The 2026 Florida regular session adjourned sine die on March 13, 2026, and almost every major HOA and condo reform bill died in the process — including HB 657, the most ambitious community-association overhaul to clear either chamber in years. Boards and owners reading scattered headlines may be unsure what's law and what's not, especially given the volume of attorney-blog and SEO commentary published during the session that no longer matches what the legislature actually delivered. This guide separates the three buckets that matter to a Florida board today: bills that died in 2026, the one bill that passed and is awaiting the Governor, and the prior-session laws that are already in force and require active compliance right now.
Every bill citation in this recap is verified against the official Florida Senate bill pages at flsenate.gov, with cross-references to committee staff analyses and final vote tallies. Pair this with our Florida HOA insurance renewal playbook for the renewal-cycle implications, our 2027 budget guide for the budget-side implications, our Florida condo SIRS reserve funding guide for the structural-reserve framework, and our hurricane season checklist for the operational deadlines.
This article is general information for Florida HOA and condo boards, not legal advice. Bill statuses change quickly — verify any specific subsection at flsenate.gov before relying on it. Consult a licensed Florida community-association attorney for guidance on your association's specific compliance posture under the 2024-25 laws now in force.
The headline: HB 657 died
The 2026 regular session opened January 13, 2026 and ended March 13, 2026 — a 60-day window. The Florida House passed CS/CS/CS/CS/HB 657 by a vote of 108 to 2 on March 5, 2026. The Senate referred the bill only to its Rules Committee, which never placed it on an agenda before the session adjourned. The official bill page records the final action: "S Died in Rules on Friday, March 13, 2026 3:14 PM." The Senate companion CS/SB 1498 (Sen. Jennifer Bradley) cleared one Senate committee and then died in the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government on the same day.
Most other community-association reform bills filed in the 2026 session also died in committee. Only one bill of consequence to HOAs and condos passed both chambers and made it to enrollment: SB 1028, the Citizens Property Insurance commercial clearinghouse bill. As of late April 2026 it had not yet been signed by the Governor.
The practical effect for Florida boards is that no new community-association statute went into effect on July 1, 2026 (the default effective date for legislation) — but the wave of 2024-25 reforms that did pass is now fully in force, and several federal warrantability deadlines hit between July 2026 and January 2027 regardless of what Tallahassee did or did not do.
HB 657 in detail — what it would have done
HB 657, sponsored by Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) with twelve co-sponsors, was titled simply "Community Associations." It was the most ambitious community-association reform bill to clear either chamber since the post-Surfside structural-integrity package, and it did three big things at once.
The Homeowners Association Dissolution and Accountability Act
Section 9 of the final committee substitute would have created a new "Homeowners' Association Dissolution and Accountability Act" under Chapter 720. As filed, the petition threshold was 20 percent of voting interests; the committee substitute that passed the House raised that to 50 percent of voting interests. Approval of a plan of termination required a two-thirds vote of total voting interests. If a plan was rejected, no subsequent termination plan could be brought for 18 months. The bill imposed civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation, removal from office by court order, and personal liability for legal fees on directors who failed to call required meetings, used HOA funds to campaign for or against a plan, or concealed financial or property records relevant to a termination vote.
This was civil-penalty legislation. Florida already imposes criminal penalties for willful records misconduct under FS 720.303 and FS 718.111(12) — those are not new and were not changed by HB 657.
Community association court programs
Section 10 would have authorized circuit courts to establish "community association court programs" with specialized jurisdiction over disputes arising under Chapters 718, 719, and 720 — the condominium, cooperative, and HOA acts. Powers granted to those courts included compelling compliance, ordering the Department of State to dissolve a community association, appointing termination trustees, imposing civil penalties, issuing injunctive relief, and awarding attorney fees. The bill would have created two new circuit-judge positions in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit (Miami-Dade) and one each in the Thirteenth (Hillsborough) and Seventeenth (Broward), backed by approximately $1 million in general revenue plus 12 full-time-equivalent positions.
Kaufman language and presuit mediation
Sections 2 and 6 would have required every condominium and HOA formed on or after July 1, 2026 to include "Kaufman" language in its governing documents — language that subjects the association to the current law and to any future amendments to that law (rather than freezing the documents to the law in effect at recordation). Existing associations would have had until January 1, 2027 to vote on amending their governing documents to add Kaufman language; HOAs could approve by majority of voting interests, condos by two-thirds of unit owners.
Sections 3, 5, and 8 would have eliminated the presuit mediation requirement under FS 720.311 for community-association disputes — covenant enforcement, governing-document amendments, board and committee meetings, member meetings (except elections and recalls), and records-access disputes. Cases would proceed directly to litigation or to the proposed community association court programs.
Other provisions
The bill also created an explicit duty of loyalty for HOA directors, officers, and committee members, defined conflicts of interest, required pre-disclosure in writing before any conflicted vote, made conflicted transactions voidable absent member majority approval, and barred governing documents from waiving or limiting the conflict-of-interest provisions. Section 4 added a new statutory definition of "financial statements" for HOAs, requiring a balance sheet, income and expense statement, budget comparison, and a complete set of bank statements with copies of check images for all disbursements.
The 78% poll the legislature didn't deliver
The political backdrop for HB 657 was substantial public support for HOA reform across party lines. The Civic Data and Research Institute conducted an online survey of 1,001 likely Florida general-election voters between January 19 and 22, 2026, with a margin of error of ±3.1 points at 95 percent confidence. The poll found 78 percent overall support for HOA-overhaul provisions, with 82 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of Democrats, and 77 percent of independent or third-party voters in favor.
The bill nonetheless died in the Senate. Multiple factors contributed. The Community Associations Institute and major Florida property-management firms opposed it publicly, citing concerns about governance disruption, financial stability, and increased litigation costs from the new court program. The Senate companion bill (SB 1498) faced a three-committee gauntlet — Regulated Industries, Appropriations on Agriculture/Environment/General Government, and Rules — and stalled at the second stop. HB 657 itself was referred only to Senate Rules but was never placed on an agenda before the session ended. The Senate Rules Committee chair did not actively kill the bill; the bill simply ran out of session days without a Rules hearing.
The one bill that passed: SB 1028
CS/CS/SB 1028, sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), is the only major HOA-relevant bill that passed both chambers in the 2026 session. The bill cleared the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee 10-0 on January 13, 2026, the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture/Environment/General Government 11-0 on February 4, the Fiscal Policy Committee 18-0 on February 12, and the Senate floor 33-1 on March 4. The House passed the Senate vehicle 88-19 on March 9, and the Senate ordered the bill enrolled on March 17, 2026.
As of late April 2026 the bill had not yet been signed by the Governor. Under Article III, Section 8 of the Florida Constitution, when the Legislature has adjourned sine die, the Governor has 15 consecutive days from formal presentment of the bill to act. If no action is taken within that window, the bill becomes law without signature.
What SB 1028 does
The bill amends FS 627.3518 and creates a new FS 627.351(6)(oo). Citizens Property Insurance Corporation must establish, on or before January 1, 2027, two new commercial-lines clearinghouses — one for authorized (admitted) insurers and a separate clearinghouse for approved surplus lines insurers. After the clearinghouses are operational, all new and renewal commercial residential applications — including condo association master policies and HOA master policies — must be initially submitted to the clearinghouses. If an approved surplus lines clearinghouse insurer offers comparable coverage at a total cost not more than 15 percent greater than Citizens' total cost, the applicant becomes ineligible for Citizens. There is no Policyholder Choice opt-out for commercial residential.
The bill itself takes effect "upon becoming a law." The January 1, 2027 deadline applies only to the clearinghouse stand-up. Renewals during 2026 are unaffected by the new mechanism.
The legislative debate around SB 1028 produced significant industry opposition. The Florida Surplus Lines Association, several independent insurance agent groups, and AssuredPartners publicly urged the Governor to veto the bill, citing concerns about market structure and a perceived advantage for one prospective clearinghouse administrator. The bill's text does not include several provisions that had been discussed during committee — there is no $100 per-policy fee cap, no 7.5 percent commission cap on surplus lines agents, and no prohibition on admitted carriers fronting for surplus lines firms. The enrolled bill contains a commission floor (commissions cannot be lower than the Citizens-published commission rate as of January 1, 2026), not a cap.
What else died in the 2026 session
The list of community-association bills that did not pass in 2026 is substantial. Each is verified against the official Florida Senate bill page.
| Bill | Topic | Final action |
|---|---|---|
| HB 657 / SB 1498 | HOA dissolution, community association courts, Kaufman language, presuit-mediation repeal | HB died in Senate Rules; SB died in Appropriations on Ag/Env/Gen Gov — both March 13, 2026 |
| SB 906 | HOA Ombudsman office within DBPR Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes | Died in Regulated Industries — March 13, 2026 |
| SB 908 | Annual per-parcel fee on HOAs to fund the Ombudsman office | Died in Regulated Industries — March 13, 2026 |
| HB 815 / SB 808 | Prohibition on insurer non-renewal based solely on roof age; expanded "authorized inspector" definition | Both died in committee — March 13, 2026 |
| HB 465 / SB 822 | Required certain HOAs/condos to contract with a licensed CAM firm; CAM insurance minimums | HB died on Second Reading Calendar; SB died in Judiciary — both March 13, 2026 |
| HB 255 / SB 638 | Required condo boards to file turnover certificates with DBPR; statewide searchable database | Both died in committee — March 13, 2026 |
| SB 1744 / HB 1541 | Audioconferencing for meetings, audio recordings as official records, expanded emergency powers | Both died in committee — March 13, 2026 |
| HB 459 | Mandatory administrative process at DOAH for resolving disputed property insurance claims | Withdrawn before introduction — January 9, 2026 |
A note on the roof-age non-renewal protection bills: Florida's existing roof-age protections under prior insurance reforms remain unchanged. HB 815 and SB 808 would have expanded those protections, but neither bill became law. Any board that received guidance suggesting these bills took effect July 1, 2026 should verify directly against the Florida Senate bill pages — the bills died in committee.
What's still in force from 2024-25 sessions
The most important regulatory reality for Florida boards is not what the 2026 session passed or didn't pass — it is that the 2024 and 2025 reform packages are now fully in force, and many associations are not yet compliant.
HB 1021 (2024) — condo records and 25-unit website mandate
Effective generally July 1, 2024, with a key threshold lowering to 25 units effective January 1, 2026. HB 1021 requires condo associations with 25 or more units to maintain a website or secure member portal containing governing documents, budgets, financial reports, meeting notices, agendas, at least 12 months of meeting minutes, current insurance policies, contracts, bids, director certifications, and conflict-of-interest disclosures. Posting must occur within 30 days of receipt or creation. Records-access penalties under FS 718.111(12) include $50 per day in statutory damages capped at 10 days, beginning the 11th working day after a written request, plus a rebuttable presumption of willful non-compliance. Knowing destruction of accounting records is a first-degree misdemeanor; willful refusal of records access to evade crime detection is a third-degree felony.
HB 1203 (2024) — HOA records, director education, audit triggers
Effective July 1, 2024. HB 1203 applies to HOAs governed by Chapter 720. Provisions include the 100-parcel website mandate effective January 1, 2025, director education requirements (4 hours per year, 8 if 2,500 or more parcels, plus 4-hour curriculum within 90 days of appointment for new directors), the new 1,000-parcel audit trigger added to FS 720.303(7), prohibition on consecutive-year lower-tier financial reporting, and criminal penalties: knowing records destruction with intent to harm is a first-degree misdemeanor and director kickbacks are a third-degree felony. Conflict-of-interest contracts require two-thirds board approval plus disclosure, and may be canceled by majority of voting interests.
HB 913 (2025) — condo SIRS, reserves, and emergency powers
Signed June 23, 2025; effective July 1, 2025. HB 913 extended the SIRS deadline to December 31, 2025 (further extended to December 31, 2026 for buildings combining SIRS with a milestone inspection due in that window), made SIRS reserves non-waivable for budgets adopted on or after the effective date, raised the reserve item threshold from $10,000 to $25,000 (with annual inflation adjustment starting February 1, 2026), authorized loans, lines of credit, and special assessments as SIRS funding mechanisms with majority member approval, allowed reserve pooling without member vote, and added officer/director affidavits acknowledging SIRS receipt and annual financial report delivery. The annual financial report deadline was extended from 120 to 180 days. CAM license revocation now carries a 10-year bar on owning, working at, or being an officer of a CAM firm.
HB 913 also rewrote the FS 718.112(2)(e) substitute-budget rule — when a proposed condo budget exceeds 115 percent of prior-year assessments, the board must proactively prepare a substitute budget that excludes discretionary expenditures. This is the first full budget cycle under the new mechanic.
HB 393 (2025) — My Safe Florida Condominium pilot
Signed June 23, 2025. HB 393 updated eligibility for the My Safe Florida Condominium grant program: three or more habitable stories, two or more residential units, milestone and SIRS compliance, and 75 percent owner approval (down from unanimous). Maximum grant per association is $175,000 with a two-to-one state-to-association match. The 2024-25 fiscal year had a $30 million appropriation; by January 2026 about 700 inspections had been completed across 206 associations and 42 had been approved for grants. The 2025 session did not include new program funding, and the 2026 budget for the program has been pending throughout the regular session and into the May special session.
SB 4-D (2022) and SB 154 (2023) — milestone inspections and SIRS
The original Surfside reforms remain in force. FS 553.899 requires milestone inspections at 30 years statewide, with a discretionary 25-year trigger when the local building official determines proximity to salt water warrants it (the original automatic 3-mile coastal trigger was removed by SB 154 in 2023). Phase 2 inspections require repairs to commence within 365 days under HB 913. Subsequent milestone inspections are required every 10 years.
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The federal layer most boards miss
Federal warrantability rules from Fannie Mae apply regardless of what Tallahassee did. Lender Letter LL-2026-03, issued by Fannie Mae on March 18, 2026 with parallel Freddie Mac guidance, sets three escalating deadlines that reshape how Florida condo project approval works.
Effective July 1, 2026, the master-policy per-unit deductible cap of $50,000 becomes mandatory for new application dates. Condos with master deductibles exceeding the cap on any required peril become non-warrantable, meaning conventional 30-year mortgages on units in those projects are unavailable.
Effective August 3, 2026, Fannie Mae retires the Limited Review process for established condo projects and the baseline reserve funding method. Loans on established projects after that date use Full Review or Waiver of Project Review, and reserves must be tested against threshold or fully-funded methods.
Effective January 4, 2027, the reserve funding minimum increases from 10 percent to 15 percent of annual budgeted assessment income. The exception is a current reserve study (within 36 months) by a qualified professional with the budget funding the study's highest recommended allocation. Pair with our Florida HOA insurance renewal playbook for the deductible-cap mechanics in detail and our 2027 budget guide for the reserve-funding implications.
What boards should do right now
The quiet 2026 session does not mean a quiet compliance year. Several action items have hard deadlines or active enforcement risk.
- Confirm HB 1021 website compliance for 25+ unit condos — the threshold dropped from 150 units on January 1, 2026 and many associations are not yet compliant. Records-access penalties under FS 718.111(12) are active
- Confirm SIRS completion for 3+ habitable story condos — the deadline was December 31, 2025 (extended to December 31, 2026 only for milestone-coordinated buildings). Associations behind on SIRS face Fannie warrantability risk and insurance underwriting consequences
- Refresh reserve studies before drafting 2027 budgets — the Fannie 15 percent minimum becomes mandatory January 4, 2027. A current study (within 36 months) funding the highest recommended allocation satisfies the floor
- Verify master-policy per-unit deductible math for July 1, 2026 — if the per-unit calculation exceeds $50,000 on any required peril, the project becomes non-warrantable. Buy-down policies can satisfy the cap
- Apply for or queue up My Safe Florida Condominium grants — eligibility is open under HB 393's revised criteria; funding is pending the May 12-29 special session budget outcome
- Renew HOA director education annually — 4 hours per year (8 if 2,500 or more parcels) under HB 1203
- Document the substitute budget if proposing 2027 budget exceeds 115 percent — HB 913's proactive substitute-budget rule applies to condos. Pair with our 2027 budget guide
- Plan insurance renewal for 2027 with SB 1028 in mind — if signed, the commercial clearinghouse stand-up by January 1, 2027 will route master-policy applications through private and surplus-lines markets. 2026 renewals are unaffected; 2027 renewals are the inflection point
The May special session
The 2026 regular session adjourned March 13, 2026 without a final state budget. Florida House and Senate leadership scheduled a budget special session for May 12-29, 2026 with conference committees from May 12 to 15 and a final vote after Memorial Day. A separate special-session call addressed congressional redistricting, AI consumer protections, and "medical freedom" provisions.
No HOA, condo, or community-association content has been added to either special-session agenda. The 2026 community-association reform bills are dead until the 2027 regular session opens (typically January) unless a special session call expressly adds the topic, which is not currently anticipated. The most consequential outcome for Florida boards from the May special session is the budget appropriation for My Safe Florida Condominium and any related insurance-mitigation programs.
What's coming back in 2027
Major Florida community-association reform bills historically take more than one session to clear both chambers. The post-Surfside structural integrity package that became SB 4-D in 2022 was preceded by multiple unsuccessful attempts. Boards should expect the following themes to refile in the 2027 session, which opens with bill filings in December 2026.
- HOA dissolution framework — Rep. Porras has signaled HB 657 will return. The 50 percent petition / two-thirds approval thresholds, the community association court program, and the Kaufman-language requirement are the likely vehicle
- HOA Ombudsman office — Sen. Garcia's SB 906/908 proposal to create an Ombudsman office within the DBPR Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes (extending to HOAs the state-oversight model condos already have) is highly likely to refile
- Mandatory professional management for larger HOAs/condos — HB 465/SB 822 attempted this in 2026 with revenue thresholds that were stripped in committee. Some version is likely to return
- Records and turnover transparency — HB 255/SB 638's statewide searchable database for condo turnover certificates is procedurally simple and likely to return
- Insurance reform tied to roof age and coverage availability — HB 815/SB 808 will likely return given continued non-renewal pressure on aging Florida coastal roofs
- Audioconferencing and electronic-meeting modernization — SB 1744/HB 1541's framework for audio and video meetings as official-record-eligible is a likely refile
Specific provisions and thresholds will not be known until December 2026 filings open. For broader operational context, pair this with our how to fire your HOA management company guide, our Florida HOA document request rights guide, our how to recall an HOA board member guide, and our how to report HOA fraud guide. Nolo's HOA legal encyclopedia, the Florida Bar consumer pamphlet, ongoing commentary from Becker, Kaye Bender Rembaum, and KSN Law, and CAI Florida's 2026 end-of-session report are useful third-party references.
Frequently asked questions
No. CS/CS/CS/HB 657, sponsored by Rep. Juan Carlos Porras, passed the Florida House 108 to 2 on March 5, 2026, but died in the Senate Rules Committee on March 13, 2026 when the regular session adjourned sine die. The Senate companion CS/SB 1498 (Sen. Bradley) died the same day in the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government. The bill would have created a Homeowners Association Dissolution and Accountability Act allowing 50 percent of voting interests to petition for dissolution and two-thirds to approve a plan of termination, established community association court programs in three judicial circuits, eliminated presuit mediation, and required Kaufman language in governing documents formed on or after July 1, 2026. Rep. Porras has signaled the bill will return in the 2027 session.
Yes. The records-access framework remains exactly where HB 1021 (condos, 2024) and HB 1203 (HOAs, 2024) left it. Under FS 720.303(5), HOAs must produce records within 10 business days of a written request, with $50 per day in statutory damages capped at $500. Knowing destruction of accounting records or failure to create them with intent to harm is a first-degree misdemeanor under HB 1203. Willful refusal to release records under HB 1021 can rise to a third-degree felony. The 2026 session did not change any of this. Pecchia v. Wayside Estates HOA, 388 So.3d 1136 (Fla. 5th DCA 2024) remains the leading appellate ruling on records-access enforcement.
One bill of consequence passed both chambers and was awaiting the Governor as of late April 2026. CS/CS/SB 1028, sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters, requires Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to establish two new commercial-lines clearinghouses (admitted carrier and surplus lines) operational by January 1, 2027. Once stood up, the clearinghouse will route all new and renewal commercial residential applications, including HOA and condo association master policies, through private-market and surplus-lines offers first. Under new FS 627.351(6)(oo), if an approved surplus lines clearinghouse insurer offers comparable coverage at a total cost not more than 15 percent above Citizens, the association loses Citizens eligibility automatically. There is no opt-out for commercial residential. The act takes effect upon becoming a law if signed; the clearinghouse stand-up has the January 1, 2027 deadline. HB 815 and SB 808, the bills that would have prohibited insurer non-renewal based solely on roof age, both died in committee on March 13, 2026.
Funding is in flux. HB 393 (2025) updated eligibility — three or more habitable stories, two or more residential units, SIRS and milestone compliance, and 75 percent owner approval (down from unanimous). The 2024-25 fiscal year had a $30 million appropriation that closed early after roughly 700 inspections completed across 206 associations, with 42 associations approved for grants by January 2026. The 2025 session did not include new funding. Governor DeSantis proposed substantial additional funding in the Floridians First 2026-27 budget, and both House and Senate budget plans direct the prior-year unused balance to revert to the new program year. The 2026 regular session adjourned March 13, 2026 without a final budget, and a budget special session is scheduled for May 12-29, 2026. Boards counting on My Safe Florida Condominium grants should confirm program status and queue position directly at mysafeflcondo.com.
Almost certainly. Rep. Juan Carlos Porras has indicated publicly that he will refile HB 657 in 2027 if the 2026 version did not advance, and the underlying owner-side support measured at 78 percent across party lines in a Civic Data and Research Institute poll fielded January 19 to 22, 2026. Major Florida community-association reform bills historically take two or three sessions to clear both chambers — the predecessor structural-integrity legislation that became SB 4-D in 2022 followed the same arc. Boards and owners should expect at minimum a refiled HOA dissolution and community association court framework, an HOA Ombudsman office bill (Sen. Garcia's SB 906/908 died in 2026 and is similarly likely to refile), and renewed mandatory-management proposals. Specific provisions and thresholds will not be known until December 2026 filings open.
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