or enforcement action, and do not contact the complainant directly. Deadlines in the administrative process are short, and the association's written response shapes the entire investigation.

Contact Hamilton Mikes

Contact Hamilton Mikes, P.A. at 239-594-7227 when accommodation requests or fair housing issues arise within your community. Related services: Covenant Enforcement, Sales, Leases and Occupancy, Litigation and ADR, 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.

Fair Housing