HOA vs Condo Association in Florida: fees, rules and what you are really buying

Two statutes, two very different deals

Florida runs community living under two separate laws. Condominiums live under Chapter 718, the Condominium Act, and are regulated by the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes inside the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Homeowners’ associations live under Chapter 720, and the Legislature has said in the statute itself that it does not believe a state agency should regulate HOA affairs; the state’s role is limited to things like election disputes and pre-suit mediation.

That difference in supervision is the first clue that these are not the same product with different names. The second clue is in the deed.

What you own, and what the association owns

In a condominium

Chapter 718 defines a unit as the part of the condominium property subject to your exclusive ownership. Everything else, the land, the structure, the roof, the hallways, the pool, is common elements, owned by all owners together in undivided shares. Some common elements, a balcony or an assigned parking space, are limited common elements reserved for your unit but still not yours alone.

Practically, that means the association is responsible for the building. Section 718.111(11) requires it to carry adequate property insurance on the condominium property, priced on replacement cost that must be re-determined at least every three years. Your own policy covers what the association’s excludes: your personal property plus the floor, wall and ceiling coverings, electrical fixtures, appliances, water heaters, cabinets, countertops and window treatments inside the unit.

In a homeowners’ association

Chapter 720 defines a parcel as a lot or tract capable of separate conveyance, and a common area as property owned or leased by the association or dedicated for its members’ use. You own your house and the lot under it. The association owns the entrance, the roads if they are private, the clubhouse and the retention ponds. Your roof, your plumbing and your windstorm policy are your own, unless the declaration says otherwise.

Dues versus assessments

Both chapters use the word assessment, and both give the association a lien if you do not pay. The distinction that matters is between the assessment in the annual budget and everything else.

• Regular assessments are your share of the adopted budget, usually billed monthly or quarterly. Chapter 718 defines an assessment as your share of the funds required for common expenses; Chapter 720 defines it as a sum payable to the association that becomes a lien if unpaid.
• Special assessments are, in Chapter 718’s words, any assessment other than the one required by the annual budget. In a condominium the board must give owners at least 14 days’ notice of a meeting where a special assessment will be considered, and the notice must state the estimated cost and purpose.

Because a condominium association carries the structure, its assessments will tend to be larger and more volatile than an HOA’s. That is not a flaw; it is the arrangement. The question is whether the reserves have been funded so the volatility stays small.

Estoppel certificates: the number that closes the deal

An estoppel certificate is the association’s binding statement of what is owed on the unit or parcel as of a date: regular dues, any special assessments levied, late fees and the status of the account. Your title company will order one before closing, and it is how you avoid inheriting the seller’s arrears.

The rules are nearly identical in section 718.116(8) for condos and section 720.30851 for HOAs:

• The association must deliver it within 10 business days of a written or electronic request. Under the HOA statute, if the association misses that deadline it may not charge a fee at all.
• A certificate delivered by hand or electronically is good for 30 days; one sent by regular mail, 35 days.
• Fees are capped. The statutes set the base amounts at $250 for preparation, $100 more for a rush delivered within 3 business days, and up to $150 more if the account is delinquent. DBPR adjusts those every five years for inflation and currently publishes the caps as $299, $119 and $179, with the next adjustment due by July 1, 2027.

Read the estoppel next to the budget. If it lists a special assessment the seller did not mention, you have found the conversation to have before closing, not after.

Your right to cancel

Condominium resales

Section 718.503(2) requires a seller who is not the developer to deliver the declaration, articles, bylaws, rules, the most recent year-end financial information, the Frequently Asked Questions and Answers sheet, and any milestone inspection summary and structural integrity reserve study. The contract must then contain a clause making it voidable by the buyer within 7 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after signing and receiving those documents. The 2025 law extended that period from three days. Developer sales carry a separate 15-day right.

HOA purchases

Chapter 720 is thinner. Section 720.401 requires the seller to give you a disclosure summary before you sign, covering mandatory membership, the obligation to pay assessments, the association’s lien rights, special assessments, use restrictions and any recreational fees. If it was not provided before you signed, you may cancel within 3 days of receiving it or before closing, whichever comes first. If it was provided on time, there is no statutory cooling-off period at all; your protection is the inspection period you negotiate in the contract.

Rentals and pets

Rental rules

Both chapters protect an owner from rental rules adopted after the purchase. In a condominium, section 718.110(13) says an amendment that prohibits renting, alters the rental term or limits how often a unit may be rented applies only to owners who consent and those who buy after it takes effect. In an HOA, section 720.306(1)(h) gives the same protection for rules adopted after July 1, 2021, with three carve-outs: rules on rentals shorter than six months, limits to no more than three rentals a year, and communities of 15 or fewer parcels. If you are buying to rent, read the current declaration and ask whether any rental amendment is pending, because it will bind you as a new owner.

Pets and other use restrictions

There is no state pet statute. Limits on number, size or breed live in each association’s declaration and rules and can change by the amendment process in those documents. A condominium’s Frequently Asked Questions and Answers sheet must describe restrictions on the use of your unit and on leasing, so it is the fastest place to find them. In an HOA, the disclosure summary points you to the recorded covenants; read them.

How to read a budget and the reserves

Condominium

Section 718.112(2)(f) requires the annual budget to show amounts by account and expense classification and to include reserve accounts for capital expenditures and deferred maintenance. Since budgets adopted after December 31, 2024, an owner-controlled association that must have a Structural Integrity Reserve Study may not vote to provide no reserves, or less than required, for the items in that study. Owners may still reduce reserves for other items by majority vote. Owners may inspect the official records within 10 working days of a written request. Our guide to buying a condo after Surfside covers the inspection and reserve rules in full.

HOA

Section 720.303(6) says the HOA budget must separately list all fees for recreational amenities and may include reserves; when reserves were created by the developer or by member vote, the members may later vote by majority to provide no reserves or less. That is the single biggest difference: an HOA can legally run with thin reserves, so you have to judge the common areas yourself. Records must be available within 10 business days. The statute also scales the financial reporting to size: cash receipts and expenditures under $150,000 in annual revenue, compiled statements from $150,000 to $300,000, reviewed statements from $300,000 to $500,000, and audited statements at $500,000 or more.

Ask for the last two years of financials, the current budget and the reserve schedule. Compare the reserve balance to the age of the roofs, roads, pool and gate equipment, and look for a line called “special assessment” or “loan payment.” If dues have not changed in years while costs have, someone is deferring something.

Red flags, in either kind of community

• Delinquencies. A large share of owners behind on dues means the paying owners will cover the shortfall.
• Reserves waived year after year. Legal in an HOA and for non-structural items in a condo, but it usually ends in an assessment.
• Litigation. The condo Q&A sheet must list court cases with exposure over $100,000. Ask an HOA the same question directly.
• Insurance gaps. A condo association that cannot produce its current policy and its replacement-cost appraisal; an HOA whose common-area coverage lapsed.
• Minutes that talk about engineers, loans or “phase two.” Read the last 12 months.
• Pending amendments on rentals, leasing caps or pets that will bind you as a new owner even though current owners are protected.
• A master association on top of the condo. Two sets of dues, two estoppels, two sets of rules.

Related reading

• Buying a condo in Miami after Surfside
• Homestead exemption, Save Our Homes and portability
• Florida AS IS contract and the inspection period
• Closing costs in Florida, explained
• Gated communities in Miami-Dade
• Mortgage calculator with dues

General guidance for 2026, not legal advice. Fee caps and statutory periods are quoted from the current Florida Statutes and DBPR notices and change over time; confirm with a Florida attorney or your title company.