Florida Statutes § 720.305
The whole process on one page. Select any step in a diagram to read what the law says about it.
Subsection (2). Select a step for its explanation.
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An association may fine or suspend only for breaking the declaration, the association’s bylaws, or its reasonable rules. An owner answers for their tenants, guests and invitees as well. Two things can never be fined at all; see the exemptions.
§ 720.305(2), (7)
Back to the diagramThe board can only propose. Nothing takes effect until the committee confirms it (steps below). The limits, unless the governing documents say otherwise:
Suspension of use. Instead of, or as well as, a fine, the association may suspend for a reasonable period the right to use the common areas and facilities. It cannot suspend use of the parts of the common areas that give access or utility service to the parcel, and it can never block vehicle and pedestrian access to the home, including the right to park.
§ 720.305(2) and (2)(a)
Back to the diagramThe owner must receive at least 14 days’ written notice of the right to a hearing, at the mailing or e-mail address in the association’s official records. Anyone else who would be fined or suspended, such as a tenant or other occupant, gets the notice too. It must contain:
§ 720.305(2)(b)
Back to the diagramIf the owner corrects the violation before the hearing, or in the way the notice describes, the fine or suspension may not be imposed. The same applies to a cure made as the later findings describe.
§ 720.305(2)(e)
Back to the diagramThe hearing must be held within 90 days after the notice, before a committee of at least three members appointed by the board. None of them may be an officer, director or employee of the association, or the spouse, parent, child, brother or sister of one. The committee may meet by phone or online, and the owner has the right to attend that way.
§ 720.305(2)(b)
Back to the diagramThe committee’s only job is to confirm or reject the fine or suspension the board proposed. If a majority does not approve it, it may not be imposed. There is no later board vote to overrule the committee.
§ 720.305(2)(c)
Back to the diagramWithin 7 days after the hearing the committee sends written notice, to the owner and any occupant concerned, of its findings. It states which fines or suspensions were approved or rejected, how the owner can cure the violation or serve out a suspension, or the date by which a fine must be paid.
§ 720.305(2)(d)
Back to the diagramA second chance to avoid the penalty: if the owner cures the violation in the way the written findings specify, the fine or suspension may not be imposed.
§ 720.305(2)(e)
Back to the diagramThe process ends with no fine and no suspension at any of three points:
§ 720.305(2)(c), (e)
Back to the diagramIf the violation is not cured and the committee approved the fine by majority vote, the committee sets a payment date that is at least 30 days after the owner receives the written findings. The association cannot be awarded attorney fees or costs against the owner for anything the board did before that date.
§ 720.305(2)(f)
Back to the diagramIf the violation is still not cured, or the fine not paid, by the date in the findings, the association may be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs. They cannot start to accrue until the payment date has passed and the time for an appeal has expired.
§ 720.305(2)(g)
Back to the diagramSubsections (3) to (6). A separate, faster route, with no committee hearing.
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When a member owes a fee, fine or other money to the association and is more than 90 days late, the association may suspend the member’s use of the common areas and facilities, and the member’s voting rights. The same applies to the member’s tenants, guests and invitees where appropriate, and even when the debt arose from only one of several parcels the member owns.
§ 720.305(3), (4), (6)
Back to the diagramThese suspensions must be approved at a properly noticed board meeting. The notice and hearing steps of section 1 do not apply.
§ 720.305(3), (4), (5)
Back to the diagramAfter approval the board must send written notice to the owner and, if there is one, the occupant, licensee or invitee of the parcel. It goes by mail or hand delivery to the mailing or e-mail address in the association’s official records.
§ 720.305(5)
Back to the diagramThe member loses the use of the common areas and facilities until the debt is paid in full. Three limits apply, as for any use suspension: the parts of the common areas that provide access or utility service to the parcel stay open, and the owner or tenant keeps vehicle and pedestrian access to the home, including the right to park.
§ 720.305(3)
Back to the diagramA suspended vote is subtracted from the total number of voting interests, for every purpose: the quorum, the votes needed to hold an election, and the votes needed to approve any action under chapter 720 or the governing documents.
§ 720.305(4)
Back to the diagramA use suspension lasts until the money is paid in full. A voting suspension ends when all obligations currently due or overdue have been paid.
§ 720.305(3), (4)
Back to the diagramWhatever the governing documents say, an association may not fine or suspend for:
§ 720.305(7)
Back to the topOwners, their tenants, guests and invitees, and the association itself must follow chapter 720, the governing documents and the rules. The association or any member may sue the association, a member, a director or officer who willfully and knowingly fails to comply, or a tenant, guest or invitee using the property or common areas.
The winning side recovers reasonable attorney fees and costs. A member who wins against the association may also recover their share of the assessments levied to pay for the association’s legal costs.
§ 720.305(1)
Back to the topCommunityInspect counts the notice periods, books the reinspection and keeps the photos, notices and history for each violation in one place, so the file is ready if an owner disputes it.
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