Florida HOA Laws

Do I as a member of an HOA in Fla. have the right to see the approval for modifications to a property in my community, one where we the land is own by the HOA we own just the structure and a change was allowed on a property that impacts the common area.
Thanks.

From my understanding of what you wrote, you have a house and you own the actual home but the property is owned by the HOA? And another homeowner had changes made to their home that impacts the common property?

Are you a HOA? Or something like a condo or townhome?

Florida statutes have specific language as to your rights as a property owner in respect to reviewing records. You will need to send a letter to your property management company with your request to inspect the records.
INSPECTION AND COPYING OF RECORDS.—The official records shall be maintained within the state for at least 7 years and shall be made available to a parcel owner for inspection or photocopying within 45 miles of the community or within the county in which the association is located within 10 business days after receipt by the board or its designee of a written request. This subsection may be complied with by having a copy of the official records available for inspection or copying in the community or, at the option of the association, by making the records available to a parcel owner electronically via the Internet or by allowing the records to be viewed in electronic format on a computer screen and printed upon request. If the association has a photocopy machine available where the records are maintained, it must provide parcel owners with copies on request during the inspection if the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages. An association shall allow a member or his or her authorized representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, tablet, portable scanner, or any other technology capable of scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of the official records in lieu of the association’s providing the member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of such records. The association may not charge a fee to a member or his or her authorized representative for the use of a portable device.
(a) The failure of an association to provide access to the records within 10 business days after receipt of a written request submitted by certified mail, return receipt requested, creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with this subsection.
(b) A member who is denied access to official records is entitled to the actual damages or minimum damages for the association’s willful failure to comply with this subsection. The minimum damages are to be $50 per calendar day up to 10 days, the calculation to begin on the 11th business day after receipt of the written request.
(c) The association may adopt reasonable written rules governing the frequency, time, location, notice, records to be inspected, and manner of inspections, but may not require a parcel owner to demonstrate any proper purpose for the inspection, state any reason for the inspection, or limit a parcel owner’s right to inspect records to less than one 8-hour business day per month. The association may impose fees to cover the costs of providing copies of the official records, including the costs of copying and the costs required for personnel to retrieve and copy the records if the time spent retrieving and copying the records exceeds one-half hour and if the personnel costs do not exceed $20 per hour. Personnel costs may not be charged for records requests that result in the copying of 25 or fewer pages. The association may charge up to 25 cents per page for copies made on the association’s photocopier. If the association does not have a photocopy machine available where the records are kept, or if the records requested to be copied exceed 25 pages in length, the association may have copies made by an outside duplicating service and may charge the actual cost of copying, as supported by the vendor invoice. The association shall maintain an adequate number of copies of the recorded governing documents, to ensure their availability to members and prospective members.

SO if there is open litigation against the property owner for non-compliance of the deed restrictions, you will not be able to see it in the HOA records. BUT you can always go to the Hillsborough County website to see if there are any open civil cases against the homeowner (foreclosure or a civil suit against the homeowner by the HOA).

You are welcome Fred! FYI, Florida is supposed to be one of the most highly regulated by statute when it comes to HOAs. I have also learned that just because it is in the statute, it doesn't mean the HOA will follow the law. You can have the best CAM in the world giving advice, but a bad HOA will still be a bad HOA. I would wonder if it was your CAM who dropped the ball or if you have a Board that isn't that great.

Never thought of this before but Florida is one of those states where everyone came from somewhere else. We have the same problem in Arizona. My own rural 40-acre parcel is in a development that was heavily marketed in California and our board is now top heavy with people who never lived in Arizona until they retired here.

I suspect that one of the problems in Florida, as within my own HOA, is that those who came from elsewhere try to apply the laws and practices of their former home states to their new homes.

I applaud you, Fred, for realizing that there is a danger in making assumptions when one moves from one state to another.

We hear the same but I think it is the ignorance of others to assume state laws are all the same. This is our first association and hopefully our last association. We were ok with the restrictions but now we are aware that the people who are elected to the Board 1) do not have the skillset needed to run the business and 2) many times have their own personal agendas and 3) are making legal and financial decisions on our behalf and definitely not making the same decisions we would have made for ourselves. #3 is the scariest of all for us considering the caliber of our Board.