Why Governing Documents Matter
A community association's declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and rules are the legal foundation for every assessment, fine, and use restriction the association enforces. Documents drafted decades ago often no longer reflect current Florida law, fail to address short-term rentals or modern amenities, or contain ambiguous language that undermines enforcement in court. Outdated or improperly amended documents are one of the most common reasons an association loses an otherwise valid enforcement or collections case.
Association Assessment Attorneys, P.A. reviews, drafts, and amends governing documents for condominium associations and HOAs throughout Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Lake, Orange, and Sarasota counties, and advises boards on Chapter 718 and Chapter 720 compliance as Florida law evolves.
Chapter 718 vs. Chapter 720: Which Statute Governs Your Documents?
Whether your community is a condominium or a homeowners' association determines which statute — and which set of default rules — applies to your governing documents.
| Feature | Condominium (Chapter 718) | HOA (Chapter 720) |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership structure | Unit ownership + undivided interest in common elements | Fee-simple lot ownership subject to covenants |
| Primary statute | F.S. 718.110 – 718.112 (documents & amendments) | F.S. 720.301 – 720.306 (documents & amendments) |
| Reserve funding | Statutorily mandated structural/component reserves; SIRS required for buildings 3+ stories | Reserves generally optional unless the declaration requires them or owners vote to fund |
| Official records response | 10 business days (F.S. 718.111(12)) | 10 business days (F.S. 720.303(5)) |
| Estoppel certificate deadline | 10 business days (F.S. 718.116(8)) | 10 business days (F.S. 720.30851) |
| Fining authority | Governed by declaration/bylaws + F.S. 718.303 | F.S. 720.305 fining-committee procedure |
For a deeper side-by-side comparison, including elections and lien priority differences, see our Chapter 718 vs. 720 comparison page.
The Amendment Process, Step by Step
- 1Identify the amendment threshold in your existing documents
Most declarations specify their own required vote — commonly two-thirds of voting interests, though this varies. The existing document controls unless it conflicts with a mandatory statutory minimum.
- 2Draft the amendment language
Precise drafting matters: ambiguous or overbroad restrictions are a leading cause of unenforceable rules in litigation.
- 3Notice the membership
Florida law and most bylaws require advance written notice of the meeting and the specific amendment language to be considered.
- 4Hold the vote
Votes can often be obtained by written consent as well as at a meeting, depending on the declaration's own provisions.
- 5Certify and record
Condominium amendments must be certified per F.S. 718.110 and recorded in the county's official records to bind current and future owners; HOA amendments follow a parallel recording requirement under F.S. 720.306.
MRTA: The 30-Year Expiration Risk
Florida's Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA) generally extinguishes covenants, restrictions, and other property-related provisions after 30 years unless the association records a proper Notice of Preservation before the expiration date. This is a genuine, recurring problem for older HOAs that were platted decades ago and never revisited their documents' MRTA status.
We review governing documents for MRTA exposure and prepare and record preservation notices before the 30-year window closes, along with broader "revitalization" work for HOAs whose covenants have already lapsed.
Drafting for Enforceability
Beyond amendments driven by a specific need, we periodically audit governing documents for boards proactively, looking for: outdated or missing rental-restriction language, fining and enforcement procedures that don't match current F.S. 720.305 or 718.303 requirements, ambiguous architectural review standards, and gaps in reserve-funding or SIRS-related provisions following recent post-Surfside legislative changes. Addressing these gaps before a dispute arises is significantly less expensive than discovering them mid-litigation.
A recurring problem we see in older document sets is language copied from a generic template decades ago that never accounted for Florida-specific statutory requirements, or that was drafted for a different type of community entirely. Rental restrictions are a common example: a declaration that is silent on minimum lease terms or caps on the number of rentals permitted at one time gives the board little to work with if short-term rentals become a problem, and retrofitting that restriction later requires a membership vote rather than a simple rule change. Similarly, architectural review standards that rely on vague terms like "aesthetically compatible" without objective criteria are difficult to enforce consistently and are more vulnerable to a selective-enforcement challenge.
Official Records and Document Availability
Governing documents are only useful to owners, prospective buyers, and title companies if they can actually be located and verified. Both Chapter 718 and Chapter 720 treat the declaration, articles, bylaws, and rules as official records that must be maintained and made reasonably available to members, and many associations are required to post key documents on a website or member portal once the community reaches a certain unit or lot count. We help boards confirm which documents are currently in effect — accounting for every recorded amendment — since a common and costly mistake is enforcing an outdated version of a rule that was superseded by a later amendment the board didn't realize was recorded.
When Covenants Have Already Lapsed: Revitalization
If an association discovers its covenants have already lapsed under MRTA, or were never properly extended, Florida's Homeowners' Association Act provides a covenant revitalization process that allows a community to revive expired covenants with membership approval and a filing with the Department of Economic Opportunity's successor agency. Revitalization is more involved and more expensive than timely preservation, typically requiring broader member organizing and a more detailed filing, which is why we recommend every older association confirm its MRTA status well before the 30-year mark rather than after a lapse is discovered.