This page is current through the 2026 regular session and states the law as of July 1, 2026. For homeowners associations, 2026 produced one substantive change and one near miss. The change is a new paragraph in the architectural review statute. The near miss is HB 657, which passed the House by 108 to 2 and died in Senate Rules. Everything else on a board's compliance list this year is still 2024 and 2025 law.
The 2026 change: no permit as a precondition to review
Chapter 2026-63 (CS/CS/HB 803), the building permits and inspections act, added a paragraph to the architectural review statute. Effective July 1, 2026, § 720.3035(1)(c) provides that an association, or any architectural, construction improvement or other similar committee of an association, may not require a building permit to be issued by a governmental authority to a parcel owner as a prerequisite for review by the association or committee concerning the construction of structures or improvements on the parcel.
Read plainly, that reverses a sequencing practice many committees adopted for good reasons. If your application form or your architectural guidelines say that the committee will not open a file, will not schedule the application, or will consider the application incomplete until the owner produces a permit, that requirement is no longer enforceable as a precondition to review.
What the paragraph does not say matters just as much. It does not say the association must approve anything. It does not repeal the authority in § 720.3035(1)(a), which limits review to what is specifically stated or reasonably inferred in the declaration or in published guidelines authorized by the declaration. And it does not prevent the association from conditioning the actual start of work on a permit where the declaration or the guidelines support that condition. Review and commencement are two different moments, and the statute speaks to the first.
Our guide to architectural review procedures covers the rest of the committee's authority, including the response deadline and what happens when the committee does not act.
What else the 2026 session did, and what died
Beyond § 720.3035(1)(c), the 2026 session left Chapter 720's governance rules alone. Two other 2026 chapter laws reach an HOA indirectly:
- Ch. 2026-168 (CS/CS/HB 797), effective July 1, 2026. A rewrite of Chapter 617, the Not For Profit Corporation Act, on the model act. Your association is a not for profit corporation and Chapter 617 supplies the corporate rules Chapter 720 does not. The act also made a conforming amendment to the HOA director education section, § 720.3033, which now shows a 2026 citation in its history line.
- Ch. 2026-14 (SB 104), effective May 12, 2026. The reviser's bill. It touched § 720.303 and changed nothing substantive.
The bills that died are the ones owners read about:
| Bill | What it would have done for HOAs | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| CS/CS/CS/CS/HB 657 | Termination and dissolution of HOAs, distribution of assets on termination, governing document requirements, conflict disclosure, electronic ballots, roofing material restrictions, a community association court program | Passed the House 108 to 2 on March 5, 2026; died in Senate Rules on March 13, 2026 |
| CS/SB 1498 | Records violations and electronic voting | Died in Senate Appropriations on March 13, 2026 |
| SB 906 / SB 908 | An HOA Ombudsman office within DBPR | Died |
Do not plan around any of these. A board that adopted a policy in anticipation of HB 657 should unwind it.
What HB 1203 (2024) still requires, two years on
Chapter 2024-221 remains the most consequential HOA legislation of the decade, and it is where the compliance gaps still are.
Director education, including annual hours. Section 720.3033(1) requires a newly elected or appointed director to complete the department approved education for newly elected or appointed directors within 90 days. The certificate of completion is valid for up to 4 years. Beyond that, the statute requires continuing education every year: a director of an association with fewer than 2,500 parcels must complete at least 4 hours of continuing education annually, and a director of an association with 2,500 parcels or more must complete at least 8 hours annually. Chapter 720 does not offer the written certification alternative that Chapter 719 still allows for cooperative directors. A director who does not file the certificate is suspended from the board until compliance, and the association must retain the certificates.
Website posting at 100 parcels. An association with 100 or more parcels must maintain the posting required by § 720.303(4)(b). Note that Chapter 720 does not carry the 30 day posting deadline that § 718.111(12)(g)2. imposes on condominiums, so do not import that figure into an HOA policy.
The rewritten fining and enforcement procedure. Section 720.305 was rewritten in 2024, including the subsection (7) limits on enforcement against items like garbage receptacles and holiday decorations. The fine and lien rules in Chapter 720 run the opposite way from the condominium and cooperative rules, and this is the single most common cross chapter error we see. Under § 720.305(2), only a fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien, and both the $100 per violation and $1,000 aggregate caps may be overridden by the governing documents. Under § 718.303(3) and § 719.303(3), a fine may never become a lien and the caps have no override. Our guide to running a fining committee sets out the hearing sequence.
Section 720.3045. The 2024 law restricted an association's ability to regulate certain items that are not visible from the parcel's frontage. Read it before the next violation letter goes out on a shed, a fence or a clothesline.
Records. Chapter 720 splits records into (4), official records, and (5), inspection and copying. The response deadline is 10 business days. The rebuttable presumption of willful noncompliance requires a request sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, which the condominium and cooperative presumptions do not. The copy fee caps at § 720.303(5)(g) are 25 cents a page, $20 an hour for personnel time over the first half hour, and no personnel charge for a request under 25 pages. Chapters 718 and 719 set no per page figure at all. See our page on HOA official records requirements.
What Chapter 720 did not get
A great deal of published association guidance is written for condominiums and then applied to HOAs. These are the places that goes wrong.
| Subject | Condominium (Ch. 718) | HOA (Ch. 720) |
|---|---|---|
| Structural integrity reserve study | Required for buildings three habitable stories or more | No SIRS obligation |
| Reserve threshold and waiver | $25,000 threshold; waiver restricted for SIRS items | Waiver by majority at a quorate meeting; no SIRS restriction |
| Financial report outside date | 180 days, § 718.111(13) | 120 days, § 720.303(7) |
| 115 percent substitute budget | Board duty, § 718.112(2)(e)2.a. | No 115 percent rule |
| Website posting | 25 or more units, 30 day deadline | 100 or more parcels |
| Records response | 10 working days | 10 business days |
| Competitive bidding threshold | 5 percent of total annual budget including reserves, § 718.3026(1) | 10 percent, § 720.3055(1) |
| Fine may become a lien | Never | Only a fine of $1,000 or more |
| Emergency agenda and ratification | Majority plus one, § 718.112(2)(c)1. | No equivalent in Chapter 720 |
| Emergency powers | § 718.1265(1)(a) to (m) | § 720.316(1)(a) to (k), shorter |
| E-mail ballot and online voting petition | § 718.128 | No counterpart in § 720.317 |
The emergency powers difference is worth a second look before hurricane season. Section 720.316(1) runs (a) through (k) and lacks the condominium evacuation power and the power to contract on an owner's behalf. Special assessment without an owner vote is (1)(j) and borrowing is (1)(k), where § 718.1265 puts them at (1)(l) and (1)(m). And no chapter imposes a ratification duty in the emergency powers section itself; the majority plus one emergency agenda and ratification mechanism lives in § 718.112(2)(c)1. and § 719.106(1)(c), and Chapter 720 has no equivalent. Our comparison of HOAs and condominium associations takes the two chapters through the rest of it.
What to do before the end of 2026
- Amend the architectural application and guidelines so a building permit is not a precondition to committee review, and confirm the declaration supports any permit condition you keep at commencement.
- Pull the director education file. Confirm every sitting director has a valid certificate, check the 4 year validity date on each one, and confirm the annual continuing education hours for the current year at the right parcel count tier.
- Compare the website posting list against § 720.303(4)(b) if the community has 100 or more parcels.
- Reread the fining procedure and the fine and lien rules in § 720.305 against the association's current enforcement policy, particularly if that policy was copied from a condominium form.
- Confirm the financial report calendar uses 120 days, not 180.
Our guide to covenant enforcement is the place to start on item four, and the text of Chapter 720 is published free by the Legislature at leg.state.fl.us. This page is rewritten each year once session ends, so the top section is the one to check each June.
Frequently Asked Questions About Florida HOA Law Changes
What changed for Florida HOAs in 2026?
One thing. Effective July 1, 2026, § 720.3035(1)(c) provides that an association or its architectural or construction improvement committee may not require that a building permit have been issued to a parcel owner as a prerequisite for the association's review of proposed construction or improvements on the parcel. It came from Ch. 2026-63. No other substantive Chapter 720 amendment passed in 2026.
Can we still require a permit before work starts?
The statute addresses review, not commencement. Section 720.3035(1)(c) prohibits requiring a permit as a prerequisite to the association's or committee's review. Whether you may condition the start of work on a permit depends on your declaration and published guidelines, which are what § 720.3035(1)(a) measures the committee's authority against. Have counsel confirm the language before the form is reissued.
Do HOA directors have to take continuing education every year?
Yes, under § 720.3033(1). A director of an association with fewer than 2,500 parcels must complete at least 4 hours of continuing education annually, and a director of an association with 2,500 parcels or more must complete at least 8 hours annually. The initial certificate of completion is valid for up to 4 years. A director who does not file is suspended from the board until compliance.
Does our HOA need a structural integrity reserve study?
No. The SIRS requirement is in § 718.112(2)(g) for condominiums and § 719.106(1)(k) for cooperatives. Chapter 720 has no equivalent. An HOA that owns a building three habitable stories or more may still have a milestone inspection obligation under § 553.899 depending on the ownership form, which is worth checking with counsel, but there is no HOA reserve study mandate.
What happened to HB 657?
It passed the House 108 to 2 on March 5, 2026 and died in Senate Rules on March 13, 2026. It contained HOA termination and dissolution provisions, rules on distribution of assets and settlement of debt on termination, governing document requirements, conflict disclosure and a proposed community association court program. None of it is law. A version of it is likely to be refiled.
Is our financial report due in 120 days or 180?
For an HOA, 120 days under § 720.303(7). The 180 day figure came from HB 913 in 2025 and applies only to condominiums under § 718.111(13). Cooperatives also remain at 120 days under § 719.104(4). A management company that also handles condominium portfolios can apply the wrong deadline, which makes every HOA report in that portfolio late.
Contact Hamilton Mikes
Hamilton Mikes advises homeowners and master association boards across Lee, Collier and Charlotte Counties on architectural review, covenant enforcement, records and director compliance, and updates board forms as the statute changes. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Architectural Review page.
Statutes and authorities referenced
- § 720.3035(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (scope of architectural review authority)
- § 720.3035(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (no building permit as a prerequisite to review; added by Ch. 2026-63, effective July 1, 2026)
- § 720.3033(1), Fla. Stat. (director education; 90 days; 4 year certificate; 4 or 8 annual continuing education hours by parcel count)
- § 720.303(4), Fla. Stat. (official records)
- § 720.303(4)(b), Fla. Stat. (website posting; 100 or more parcels)
- § 720.303(5), Fla. Stat. (inspection and copying; 10 business days; certified mail presumption)
- § 720.303(5)(g), Fla. Stat. (records exemptions and copy fee caps)
- § 720.303(7), Fla. Stat. (financial reporting; 120 days)
- § 720.305(2), Fla. Stat. (fines and suspensions; lien only at $1,000 or more; caps overridable by the documents)
- § 720.305(7), Fla. Stat. (limits on enforcement as to specified items)
- § 720.3045, Fla. Stat. (items not visible from the parcel frontage)
- § 720.3055(1), Fla. Stat. (competitive bidding; 10 percent)
- § 720.316(1), Fla. Stat. (emergency powers; special assessment at (1)(j); borrowing at (1)(k))
- § 720.317, Fla. Stat. (electronic voting)
- § 718.111(13), § 719.104(4), Fla. Stat. (comparison of financial report deadlines)
- § 718.303(3), § 719.303(3), Fla. Stat. (comparison of fine and lien rules)
- § 718.1265(1), Fla. Stat. (comparison of emergency powers)
- § 553.899, Fla. Stat. (milestone inspections)
- Session laws: Ch. 2024-221 (HB 1203); Ch. 2026-14 (SB 104, reviser's bill); Ch. 2026-63 (CS/CS/HB 803); Ch. 2026-168 (CS/CS/HB 797)