How to Read a Florida Association's Governing Documents: The Hierarchy, the Statute, and the Clauses That Decide Most Disputes

Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA
Founder & Managing Shareholder

• Published September 23, 2026
• Reviewed by Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA, September 23, 2026
• Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2026
• Applies to: Condominiums · HOAs · Cooperatives

A Florida association's governing documents are read in a fixed order of authority. The Florida Statutes come first, because mandatory provisions of Chapter 718 or Chapter 720 override anything the documents say. Then the recorded declaration, which binds every owner as a covenant running with the land. Then the articles of incorporation, then the bylaws, and finally the rules and regulations the board adopts. Wherever two provisions conflict, the higher one controls, and within a document the specific provision controls over the general. A board that knows which document it is reading, and where that document sits in the order, has already answered most of the questions owners bring to it.

The five layers

The statutes. Chapter 718 governs condominiums, Chapter 719 cooperatives, and Chapter 720 homeowners associations, with Chapter 617 supplying corporate law for all three. Some statutory provisions are mandatory and cannot be varied; some apply only if the documents are silent; and some apply to a given association only if its declaration incorporates the statute as amended (see below). Condominium bylaws are deemed by section 718.112 to contain every provision the statute requires, whether or not the words appear on the page.

The declaration. For a condominium, the declaration of condominium creates the condominium itself and must contain the items section 718.104 lists: the legal description, the unit boundaries and plans, each unit's share of the common elements and expenses, voting rights, maintenance responsibilities, and use restrictions. For a homeowners association, the declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions subjects each parcel to the association's assessments and restrictions. Either kind is recorded in the county's official records, is referenced in every deed, and can be amended only by the vote it specifies or the statute supplies. Florida courts presume declaration restrictions valid and enforce them unless they are arbitrary, contrary to public policy, or in violation of a constitutional right.

The articles of incorporation. Filed with the Division of Corporations, the articles create the association as a corporation and state its powers, its membership, and, often, the number of directors. They rarely decide disputes but they control the corporate formalities.

The bylaws. The bylaws are the association's operating manual: how many directors, how long they serve, how meetings are called and noticed, how officers are elected, how budgets are adopted, how the fiscal year runs. In a condominium, the statute overlays the bylaws heavily; in a homeowners association, the bylaws do more of the work.

The rules and regulations. Rules are adopted by the board under authority the declaration or bylaws grant, and they are the easiest layer to change and the easiest to challenge. A rule must be within the board's delegated authority, reasonable in relation to a legitimate association purpose, and consistent with the declaration and with owners' rights under it. Architectural guidelines, resolutions, and policies sit in this layer.

Which version of the statute applies

The single most consequential clause in an older condominium declaration is the one that says, or fails to say, that the condominium is governed by Chapter 718 "as amended from time to time." Under Kaufman v. Shere, a declaration containing that language incorporates each year's statutory changes automatically, so the current statute governs. Kaufman is a decision about how to construe a contract that incorporates a statute by reference. It does not make statutory amendments retroactive, and the court's second footnote confined it further: such provisions "would only be incorporated to the extent that they were valid," and the statutory section at issue "could only be adopted prospectively." A declaration without it is governed, on substantive matters such as voting thresholds, leasing rights, and material alterations, by the statute as it read when the declaration was recorded, unless a later statute expressly applies retroactively or is procedural. Procedural provisions, such as meeting notice and records access, generally apply to every association regardless.

The practical consequence is that two buildings on the same street, both governed by Chapter 718, can have different answers to the same question. A board should know whether its declaration contains Kaufman language before relying on any statutory change enacted after the building was built, and should consider adding it by amendment if it does not.

Resolving conflicts

• Between the statute and a document: the statute controls if the provision is mandatory. Many statutory provisions, however, begin "unless otherwise provided in the declaration," and there the document controls.
• Between the declaration and the bylaws: the declaration controls. Bylaw provisions that conflict with the declaration are unenforceable to the extent of the conflict.
• Between the declaration and a rule: the declaration controls, and a rule that restricts a right the declaration grants is void. A declaration that permits "one pet" cannot be reduced to "no pets" by rule.
• Within a document: the specific provision controls over the general one, later amendments control over earlier text, and ambiguous restrictions on the use of property are construed in favor of the owner's free use. That last rule means the precise words of a restriction matter more than what the drafters intended or what the community has always assumed.

Where the documents are unclear, the durable remedies are an amendment that resolves the ambiguity or a declaratory judgment action under Chapter 86. Enforcing an ambiguous restriction against one owner, and losing, is the expensive alternative.

The clauses that decide most disputes

A board that reads nothing else should read these provisions of its declaration and know what they say:

1. Unit boundaries and maintenance responsibility. Who maintains the windows, the balcony slab, the plumbing inside the wall, the lanai screen. In a condominium the declaration allocates each component between the association and the owner; the insurance statute allocates some of the same components differently for insurance purposes. Our maintenance responsibilities guide explains the interaction.
2. Use restrictions. Residential use, occupancy limits, leasing minimums and frequency, pets, vehicles, commercial activity. These are the provisions most often enforced and most often challenged.
3. The amendment clause. The vote required, the method of voting, whether written consents are permitted, and any provisions that require a higher vote or lienholder consent. Every change to the documents runs through this clause.
4. Assessments and liens. How common expenses are shared, when assessments are due, the interest rate, late fees, and the lien and foreclosure provisions. The statute supplies defaults, but the documents control where they are permitted to.
5. Alterations and architectural control. For condominiums, the material-alteration provision and its vote threshold; for homeowners associations, the architectural review provision, which under section 720.3035 must actually state or reasonably imply the authority the committee exercises.
6. Insurance and casualty. What the association insures, how deductibles are allocated, and what happens after a loss, including the vote required to rebuild or not.
7. Developer rights. In newer communities, the developer's reserved rights to amend, to control the board, and to exempt itself from assessments, and the turnover provisions that end them.

Where to find the current documents

The recorded declaration and its amendments are in the county's official records, searchable online by the association's name. Condominium associations with 25 or more units and homeowners associations with 100 or more parcels must post the governing documents on their websites, and every association must keep them as official records available to owners. Boards should maintain a consolidated, current set that includes every recorded amendment, because the version in the closing package an owner received years ago is rarely complete. Homeowners associations are now required to provide the rules and covenants to every member.

How to read them

Start with the definitions section and the recording information, then read the amendment clause to learn how hard change is, then the seven clauses listed above. Note the date of the declaration and look for Kaufman language. Then compare what the documents say with what the association actually does; the gaps are where the disputes will come from. Our Governing Documents page describes how we conduct that review and the amendments that typically follow.

Contact Hamilton Mikes

Hamilton Mikes reviews, interprets, and amends governing documents for associations throughout Southwest Florida. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Governing Documents page.