Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill on Friday that gives property owners some relief from fines and suspensions imposed by homeowners’ associations (HOA).
According to the bill, an association cannot impose a fine or suspension on a parcel owner if the individual leaves garbage receptacles “at the curb or end of the driveway less than 24 hours before or after the designated garbage collection day or time.”
Fines are also prohibited if the owner were to put up holiday decorations or lights for a longer time than what is accepted by the HOA. This rule does not apply if the decorations are still up a week after the HOA provides a written notice of violation to the owner.
Associations are banned from prohibiting a homeowner from parking their personal vehicles on their driveway or any area where they have a right to park. The rule applies to the homeowners’ work vehicles as well.
HOA governing documents are blocked from disallowing a property owner from inviting a contractor or worker solely because these individuals are not on the association’s “preferred vendor list” or lack a professional license.
Currently, HOAs must give notice of a fine or suspension to parcel owners at least 14 days before a hearing. The bill now mandates that these notices be given in writing. The hearing must be held within 90 days of issuing the notice and can be conducted by telephone or other means.
The committee overseeing the hearing should provide a written notice of their findings to the alleged violator within seven days.
The date by which the fine must be paid should be at least 30 days after delivering the committee’s written findings.
The bill was passed in the state legislatures without any opposition. It passed the House by a vote of 110-0 and in the Senate by 40-0. The legislation is set to take effect beginning July 1, 2024.
The bill required that notices for association board meetings specifically list the agenda items. The association also has to make it easier for members to receive meeting notifications.
“Racketeering and money laundering are terms we usually associate with drug cartels and drug transactions, organized crime, or large-scale international bribery schemes,” State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said at the time.
“Never would anyone have connected these terms to daily operations of a South Florida Home Owners’ Association,” Ms. Rundle said.
Lawmakers have promised to bring in more HOA bills.
Ryan Poliakoff, a partner at Poliakoff Backer LLP and a board-certified specialist in condominium and planned development law in Florida, told The Epoch Times in December last year, that lawmakers are overreacting.
The proposed HOA bills are “good publicity” for the politicians. However, most of these bills are “not going to pass,” Mr. Poliakoff said.
He said that there are already enough government oversight initiatives to deal with the issue, most of which are underfunded.
