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Most of us know that Florida, with its 22.5 million residents, is the 3rd most populous state in America. Often overlooked is the fact that more than 50% of those Florida residents live in condominiums or homeowners’ associations. Three million Floridians live in Florida’s 1.5 million condominium units and roughly 9.65 million people live in the state’s 49,000 communities with homeowners’ associations.
These numbers are just statistics until possible criminal conduct or election fraud occurs involving members of a condo board or a homeowners’ association. Condo and HOA property owners have painfully learned over the decades that Florida law offered owners very few tangible protections. As Miami-Dade State Attorney, I have long worked with our local legislators to reform the law and strengthen the weaknesses in Florida’s existing statutes.
Since 2016, when I asked our local Miami-Dade Grand Jury to examine the failures of condominium governance after seeing the lack of governmental accountability, I have sought to strengthen the Condo and HOA statutes. I have made numerous proposals, such as making election fraud a crime, to the Florida Legislature to safeguard the rights of property owners while ensuring that honest, well-intentioned governing board members are not impeded. Over the past few years, so many constructive proposals, like putting Condo and HOA financial records online, have failed to get support. Opponents of these measures have raised the phantom problem of having fewer residents willing to serve on association governing boards. I believe that honest people do honest things and only dishonest people do dishonest things. Making provable association election fraud or ending vendor kickbacks to board members a punishable crime will not inhibit association governance.
This year, the Florida Legislature made a determined effort to eliminate possible wrongdoings in condominium governance to safeguard the rights of condo owners. The new legislation awaiting the Governor’s signature accomplishes the following:
Makes it a misdemeanor crime to hide or destroy records in condo associations.
- Destruction or concealment of condo association records is often a first step toward criminal activity. Criminal enforcement of such activity will give law enforcement agencies the ability to investigate and root out corruption at an early stage.
Election fraud in condo elections is a misdemeanor crime under this new law.
Taking kickbacks will now become a felony crime for board members.
- Condo governance is more akin to running a small town than it is to running a business corporation. The acceptance of gifts or favors doled out by contractors to board members is inherently corrupting.
Expanded the powers of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR)
- DBPR must now refer criminal allegations to law enforcement
- DBPR can attend condo meetings to observe
- They can investigate a broader range of election issues
- They can investigate a broader range of financial issues
- They can remove board members
- They can investigate conflicts of interest
We should applaud the work of the Florida Legislature’s sponsors of these reforms, State Senator Jennifer Bradley, Senator Jason Pizzo and State Representative Vicki Lopez and the professional staffs of the Florida Senate and House for getting these initial reforms passed. A special congratulations should also go out to State Senator Jason Pizzo, who has long partnered with me to enact Condo and HOA reform. We both have long believed that condo owners deserve better protection from those they elect to preserve the value and community peace of their condominium homes. Since Condo oversight and HOA oversight are two entirely separate parts of Florida law, I will be making a similar effort to get HOA reform done in the 2025 Legislative session. Now is the time for Floridians to make their needs for HOA reform known to their elected state senators and state representatives. The financial security of more than 50% of Florida’s residents deserves and needs these additional reforms.
