Florida Condo & HOA Law Changes

The 2026 Florida legislative session ended March 13 without a single new condo or HOA law reaching the Governor's desk. The session's most-watched bill, HB 657, passed the House 108-2 but never received a Senate hearing. For board members searching for the latest florida condo law changes or florida hoa law changes, the answer is the same: nothing new was signed this year, but the compliance framework built in 2024 and 2025 is fully in effect and still demands attention.

This is your annual debrief on what boards across the Venice and Sarasota region need to track heading into the second half of 2026: what was proposed and failed, what's still on the books from prior sessions, and what your board should be verifying right now.

2026 Session: What Was Proposed and What Failed

The only major condo/HOA bill of the 2026 session was HB 657, and it died in the Senate after passing the House overwhelmingly. Sponsored by Rep. Juan Porras (R-Miami), the bill cleared the House 108-2 on March 5 but never received a Senate hearing before the session adjourned on March 13. For now, no new condo laws in florida were enacted in 2026.

HB 657 would have introduced four significant changes to how Florida associations operate:

A homeowner-initiated mechanism for dissolving an HOA, allowing residents in some communities to vote to terminate the association entirely
A dedicated community association court program designed to replace the current pre-suit mediation requirement
A new requirement that governing documents include language clarifying that rules are "amendable from time to time" under state law
Updated conflict-of-interest disclosure standards for board members and association vendors

None of these provisions are law. They are not in effect. Boards should not begin "complying" with anything in HB 657.

Rep. Porras has publicly indicated he intends to refile the bill in the 2027 session, and several of its underlying ideas appear to have momentum among legislators. Boards that have been operating under stable governing documents for years should expect florida condo law changes of this scope to resurface, even though they didn't advance this round. Boards that want to monitor active legislation as the 2027 session approaches can track bills through CAI's Florida Legislative Issue Tracking page, maintained by the Florida Legislative Action Committee.

What's Still in Effect: The Laws Your Board Must Follow

Although no new florida condo law changes passed in 2026, three pieces of legislation from the prior two sessions remain in full force, and each carries active deadlines and operational requirements. HB 913 (2025), HB 1021 (2024), and HB 1203 (2024) are the framework your association is operating under right now.

HB 913 (2025): SIRS, Reserves, and Milestone Inspections

HB 913 florida is the 2025 law that reshaped how condo and co-op buildings with three or more habitable stories handle structural integrity reserve studies, reserve funding, and florida condo milestone inspection requirements. Every requirement below is in effect today.

Key provisions your board must follow:

Structural Integrity Reserve Studies (SIRS) are required every 10 years for qualifying buildings. The initial completion deadline of December 31, 2025 has passed; associations that did not file are out of compliance.
A baseline funding plan must accompany each SIRS, and board officers must sign an affidavit acknowledging receipt of the report.
The reserve item threshold was raised from $10,000 to $25,000, with annual inflation indexing that began in February 2026.
Boards may now use loans, lines of credit, or special assessments to fund reserves with proper approval, expanding the toolkit beyond traditional dues increases.
Reserve waivers for mandatory structural items were eliminated starting with the 2025 budget cycle, replacing the framework first established by SB 4D florida in 2022.
The "three habitable stories" trigger was clarified. Garages, parking levels, and storage levels do not count toward the threshold for milestone inspection requirements.

For boards managing aging coastal condominiums, the updated florida condo reserve requirements under HB 913 are the single most consequential governance change since the post-Surfside reforms first passed.

HB 1021 (2024): Condo Board Certification and Financial Reporting

HB 1021 governs condo board director education and association recordkeeping. Condo directors elected or appointed on or after July 1, 2024 must complete a 4-hour DBPR-approved certification course within 90 days of taking office.

What's in effect right now:

Mandatory board certification. The 4-hour course covers SIRS, milestone inspections, financial literacy, recordkeeping, and other governance essentials. Certification is valid for seven years. Directors must also complete 1 hour of continuing education annually on Chapter 718 updates.
The "in lieu of" written-certification option is gone. Prior to HB 1021, new directors could sign a written certification stating they had read the governing documents. That option has been eliminated for condos; course completion is now required.
Website requirement. Condos with 25 or more units must maintain a password-protected association website. Required documents must be posted within 30 days, including governing documents, budgets, financial reports, insurance policies, meeting minutes, and director certifications. This requirement took effect January 1, 2026.
Criminal liability provisions now apply to directors who destroy official records or accept kickbacks from vendors.

The free DBPR-approved course is the most common path to certification and is available through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation's Division of Condominiums, the state body that oversees condominium compliance, SIRS reporting, and board education statewide.

HB 1203 (2024): HOA Board Education and Digital Records

HB 1203 is the HOA-side counterpart to HB 1021, and it imposes parallel board certification and digital record requirements on homeowners associations. HOA director certification follows the same 4-hour / 90-day rule, but continuing education hours scale with community size.

What's in effect:

HOA director certification. Same 4-hour course within 90 days of election or appointment. Associations under 2,500 parcels require 4 hours of continuing education annually; associations with 2,500 or more parcels require 8 hours.
Website requirement. HOAs with 100 or more parcels must maintain an association website. This took effect January 1, 2025, and is therefore already past due for any HOA that has not yet built one.
Electronic voting provisions are now available to HOA boards that adopt them in their governing documents.

The HOA framework is lighter than the condo framework: fewer building-specific structural provisions, but the same governance and transparency expectations apply.

Board Compliance Checklist: What to Verify Now

Here\'s a practical checklist every board should run through before the busy season returns in November. If your management company isn\'t tracking these items proactively, that is a problem worth solving.

SIRS: completed, filed, and reviewed by the board? Baseline funding plan adopted? Affidavit signed by board officers?
Reserves: funded according to the SIRS baseline plan? No remaining waivers on mandatory structural items?
Board certification: every current director certified within 90 days of taking office? Annual continuing education hours logged?
Association website: active, password-protected, and updated within 30 days of any new document?
Insurance appraisal: replacement cost valuation completed within the last 36 months?
Records retention: financial records, meeting minutes, and director certifications all current and accessible?

For Keys-Caldwell communities, our Property Services division tracks SIRS schedules and milestone inspection timelines on a rolling calendar, and our in-house accounting team reconciles reserve fund balances against the baseline plan monthly. If you're a board that has to chase your management company for any of the items above, that is the conversation worth having now.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the new Florida condo law changes for 2026?

No new condo legislation was signed into law during the 2026 Florida legislative session. The most significant proposal, HB 657, passed the House 108-2 on March 5 but died in the Senate before the session adjourned on March 13, 2026. The current compliance framework from HB 913 (2025) and HB 1021 (2024) remains in effect. Reform proposals similar to HB 657 are expected to resurface in the 2027 session.

What are the new Florida HOA law changes for 2026?

The same answer applies: no new HOA legislation passed in 2026. HB 1203, signed in 2024, remains the governing law for HOA board certification, association website requirements, and director education. HB 657 would have introduced HOA dissolution provisions but did not advance beyond the Florida House.

What is HB 913 and does it still apply?

Yes. HB 913 florida, signed in 2025, is fully in effect. It reformed Florida's structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) and milestone inspection requirements for condominium and cooperative buildings with three or more habitable stories. Key provisions include SIRS every 10 years, a mandatory baseline funding plan with a signed board officer affidavit, a reserve item threshold raised to $25,000, and the elimination of reserve waivers for mandatory structural items.

Are Florida condo board members required to take a certification course?

Yes. Under HB 1021 (2024), condo directors elected or appointed on or after July 1, 2024 must complete a 4-hour DBPR-approved certification course within 90 days of taking office, plus 1 hour of continuing education annually thereafter. The earlier "in lieu of" option, which allowed directors to sign a written certification instead of completing the course, was eliminated. HOA directors face parallel requirements under HB 1203, with continuing education hours scaling by community size.

Prior Year Changelog

2025: HB 913 signed, extending the SIRS completion deadline, raising the reserve item threshold to $25,000, eliminating waivers for mandatory structural items, and clarifying the "habitable stories" trigger for milestone inspections.
2024: HB 1021 and HB 1203 signed, establishing the post-Surfside compliance framework for both condos and HOAs: mandatory board certification, association website requirements, criminal liability provisions for record destruction, and elimination of the "in lieu of" certification option for condo directors.

The Quiet Years Are When Boards Get Caught

Even in a session with no new florida condo law changes, your board has a full plate. The reforms passed in response to the Champlain Towers collapse are now fully operational, and the deadlines aren't suggestions. Boards that stay ahead of SIRS, reserve funding, certification, and website requirements protect both their communities and their personal liability. Boards that don't are exposed.

Keys-Caldwell has managed condo associations and HOAs in Sarasota County since 1978, and tracking statutory changes is part of the job. If your current management company isn't bringing florida condo law changes and HOA compliance updates to your board proactively, it may be time for a conversation.

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Florida Condo & HOA Law Changes 2026: Where Things Actually Stand