This page is current through the 2026 regular session and reflects the 2026 Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2026. Association governance law was rewritten between 2022 and 2025, and then the 2026 session left it alone. No bill amending Chapter 718, 719 or 720 as a governance matter passed; the community association omnibus, HB 657, died in Senate Rules on March 13, 2026. Your board is operating under the 2025 rules.
The sessions at a glance
Each row below is a session, its vehicle, the chapter law it became, and what it did to the way a board meets, elects and governs. The list runs most recent first: the newest layer is the one most likely to have changed a form you are still using.
| Session | Vehicle | Chapter law | Effect on governance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | CS/CS/HB 797 | 2026-168 | Rewrote Chapter 617 on the model act; conforming amendments to §§ 718.111, 718.3027, 720.3033. Effective July 1, 2026. |
| 2026 | CS/CS/HB 803 | 2026-63 | Added § 720.3035(1)(c): an HOA may not require a building permit as a prerequisite to architectural review. Effective July 1, 2026. |
| 2026 | SB 104 | 2026-14 | Reviser's bill, effective May 12, 2026. Technical only. Touched §§ 718.111, 718.112, 718.501, 719.106, 720.303. |
| 2025 | CS/CS/HB 913 | 2025-175 | Video-conference board meetings with full voting rights, video-conference annual meetings, e-mail ballots, the 115 percent substitute budget, Division online accounts. |
| 2024 | HB 1021 | 2024-244 | Condominium omnibus. Mandatory director education, criminal records penalties, website posting at 25 units, conflict disclosures. |
| 2024 | HB 1203 | 2024-221 | HOA omnibus. Director education under § 720.3033(1), website posting at 100 parcels, rewrite of § 720.305. |
| 2023 | SB 154 | 2023-203 | Refined milestone inspections and the reserve study. No change to board meetings, elections or recall. |
| 2022 | SB 4-D | 2022-269 | Created milestone inspections and the structural integrity reserve study. No governance change. |
| 2021 | SB 630 | 2021-91 | Broad revision of Chapters 718, 719 and 720, including the cooperative real-property definition in § 719.103. |
Two sessions on that list did nothing at all to governance. 2022 and 2023 were building-safety sessions. What changed after Surfside was inspections, reserves and money, not the meeting rules.
2026: the Chapter 617 rewrite, and nothing else
HB 797 was approved by the Governor on June 25, 2026 and became Chapter 2026-168, effective July 1, 2026. It rewrote the Florida Not For Profit Corporation Act along the lines of the model act and rewrote the director conflict-of-interest transaction provision at section 617.0832. Almost every Florida community association is incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation, so the rewrite reaches your association as a corporation even though it did not touch your association chapter as such. The history lines confirm the overlap: section 718.111 now carries a citation to section 189 of Chapter 2026-168, and section 720.3033 carries section 187.
The second 2026 item is narrow and clear. HB 803 became Chapter 2026-63 and added section 720.3035(1)(c), effective July 1, 2026: an association or its architectural, construction improvement or other similar committee may not require a building permit to be issued by a governmental authority to a parcel owner as a prerequisite for review of proposed construction or improvements on the parcel. If your architectural application form asks an owner to attach the permit before the committee will look at the request, that form is now wrong.
The third item is SB 104, Chapter 2026-14, the reviser's bill, effective May 12, 2026. It is technical, and it matters only because it puts a 2026 citation on the history lines of sections 718.111, 718.112, 718.501, 719.106 and 720.303, which makes those sections look freshly amended when nothing changed.
What did not pass is worth naming, because owners ask. CS/CS/CS/CS/HB 657, the community association omnibus covering HOA termination and dissolution, governing-document requirements, conflict disclosure and presuit mediation changes, passed the House 108 to 2 on March 5, 2026 and died in Senate Rules on March 13, 2026. CS/SB 1498, on records violations and electronic voting, died in Senate Appropriations the same day.
2025: HB 913 changed how a board meets
Chapter 2025-175 was approved June 23, 2025 and took effect July 1, 2025, with the Division online-account provisions effective October 1, 2025. For governance it did four things.
First, it settled video conferencing for condominium boards. Section 718.112(2)(b)5. provides that a board meeting may be conducted in person or by video conference, and that a board or committee member's participation by telephone, real-time videoconferencing or similar real-time electronic or video communication counts toward a quorum and that such member may vote as if physically present. The companion requirement sits in the notice paragraph: if the meeting is to be conducted by video conference, the notice must say so and must include a hyperlink, a conference telephone number, and the address of the physical location where owners can attend in person. Our guide to board meeting notices and agendas walks through the posting mechanics.
Second, it allowed the annual meeting to be held by video conference on stricter terms. Under section 718.112(2)(d)2., if the annual meeting of unit owners is conducted by video conference, a quorum of the board must be physically present at the physical location where owners can attend, and the meeting must be recorded, with the recording maintained as an official record. A board that holds a virtual annual meeting and keeps no recording has created a records violation on top of a meeting defect.
Third, it opened a second channel for owner votes. Section 718.128 already provided that an owner voting electronically is counted as being in attendance for quorum purposes. HB 913 added that if at least 25 percent of the voting interests petition the board to adopt a resolution for electronic voting for the next scheduled election, the board must hold a meeting within 21 days after receiving the petition, and it added an e-mail ballot option: an owner may e-mail a ballot to an address the association designates, including the unit number and a typed name, together with a capitalized statement that waiving the secrecy of the ballot is the owner's choice and is not required in order to vote.
Fourth, it moved the budget check from the owners to the board. For condominiums, a proposed budget exceeding 115 percent of the prior year now requires the board to propose a substitute budget at the same time, excluding discretionary spending, with insurance premiums left out of the computation. Chapter 719 still uses the older mechanism in which 10 percent of owners petition for a substitute budget. Chapter 720 has no 115 percent rule at all.
Sections 718.112(2)(b)5. and 718.128 are condominium provisions. There is no equivalent sentence in Chapter 719 or Chapter 720, and section 720.306 does not authorize member or board meetings by video conference. An HOA that wants remote participation is relying on its bylaws and on Chapter 617.
2024: director education stopped being optional
The 2024 session produced two omnibus bills that changed who may sit on a board and what they must do after they get there.
HB 1021, Chapter 2024-244, rewrote condominium director education at section 718.112(2)(d)5.b. A newly elected or appointed director must submit to the secretary both the written certification and the educational certificate, within one year before being elected or appointed or within 90 days after. The curriculum must be at least four hours long and must cover milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies, elections, recordkeeping, financial literacy and transparency, levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements. One year after the most recent certification, and annually after that, a director of a residential condominium must submit a certificate showing at least one hour of continuing education. Our page on director certification covers the paperwork.
HB 1203, Chapter 2024-221, did the parallel work for homeowners associations at section 720.3033(1), and the rule is not the same. Within 90 days after being elected or appointed, an HOA director must submit a certificate of having satisfactorily completed the educational curriculum administered by a department-approved provider. There is no written-certification alternative. The certificate is valid for up to four years. Continuing education then scales with the community: at least four hours annually for a director of an association with fewer than 2,500 parcels, and at least eight hours annually at 2,500 parcels or more.
Cooperatives were left where they were. Section 719.106(1)(d)1.b. still allows a new director, within 90 days, either to certify in writing that he or she has read the governing documents and will work to uphold them, or to submit a certificate of having completed the educational curriculum.
| Condominium | Cooperative | HOA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authority | § 718.112(2)(d)5.b. | § 719.106(1)(d)1.b. | § 720.3033(1) |
| Written certification alone | No, both are required | Yes, as an alternative | No, not available |
| Course length in the statute | At least 4 hours | Not stated | Not stated |
| Deadline | 1 year before, or 90 days after | 90 days after | 90 days after |
| Continuing education | 1 hour annually | Not stated | 4 hours under 2,500 parcels; 8 hours at 2,500 or more |
| Certificate validity | Annual refresh | Not stated | Up to 4 years |
The condominium citation is the one most often copied wrong. Director education sat at section 718.112(2)(d)5.b. in the 2024 edition; HB 1021 inserted a subparagraph above it, so in the 2025 and 2026 editions it is 5.b. A certification form that still cites 4.b. points at a different provision.
Eligibility, term limits and recall
Eligibility rules have accumulated across several sessions and now sit in different places by chapter.
- Condominium, § 718.112(2)(d)3. A person convicted of a felony in Florida, in a United States District or Territorial Court, or of an offense elsewhere that would be a felony here, is not eligible unless civil rights have been restored for at least five years as of the date the person seeks election. A person suspended or removed by the Division, or delinquent in the payment of any assessment, may not be a candidate. A board member may not serve more than eight consecutive years unless approved by owners representing two-thirds of all votes cast, or unless there are not enough eligible candidates.
- HOA, § 720.306(9). A person delinquent in any fee, fine or other monetary obligation to the association on the day he or she could last nominate himself or herself may not seek election. The same felony and five-year rule applies. A challenge to the election process must be commenced within 60 days after results are announced. Our page on HOA candidate eligibility covers the screening sequence.
- Recall. Section 718.112(2)(l) allows any condominium board member to be recalled with or without cause by the vote or written agreement of a majority of all the voting interests, and a special meeting to recall may be called by 10 percent of the voting interests. Our recall procedures page covers the certification steps.
Note the delinquency trigger. The condominium rule turns on assessments. The HOA rule reaches any fee, fine or other monetary obligation, and fixes the test to one day: the last day the candidate could nominate himself or herself. A board that disqualifies an HOA candidate for a balance that appeared afterward has applied the wrong date.
Elections: the condominium machinery has no Chapter 720 twin
For condominiums, section 718.112(2)(d)5.a. sets the calendar. At least 60 days before a scheduled election the association mails, delivers or electronically transmits a first notice of the date of the election. A candidate must give written notice of intent to the association at least 40 days before the election. The association then sends a second notice with a ballot listing all candidates not less than 14 days and not more than 34 days before the election. One detail is commonly misremembered: the inner and outer envelope procedure is not in the statute at all, but in Florida Administrative Code Rule 61B-23.0021. Our election guide sets out the full sequence.
Chapter 720 works differently and always has. Section 720.306(9) leaves the election procedure to the governing documents, and provides that all members are eligible to serve and a member may nominate himself or herself at the meeting where the election is held. An HOA that assumes the condominium timeline applies to it has imported a deadline the Legislature never gave it.
2023, 2022 and 2021, briefly
For a board asking what changed about how it meets and elects, the honest answer for two of these sessions is nothing. The 2023 session produced SB 154, Chapter 2023-203, which refined milestone inspections and the reserve study and added section 718.1255(1)(d) with an amendment to subsection (5) effective July 1, 2027 rather than now. SB 360 shortened the construction statute of repose; HB 837 was tort reform. None of the three touched board meetings, notice, elections or recall.
The 2022 session produced SB 4-D, Chapter 2022-269, which created milestone inspections at section 553.899 and the structural integrity reserve study at section 718.112(2)(g). It is the most consequential community association bill of the decade and it is not a governance bill. The 2021 session produced SB 630, Chapter 2021-91, a broad revision across all three chapters, whose most durable line is in section 719.103: an interest in a cooperative unit is an interest in real property.
What to do before your next election cycle
- Pull your notice template and confirm it carries the hyperlink, a conference telephone number and the physical address whenever the meeting will be conducted by video conference.
- Confirm that someone is recording any owner meeting held by video conference and that the recording is being filed as an official record.
- Collect the current director certifications and check them against the right rule for your chapter, including the HOA continuing education hours, which scale at 2,500 parcels.
- Re-check every statutory citation in your election and certification forms against the 2026 edition. Subparagraph numbers moved in 2024 and again in the reviser's bill.
- Have counsel read your articles of incorporation and the corporate-governance provisions of your bylaws against the rewritten Chapter 617 before the next annual meeting.
- Fix the architectural application form if it conditions committee review on a building permit having issued.
Where the answer affects who sits on the board or whether a vote stands, the call to counsel comes before the meeting rather than after it. An election that has to be rerun costs more than the hour it would have taken to check the notice.
Frequently Asked Questions About Governance and Election Legislation
Did anything change for community associations in the 2026 session?
Not on governance. No bill amending Chapter 718, 719 or 720 as a governance matter passed. Three things did reach associations: the Chapter 617 rewrite in Chapter 2026-168, the architectural-review permit rule added as section 720.3035(1)(c) by Chapter 2026-63, and the reviser's bill, Chapter 2026-14, which is technical.
Can a director vote if he joins the board meeting by Zoom?
For a condominium, yes. Section 718.112(2)(b)5. provides that participation by telephone, real-time videoconferencing or similar real-time communication counts toward a quorum and that the member may vote as if physically present. Chapters 719 and 720 contain no equivalent sentence, so a cooperative or HOA board is relying on its own documents and on Chapter 617.
Our HOA directors took the four-hour course. Are they done?
No. Under section 720.3033(1) the certificate of completion is valid for up to four years, and continuing education is annual: at least four hours a year for a director of an association with fewer than 2,500 parcels, and at least eight hours a year at 2,500 parcels or more. The condominium rule is different again, at one hour a year.
Why does our director education form cite a different subsection than the statute?
Because the numbering moved. Condominium director education was at section 718.112(2)(d)5.b. in the 2024 edition. HB 1021 inserted a subparagraph above it, so it is 5.b. in the 2025 and 2026 editions. Forms printed before 2025 commonly still cite 4.b.
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 would have addressed HOA termination and dissolution, governing-document requirements, conflict disclosure, a community association court program and presuit mediation. Because it died, none of that is law, and a 2026 client alert describing those provisions as enacted is wrong.
Do the condominium election deadlines apply to our HOA?
No. The 60-day first notice, 40-day candidate notice and 14-to-34-day ballot window are in section 718.112(2)(d)5.a. and are condominium rules. Section 720.306(9) leaves HOA election procedure to the governing documents and allows a member to nominate himself or herself at the meeting.
Contact Hamilton Mikes
Hamilton Mikes advises condominium, cooperative and homeowners association boards across Lee, Collier and Charlotte Counties on meeting procedure, director qualification and election administration under the current statutes. If your notice templates, certification forms or election calendar have not been reviewed since 2024, call 239-594-7227 or visit our Corporate Governance page.
Statutes and authorities referenced
- § 718.112(2)(b)5., Fla. Stat. (board and committee participation by telephone or real-time video; quorum and voting)
- § 718.112(2)(c), Fla. Stat. (board meeting notice; video-conference notice contents; emergency items by majority plus one)
- § 718.112(2)(c)5.a.-b., Fla. Stat. (closed meeting exceptions: attorney-client and personnel)
- § 718.112(2)(d)2., Fla. Stat. (annual meeting by video conference; board quorum physically present; recording as an official record)
- § 718.112(2)(d)3., Fla. Stat. (director eligibility, felony bar, delinquency, eight-year term limit)
- § 718.112(2)(d)5.a., Fla. Stat. (election notice and ballot calendar)
- § 718.112(2)(d)5.b., Fla. Stat. (director certification and four-hour education; annual continuing education)
- § 718.112(2)(e)2.a., Fla. Stat. (115 percent substitute budget as a board duty)
- § 718.112(2)(l), Fla. Stat. (recall)
- § 718.128, Fla. Stat. (electronic voting; quorum; 25 percent petition and 21-day meeting; e-mail ballot)
- § 718.501(3), § 719.501(3), Fla. Stat. (Division online account)
- § 719.103, Fla. Stat. (cooperative unit as an interest in real property)
- § 719.106(1)(d)1.b., Fla. Stat. (cooperative director certification or course)
- § 720.306(9), Fla. Stat. (HOA elections, eligibility, 60-day challenge window)
- § 720.3033(1), Fla. Stat. (HOA director education; four-year certificate; 4- and 8-hour continuing education)
- § 720.3035(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (no building permit as a prerequisite to architectural review)
- § 617.0832, Fla. Stat. (director conflict-of-interest transactions, as rewritten in 2026)
- Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021 (condominium election envelope procedure)
- Session laws: Ch. 2021-91 (SB 630); Ch. 2022-269 (SB 4-D); Ch. 2023-203 (SB 154); Ch. 2024-244 (HB 1021); Ch. 2024-221 (HB 1203); Ch. 2025-175 (CS/CS/HB 913); Ch. 2026-14 (SB 104); Ch. 2026-63 (CS/CS/HB 803); Ch. 2026-168 (CS/CS/HB 797)