Statute reference
Florida statutes for community associations
Plain-English summaries of the statutes that govern condo, co-op, and HOA operations in Florida. Linked back to official source text. Not a substitute for legal advice — but a faster way to find the section you’re looking for.
Florida
Fla. Stat. Chapter 718
Condominium Act
Governs the formation, management, powers, and operation of condominium associations in Florida. Sections cover creation of condominiums, association powers and duties, financial reporting, common-element responsibility, milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies (SIRS), member meeting rules, and developer-to-owner control transfer.
Official sourceFla. Stat. Chapter 720
Homeowners' Association Act
Governs Florida homeowners' associations (HOAs) for residential planned developments. Covers association powers and duties, recording of governing documents, board member duties, member rights, meeting and election procedures, financial obligations, and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's oversight role.
Official sourceFla. Stat. Chapter 719
Cooperative Act
Governs cooperative associations (co-ops) in Florida — residential housing where members own shares in a corporation that owns the real property, rather than units in fee simple. Parallel structure to Chapter 718 but with co-op-specific provisions around share transfers, proprietary leases, and member voting.
Official sourceFla. Stat. Chapter 617
Not-For-Profit Corporation Act
Florida's general nonprofit corporation statute. Every Florida HOA and COA is organized as a nonprofit corporation under Chapter 617 (in addition to the substantive HOA/COA chapter that governs it). When Chapter 718, 719, or 720 is silent on a corporate governance question — how to call a members' meeting, how to take action without a meeting, what records members can inspect — Chapter 617 fills the gap. Boards that ignore 617 because they think only 718 or 720 matters are routinely surprised in litigation.
Official sourceFla. Stat. Chapter 768
Negligence
Florida's general negligence and premises-liability statute. Sets the comparative-fault framework, the three-tier premises-liability classification (invitee, licensee, trespasser), contribution among tortfeasors, the alcohol-or-drug defense, and the Good Samaritan Act. For HOA and COA boards this chapter is the substrate under almost every tort claim filed against the association — slip-and-fall, swimming-pool injury, common-element defect, gate-related auto loss. Officer-and-director immunity for community associations lives in the chapter-specific statutes (718.111(1)(d) for COAs, 720.303(1) for HOAs), referenced from this chapter rather than duplicated here.
Official sourceFla. Stat. Chapter 723
Mobile Home Park Lot Tenancies
Florida's mobile-home-park statute. Governs the landlord-tenant relationship between a park owner (who owns the land) and a mobile-home owner (who owns the home but rents the lot). Covers rent increases, mandatory disclosures via the prospectus, the homeowners' association's right of first refusal when the park is sold, fair-housing rules, and the limited fiduciary duties of officers and directors of mobile-home-park homeowners' associations. Distinct from Chapter 718 (condominium) and Chapter 720 (HOA) — mobile-home-park communities are a separate regulatory regime.
Official source