Florida

Section 720.3033(1) - HOAs

  • Requires board members to submit a certificate showing that they “satisfactorily” completed the new education curriculum required of new members within ninety (90) days of being appointed or elected. The curriculum will consist of training and education on the following topics:
    1.  Financial Literacy and Transparency
    2. Record Keeping
    3.  Levying of Fines
    4. Notice of Meeting Requirements
  • The curriculum must be administered through an education provider that has been approved through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
  •  The certificate of completion is valid for up to 4 years and the association must retain each member’s certificate for inspection for 5 years after the member’s election.
  • The length of the education curriculum is dependent on the size of the community involved.
    1. If the community consists of less than 2,500 parcels the member will complete at least 4 hours of continuing education annually.
    2. For a community that has more than 2,500 parcels, the minimum requirement will be 8 hours. Critically, the amendment also provides that a director who does not timely file the educational certificate is suspended from the board until he or she complies with the requirement.

Section 718.112(2)(d)4.b - Condos

  • Provides that board members must certify in writing that they have read the association’s governing documents (i.e., Declaration, Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and any other current written policies relating to the condominium), that they will work to uphold such documents and policies to the best of their ability and will “faithfully discharge [their] fiduciary responsibility to the association’s members.”
  • Condominium members must also submit proof of completion that they have undergone the educational requirements after election or appointment to the board but provides for a global deadline of June 25, 2025 (approximately one year post enactment).
  • The educational requirements are similar to that for Homeowners’ Associations, but include a few additional components that address safety and structural integrity inspections, in an apparent nod to the Surfside disaster that occurred in 2021, as follows:
    1. Milestone Inspections (These inspections determine if there is evidence of substantial structural deterioration/distress that negatively affects a building's general structural condition and integrity)
    2. Structural Integrity reserve Studies (A structural integrity reserve study assesses the condition, life expectancy, and replacement costs of major components (e.g., roof, foundation). It must be done every 10 years and is used to guide the association’s reserve fund planning)
    3. Record Keeping
    4. Financial Literacy and Transparency
    5. Levying of fines
    6.  Notice of meeting requirements