Chapter 723 gives the residents of a mobile home park two organizations, and they are easy to confuse. The homeowners' committee is a small negotiating body of not more than five people that exists for a single statutory purpose: meeting the park owner about a proposed change. The homeowners' association is a Florida corporation formed under section 723.075 that speaks for every homeowner in the park on matters under the chapter and holds a statutory opportunity to buy the park. One can exist without the other. Neither one is a homeowners' association under Chapter 720.
The committee of five
Section 723.003(5) defines a homeowners' committee as a committee of not more than five persons designated by a majority of the affected homeowners in a mobile home park or subdivision, or, if a homeowners' association has been formed, designated by the board of directors of the association. That is the whole of the formation requirement. There are no bylaws, no filings and no corporate existence.
The committee's job is set by section 723.037. It meets the park owner no later than 60 days before the effective date of a proposed increase in lot rental amount, reduction in services or utilities, or change in rules and regulations, and it is the body that petitions for mediation. Under section 723.037(7), the parties to a Chapter 723 mediation are the park owner and the homeowners' committee. The association is not a party in its own right.
The definition carries real authority. The committee is designated to meet the park owner about those changes and any other matter authorized by the association or by a majority of the affected homeowners, and it is authorized to enter into a binding agreement with the park owner, or a binding mediation agreement, on behalf of the association, its members, and all other mobile home owners in the park. Five people can bind everyone.
That is why the paperwork matters. When the committee petitions for mediation, section 723.037(5)(b) requires it to serve the park owner with the records that verify the selection of the committee. Keep the designation signatures, with lot identification, from the day they are gathered. Our guide to the lot rental increase procedure sets out the rest of that calendar.
Forming an association under section 723.075
A Chapter 723 homeowners' association must be a corporation for profit or not for profit. Section 723.075 requires that not less than two-thirds of all the mobile home owners within the park consent in writing to become members before the association is formed, and the association may not have a member or shareholder who is not a bona fide owner of a mobile home located in the park.
The consequence of clearing that threshold is broader than membership. Once the association is formed, it becomes the representative of all the mobile home owners in the park in all matters relating to Chapter 723, regardless of whether an individual homeowner is a member. A homeowner who declined to sign is still represented.
Two-thirds of all owners is a high bar in a community of several hundred homes, and it is measured against all owners, not against those who turn up to a meeting. Communities that cannot reach it are not shut out of the chapter: the committee under section 723.003(5) requires only a majority of the affected homeowners and can be designated for a single increase.
Telling the park owner the association exists
Section 723.076 turns incorporation into notice. Upon receipt of its certificate of incorporation, the association must notify the park owner in writing of the incorporation and advise the park owner of the names and addresses of its officers. Delivery is by personal delivery on the park owner's representative designated in the prospectus, or by certified mail, return receipt requested. Any later change in the names and addresses of the president or the registered agent goes to the park owner the same way, by certified mail, return receipt requested.
The section then requires a second, public step. The association files with the clerk of the circuit court for the county where the park is located a notice of its right to purchase the mobile home park, stating the name of the association, the name of the park owner, and the address or legal description of the park. Within 10 days of recording, the association provides the park owner a copy of the recorded notice by certified mail, return receipt requested.
This is the step communities skip, and it is the one that has consequences years later. The recorded notice is what puts a buyer, a title insurer and an examining attorney on notice that the park is subject to the association's statutory purchase right. Section 723.072 lets the park owner record an affidavit of compliance and gives any party acquiring an interest in the park, along with title insurers and examining attorneys, the absolute right to rely on the statements in it, liberally construed so that all persons may rely on the record title. A community that never recorded its notice is arguing against that structure.
Bylaws, the board, and meetings
Section 723.078 sets the default internal rules, most of them subject to a contrary provision in the bylaws.
- Board size. Five members unless the bylaws provide otherwise.
- Quorum. Thirty percent of the total membership unless the bylaws provide otherwise; action is by a majority of those present.
- Proxies. Limited proxies substantially conforming to a form adopted by the Division. Proxies may not be used in the election of board members in general elections or elections to fill vacancies, and no proxy is effective longer than 90 days after the date of the first meeting for which it was given.
- Board meetings. Meetings at which a quorum is present are open to all members, with notice posted conspicuously on the park property at least 48 hours in advance except in an emergency.
- Member meetings. At least once each calendar year, on at least 14 days' written notice to each member.
- Minutes. Retained within Florida for at least 5 years.
- Recall. By the vote of, or agreement in writing by, a majority of all members. If the board contests the recall it files a petition for binding arbitration with the Division.
Directors carry a certification duty that looks familiar to anyone who has sat on a condominium board. Under section 723.0781, within 90 days after being elected or appointed a director must certify by written affidavit that he or she has read the association's articles and bylaws and the park's prospectus, rental agreement, rules, regulations and written policies, and will uphold them and discharge fiduciary duties. The alternative is a certificate of completion of a Division-approved educational curriculum taken within one year before or 90 days after election or appointment. A director who files neither is suspended until he or she complies, but the failure does not affect the validity of any board action.
What the association may do, and what it may not
Section 723.079 is the powers section. The association may contract, sue and be sued as to maintenance, management and operation of park property. It may purchase lots in the park and acquire, hold, lease, mortgage and convey them. It may obtain insurance, hold easements for access and utilities, conduct bingo, and collect subscriptions to raise funds to purchase the park, held in an association or other escrow account.
The limit is in subsection (3). The association has the power to make, levy and collect assessments and to lease, maintain, repair and replace the common areas upon purchase of the mobile home park. Before that purchase, the residents are tenants on rented lots. There is no parcel the association owns, no declaration of covenants running with the land, and no statutory lien in Chapter 723 securing an association assessment against a rented lot.
That is the substance behind the point that a Chapter 723 association is not a Chapter 720 homeowners' association. Section 720.301 defines one as a Florida corporation responsible for operating a community or mobile home subdivision, in which membership is a mandatory condition of parcel ownership, and which is authorized to impose assessments that, if unpaid, may become a lien on the parcel. A section 723.075 association fails that definition on both halves. The comparison with a Chapter 720 homeowners' association is useful mainly for seeing how different the two are.
| Homeowners' committee | Ch. 723 association | Ch. 720 HOA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it comes into being | Designated by a majority of affected homeowners, or by the association board | Incorporated with written consent of two-thirds of all owners in the park | Created by a recorded declaration |
| Membership | Up to five persons | Voluntary; bona fide home owners in the park only | Mandatory with parcel ownership |
| Assessment power | None | Only upon purchase of the park, § 723.079(3) | Yes, from the declaration |
| Assessment lien | None | None under Ch. 723 | Yes, § 720.3085 |
| Main statutory job | Meet the park owner and petition for mediation | Represent all homeowners under Ch. 723; buy the park | Operate the community and enforce covenants |
Records, and the 20-business-day rule
Section 723.079(4) lists what the association keeps: the articles and bylaws, rules and regulations, minutes retained 5 years, a roster of members with addresses and lot identifications, insurance policies for 5 years after expiration, all contracts for 5 years after expiration, and financial and accounting records for at least 5 years.
Subsection (5) is the access rule, and it is stricter than most people expect. Records must be made available to a member within 20 business days after receipt of a written request sent by certified mail. The association may not require a member to demonstrate a proper purpose, and charges are limited to the cost of copying. Failure creates a rebuttable presumption of willful noncompliance, with damages of $10 per calendar day up to 10 days, not to exceed $100, computed from the twenty-first business day after the request.
Records disputes between a member and the association do not go to Chapter 723 mediation. Under section 723.1255, a dispute between a mobile home owner and a homeowners' association over the election and recall of officers or directors, or over the inspection and photocopying of official records, must go to mandatory binding arbitration with the Division. Each party pays its own attorney, expert and investigator fees, and the arbitrators' cost is divided equally regardless of outcome.
Section 723.079(6) closes the loop on turnover: an outgoing board or committee member must relinquish all official records and association property in his or her possession or control to the incoming board within 5 days after the election or removal.
The statutory right to purchase the park
Section 723.071 is the reason the recorded notice under section 723.076 exists. When a park owner offers the mobile home park for sale, the owner must notify the officers of the homeowners' association of the price and the terms and conditions of sale. The association may purchase the park if it meets the price and the terms and conditions.
- The park owner offers the park for sale and notifies the association officers of the price and the terms and conditions. "Notify" means placing a notice in the United States mail addressed to the officers; "offer" means any solicitation by the park owner to the general public.
- The association has 45 days from the date of the notice to execute a contract at that price and on those terms and conditions, unless the parties agree to a longer period.
- If no contract is executed within the 45 days, the park owner's obligations under the section end, with one exception: if the owner later offers the park at a price lower than the price specified in the notice, the association gets an additional 10 days to meet the new price and terms.
- If the park owner receives a bona fide offer from a third party that it intends to consider, the owner must notify the association of the offer and its material terms and conditions. The park owner is under no obligation to sell to the homeowners and is not required to interrupt or delay other negotiations.
- The park owner may record an affidavit of compliance under section 723.072 certifying compliance, non-applicability or exemption, on which purchasers, title insurers and examining attorneys have the absolute right to rely.
Section 723.071(4) exempts a list of transfers entirely, including transfers to family members and by intestate succession, gifts and devises, transfers to a corporate affiliate or to a partner, conveyances in connection with financing, foreclosure sales and deeds in lieu, transfers among joint tenants or tenants in common, exchanges, and acquisitions by eminent domain. A community that receives no notice of a transfer should check that list before assuming the section was violated.
The honest characterization of section 723.071 is that it is a right to be told and a right to match, not a veto. Forty-five days is a short window in which to raise the price of a mobile home park, which is why section 723.079(11) authorizes subscription funds held in escrow and why associations that succeed in these transactions start assembling financing long before a sale is announced.
The meeting the park owner must attend
One meeting in Chapter 723 is mandatory for the park owner: the section 723.037(4)(a) meeting with the homeowners' committee, held no later than 60 days before the effective date of a proposed increase, service reduction or rule change. At that meeting the park owner must in good faith disclose and explain all material factors behind the decision, prepare a written summary of those factors, and retain a copy for three years.
Nothing in sections 723.075 through 723.079 obliges the park owner to attend an association board meeting, answer questions at an annual members' meeting, or respond to association correspondence. Those are association meetings, governed by section 723.078 and open to members, not to the park owner as of right.
For a community that wants the park owner in the room, the route is the section 723.037 track, and the trigger is the park owner's own notice. For a park owner the point cuts the other way: the 60-day meeting is the one appearance the statute requires, and it is where the record a mediator or a court will later read gets made. Our guides to Chapter 723 mediation and to what Chapter 723 governs pick up from there.
Frequently Asked Questions About Committees and Associations
What is the difference between a homeowners' committee and a homeowners' association?
The committee is a body of not more than five people designated under section 723.003(5) to meet the park owner about a proposed increase, service reduction or rule change and to petition for mediation. The association is a Florida corporation formed under section 723.075 that represents all homeowners in the park on Chapter 723 matters and holds the statutory right to purchase the park.
How many homeowners have to agree to form an association?
Not less than two-thirds of all the mobile home owners within the park must consent in writing to become members. That is measured against all owners in the park, not against those attending a meeting. Only bona fide owners of mobile homes located in the park may be members or shareholders.
Can a Chapter 723 association charge assessments and put a lien on a home?
Its power to make, levy and collect assessments arises under section 723.079(3) upon purchase of the mobile home park. Before the association owns the park, Chapter 723 gives it no assessment lien against a rented lot and no recorded covenants running with the land. It is not a Chapter 720 homeowners' association.
How long does the association have to buy the park?
Forty-five days from the date of the park owner's notice to execute a contract meeting the price, terms and conditions, unless the parties agree to a longer period. If the owner later offers the park at a lower price, the association gets an additional 10 days to meet the new price and terms.
Does the park owner have to come to our association meetings?
No. The one meeting Chapter 723 requires the park owner to attend is the section 723.037(4)(a) meeting with the homeowners' committee, held no later than 60 days before the effective date of a proposed increase, service reduction or rule change. Association board and member meetings are governed by section 723.078 and are open to members.
How fast must the association produce records to a member?
Within 20 business days after receipt of a written request sent by certified mail. The association cannot require the member to show a proper purpose and may charge only the cost of copying. Failure creates a rebuttable presumption of willful noncompliance with damages of $10 per calendar day up to 10 days, capped at $100.
Contact Hamilton Mikes
Hamilton Mikes advises mobile home community clients in Lee, Collier and Charlotte Counties on association formation and governance under sections 723.075 through 723.079, on the notice and recording steps in section 723.076, and on the statutory purchase process in section 723.071. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Corporate Governance page.
Statutes and authorities referenced
- § 723.003(5), Fla. Stat. (homeowners' committee; authority to bind)
- § 723.037(4), (5), (7), Fla. Stat. (the committee meeting, the mediation petition, and who the parties are)
- § 723.071, Fla. Stat. (sale of a mobile home park; notice to the association; 45 days; exemptions)
- § 723.072, Fla. Stat. (affidavit of compliance; absolute right to rely; liberal construction)
- § 723.075, Fla. Stat. (formation of the homeowners' association; two-thirds consent; representation of all owners)
- § 723.076, Fla. Stat. (incorporation; notice to the park owner; recording the notice of right to purchase)
- § 723.078, Fla. Stat. (bylaws; board, quorum, proxies, meetings, minutes, recall)
- § 723.0781, Fla. Stat. (board member training and certification)
- § 723.079, Fla. Stat. (powers and duties; assessments on purchase; official records; inspection)
- § 723.1255, Fla. Stat. (mandatory binding arbitration of election, recall and records disputes)
- § 720.301, Fla. Stat. (definition of homeowners' association, for contrast)