The Times They are A-Changin’… But Just For Condominiums and CAMs – The 2025 Legislative Updates
By George Root
The legislature passed and the governor signed into law House Bill 913 in 2025 ushering in many changes for community association management firms and condominiums. If you serve a homeowner association that is governed by Florida Statute § 720, you can breathe a sigh of relief as nothing really directly impacts you this legislative session.
New Rules for Management Companies
I am sure this change will not affect most of the readers of this article, but the 2025 legislative session made sure that community association managers that have their license revoked will not be eligible to be a licensed manager for at least ten years. Additionally, revoked licensees are not even allowed to have a direct or indirect interest in a management company.
Licensed community association managers should be aware that they must update their license account with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation within thirty (30) days of making a change in management company affiliation and each community they are a designated manager. Their account should have the name of the management firm they are employed with and the community they are designated on site with. All management firms must identify all the managers they employ. Additionally, management company contracts must contain a statement providing that the manager will obey all professional standards and record keeping protocols. Further, a community association management contract with a condominium may not waive or limit professional practice standards and a manager or management firm may not knowingly perform any act directed by the association if it is a violation of state or local law.
One of the big changes for management firms this session is adding conflict of interest provisions and requirements similar to what board members have to navigate. One of the key requirements is that if a conflict is not properly disclosed and approved, the contract is voidable, and the association can cancel and void the contract. A presumption of a potential conflict exists if a manager or someone with a financial interest in the management firm proposes to the association to enter into a vendor contract with a vendor that the management company or manager has a financial interest in or has a potential pecuniary interest in the vendor being awarded the contract. This presumption is a rebuttable one. The conflict provisions define compensation that must be disclosed, and which create the conflict as referral fees, other monetary benefits, ownership interests, profit sharing, and other similar financial arrangements. The meeting notice for the meeting where the conflict transaction will be considered must describe with some particularity the potential conflict and include a copy of the proposed contract.
Voting Changes
One of the more important developments in condominium law this session surround electronic voting and elections. If twenty-five percent (25%) of members of an association petition the board of directors for electronic voting, then that board must hold a board meeting within twenty-one (21) days to adopt an electronic voting resolution and implement same. Additionally, it would appear that condominium associations now have to accept ballots via email and ballot submission is no longer strictly limited to the double secret envelope system. The prevailing opinion with my peers has always kind of been that the power to waive the secrecy aspect of the secret double envelope system lies with the person
casting the ballot. That is even more clear now. The Association has to designate an e-mail address for receipt of emailed ballots unless it has properly implemented electronic voting. The ballots that are emailed to the Association should have a space for the unit owner to type in his or her unit number, name, and a statement in capital letters font size larger than anything else on the ballot reiterating that the owner is waiving the secrecy of the ballot. Ballots submitted in this manner are due before the time and date of the scheduled meeting.
Budgeting and Reserves Overhauled
Another massive change is to the budgeting process and what I used to call the soft cap system. You are all aware that for quite some time there has been a one hundred and fifteen percent (115%) soft cap on how much a budget can be increased from year to year. Going over the one hundred and fifteen percent (115%) percent traditionally triggered a challenge mechanism for owners to submit a substitute budget which was rarely navigated successfully. Now, if you are putting forth a budget over the one hundred and fifteen percent (115%) limit, the Board must simultaneously put forth a budget which is at or below the one hundred and fifteen percent (115%) threshold. Keep in mind that increases related to increases to the insurance premium, required reserves for repair and replacement of the condominium property and repair of SIRS items are not a part of the one hundred and fifteen percent (115%) calculation. The substitute budget below the one hundred and fifteen percent (115%) threshold is adopted if approved by a majority of all voting interests. The substitute budget must be presented and provided with the notice package at least fourteen (14) days before the meeting. Additionally, a budget meeting may be conducted via videoconference.
This recent legislative session also provide some Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) updates. A Board can vote to pause SIRS funding is a local building authority determines that a condominium is uninhabitable. Members can also vote to waive SIRS funding if they have approved a termination of the condominium. SIRS reserves and non-SIRS reserves cannot be pooled together. You can pool all the SIRS reserves together. A Board vote is all that is needed now for changing the reserve accounting method from straight line to pooled or vice versa. A majority of total membership can approve special assessments, lines of credit or loans to fund SIRS reserves. A majority membership vote can pause or reduce reserve funding if it had to complete a milestone study within the last two (2) years if those funds are needed and being utilized for funding repairs identified by the milestone study. This only applies to budgets adopted on or before December 31 2028. This action cannot happen more than twice in a row.
The SIRS must include a reserve funding schedule based on baseline funding plan that provides reserve funding sufficient to maintain reserve cash balance above zero. If you take out a line of credit or pass a special assessment you have to update the SIRS to reflect same. The SIRS must take into account your funding method (regular assessments, loans, special assessments, etc.). A condominium that was subject to and completed a milestone study may delay SIRS funding for no more than two (2) consecutive budget years in order to focus its funding on completing the required repairs and maintenance. The visual inspection involved in the SIRS process must be performed by an engineer, architect, or licenses reserve specialist. Contractors bidding on SIRS studies must also disclose whether they intent to bid on work recommend by said study. There used to be a catch all provision that all common areas which had a replacement cost of over $10,000.00 had to be a mandatory reserve item. That threshold was increase to $25,000.00.
Financial Reporting and Investment Protocols
Condominiums have been given a little relief in that the deadline for completing or receiving the annual financial report has been extended from one hundred and twenty (120) days to one hundred and eighty (180) days. The Association still has twenty-one (21) days from the completion of the financial report to get a copy to owners or provide a notice that it is available upon request. The delivery method for notice purposes must be via mail, hand delivery or electronically to those who have requested same. If the owner requests a copy of the financial report, it must be provided within five (5) business days. Lowering financial reporting requirement must be done with approval of a majority of all voting interests of an association and cannot be waived down two years in a row. Boards must all execute an affidavit attesting to the proper notices cited herein having been completed.
The board now has discretion to invest reserve funds in certificates of deposits and/or regular deposit accounts with a commercial bank, community bank, savings and loan or credit union without a membership vote. The board has the duty to use its best efforts to make prudent investment decisions while weighing risk and maximizing returns.
Changes to Meetings and Records
If your Board is going to provide a videoconferencing option for a meeting, the notice of the meeting shall include a hyperlink to the videoconference and provide a telephone number for attendance. There must also be a physical and/or live component to all meetings. All meetings wherein videoconferencing is employed must be recorded and retained as part of the Association official records. At your annual meeting a quorum of the Board must be in person at the meeting. Owner meetings must be physically within fifteen (15) miles of the condominium unless the governing documents provide otherwise.
There were also some updates to your record keeping requirements. Documents must be uploaded to the association website within thirty (30) days of their creation and/or acquisition unless your governing documents provide a shorter time frame. All affidavits required by Florida Statute § 718 are official records and must be on the Association website. Arguably, bank statements and ledgers were already considered to be required official records but now are even more clearly required to be same. The civil and criminal liability triggering for withholding and/or destroying records have been changed from “knowingly, willfully, and repeatedly” to “willfully and knowingly or intentionally”. Associations must maintain adequate number of copies of the most recent annual budget and financial report on the condominium property for availability to owners. All meeting minutes and video recordings of said meetings must be kept on the Association website.
Here is a link to the bill for your edification: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2025/913. Please reach out to your general counsel with any questions regarding these updates. The crux of these changes have been included herein and are just a summary. It is highly recommended that you read the actual text and consult with your attorney to make sure you understand how these changes apply to you.