[FL][All] Most Florida HOA fine notices since 2024 are procedurally unenforceable. Here's how to test yours against the statute.
Been reading Florida Statutes Chapter 720 (the HOA statute) because my own community started enforcing some questionable fines. Florida quietly rewrote chunks of this in 2024 via HB 1203, and most homeowners and a lot of HOAs are still operating on the old rules.
The six bright-line procedural rules under §720.305 and HB 1203:
§720.305(2)(a) caps fines at $100 per violation. This is statutory, not contractual. A $250 fine for a single violation is illegal on its face.
§720.305(2)(a) caps cumulative fines for the same homeowner at $1,000 unless the Association can prove a "continuing violation." Continuing means conduct that continues unabated after the original notice. Most enforcement doesn't meet this bar.
§720.305(2)(b) requires written notice. Not a text. Not a Nextdoor post. Not a community-app message. If you only got a verbal warning, the fine is procedurally defective.
§720.305(2)(b) requires at least 14 days to cure the violation and an opportunity for a hearing. Shorter cure windows fail the statute on their face.
§720.305(5), added by HB 1203 in 2024, requires the violation notice to cite the specific section of the governing documents alleged to be violated. Notices that say "nuisance" or "unsightly" or "rule violation" without pointing to an actual section number are unenforceable. This is the one most HOAs haven't caught up on yet.
§720.305(2)(b) requires the hearing to be before a committee of three other unit owners, not board members. If the board itself is the hearing committee, the fine cannot become an enforceable lien.
Here's a free tool that runs through all six checks. No email or signup. https://hoa.appealmytax.dev/florida/hoa-fine-check
Curious if anyone else has hit the covenant-citation defect (rule 5). Anecdotally that's the most common one I've been seeing in notices from 2024 forward.