Synopsis:
Revises provisions relating to homeowners’ associations including official records, fines & suspensions, attorney fees & costs, liens, & removing & reinstating certain officers & directors from office; prohibits certain funds from being commingled with association funds & requires certain accounting and remittance of funds within specified timeframe; provides criminal & civil penalties for actions by officers, directors, or managers of association & requires disclosures; provides criminal penalties for fraudulent voting activities.
House Bill 919:
The amendments outlined by HB 919, dubbed the “Homeowners’ Association Bill of Rights” are effective October 1, 2023.
This Bill amends Section 720.303, Florida Statutes, to provide the following:
Adds requirement that notices for board meetings specifically identify agenda items.
- Requires an association to maintain members’ designated addresses as official records.
o Designated address defined as: the member’s property address, unless the member has sent written notice to the association requesting that a different mailing address be used for all required notices.
o A member’s e-mail address is the one provided when consenting in writing to receiving notice by electronic transmission, unless the member has sent written notice to the association requesting that a different e-mail address be used for required notices. - Prohibits comingling of funds collected from a member for any reason with other association funds. The funds must be maintained separately.
- Following completion of the project (or other purpose for the collection of a member’s deposit), a member is authorized to request an accounting from an association and requires an association to provide such accounting within 7 days following the member’s request. The association must remit unused funds to the member within 30 days after receiving notice that the member’s construction project (or other reason for collecting deposit) is complete.
The Bill amends Section 720.3033, Florida Statutes, to provide the following:
- Imposes monetary damages upon officers, directors, or managers who knowingly solicit, accept goods or services, or a kickback for the benefit of oneself or that of his or her immediate family from persons providing/proposing services to the association.
- Officer or directors charged by information or indictment for forgery of ballots or voting certificates, theft, embezzlement of association funds or property, destruction or tampering of official records, including refusal to allow for inspection or copying, or obstruction of justice must be removed from office. The board shall fill the vacancy as provided in section 720.306(9), Florida Statutes.
- Candidates with pending criminal charges for such offenses may not be appointed or elected to a position as an officer or director.
- Prohibits officers and directors with pending criminal charges from accessing the official records of the association, absent a court order.
- Specifies disclosure requirements for certain officers and directors, including their relationship to the developer and any activity that may reasonably be construed as a conflict of interest. Clarifies that the appointment of officers or directors by a developer does not create a presumption of conflict of interest for such officers or directors. A rebuttable conflict of interest exists where, without prior disclosure, an officer or director (or relative of) enters into a contract for goods or services with the association; or an officer or director (or relative of) holds an interest in a business entity that conducts business with the association.
The Bill amends Section 720.305, Florida Statutes as follows:
- Restricts certain attorneys’ fees and costs for the prevailing party in litigation.
- Specifies that associations may levy fines for violations of the declaration, association’s bylaws, or reasonable rules of the association.
- Specifies notice of a fine or suspension must include a description of the alleged violation, the specific action required to cure such violation, and the date and location of the hearing.
- Authorizes parcel owners to attend violation hearings by telephone or other electronic means.
- Following the hearing, the committee must provide written notice to the parcel owner at the designated mailing or e-mail address (and occupant, if applicable) outlining the committee’s findings, fines or suspensions that the committee approved or rejected, and how the parcel owner may cure the violation, if applicable.
Finally, this Bill creates Section 720.3065, Florida Statutes, which creates criminal penalties for fraudulent voting activities related to association elections. The following offenses shall qualify as a first-degree misdemeanor: Willfully and falsely swearing or affirming, or procuring another person to falsely swear/affirm in connection with voting activities, attempting to or participating in fraudulent vote casting, preventing a member from voting, or voting as intended by fraudulently changing a member’s ballot, envelop, vote, or voting certificate, engaging in menacing or threatening behavior, bribery or other correction to influence or deter a member’s vote, promising anything of value to another member to influence that member’s vote, threatening or engaging in violent intimidation or force to induce or compel a member to vote or refrain from voting.
