Community Associations Institute (CAI) Florida Legislative Alliance (FLA) spent the 2026 legislative session advocating on behalf of the approximately 9,524,000 Floridians living in 3,884,400 homes in more than 49,800 community associations across the Sunshine State.
Legislative Overview
Florida’s legislative session began on January 13 and adjourned on March 13, 2026. FLA tracked 68 bills of relevance across both chambers. Bill effective dates are typically written into the legislation, although they are typically either January 1 or July 1 of the following year. Legislation that is not passed is not carried over from one year to the next.
2026 Key Bills of Interest to Community Associations in Florida:
Below is a brief overview of highlights from the 2026 Florida Legislative Session:
CAI OPPOSED THE BELOW BILL
CAI LACs oppose legislation that is at odds with CAI’s public policy positions. If an LAC believes it may need to consider or adopt any legislative or regulatory position that would be in conflict with these official positions, it must submit a request for a deviation to be considered by CAI’s Government & Public Affairs Committee and/or Board of Trustees.
FLA opposed this bill when it was first introduced, as it would have created a regulatory environment that would have opened the door to the type of chaotic mismanagement that legislators purported to prevent. CAI-FLA suggested changes that would have fixed many of the issues in the legislation but they were not made by the bill Sponsor.
HB 657 would have created challenges for community associations, which would have led to unintended consequences for association governance, financial stability, and day-to-day operations. The bill made sweeping changes to association termination rules, meeting procedures, board rules and responsibilities, dispute resolution, and governing document amendment procedures. Under HB 657, an association would have governing documents amended with a minority vote of owners and could see associations terminated just with the petition of 20% of residents. The instability these provisions would cause cannot be understated – associations across the state could have rules rewritten or be dissolved altogether by a small group of disgruntled residents with no way for other homeowners to stop the process.
This bill also would have created a community association court to decide on disputes. In practice, this would mean another layer of bureaucracy for associations to navigate, and another opportunity for the state to interfere in internal community matters.
A grassroots call to action email campaign, which encouraged advocates to send a message to legislators opposing the bill, was launched by CAI to support FLA’s advocacy efforts. In total, 399 advocates sent messages to 94 different legislators across both chambers.
Status: Passed in the house, Died in Senate Committee
CAI SOUGHT AMENDMENTS TO THE BELOW BILLS
CAI works with legislators to champion amendments to legislation to help the language better align with CAI’s public policy positions on any given topic impacting the community association industry.
HB 465/SB 822 Community Association Management
FLA actively engaged with legislators prior to and after the initial filing of this bill to ensure it reflects the full range of professional management models used across Florida. Our focus has been on pursuing targeted amendments, so the legislation worked in practice for professionally managed communities, including those utilizing direct-hire on-site management and other operational structures.
As originally filed, the bill would have required community associations in Florida with annual revenues of $500,000 or more to contract with a community association management firm. As the bill evolved, FLA was able to collaborate successfully with the Senate to amend SB 522 thresholds and provisions to provide greater flexibility in how associations meet management requirements. Unfortunately, the House version, HB 465, did not ultimately align with those amendments.
FLA’s engagement throughout the process was aimed at strengthening the legislation to better align with real-world practices while supporting professionalism and consumer protection in community association management.
Status: DIED in Committee.
CAI MONITORED THE BELOW BILLS
CAI LACs monitor legislation with the potential to impact those living and working in community associations across their state, as well as legislation that may indirectly or unintentionally impact community associations.
SB 1498 Community Associations
This bill would have updated the definition of a story for the purposes of a reserve study to be a level which is habitable. It also would have updated the definition of common area to include recreational areas and substituted “electronic transmission” in statutory language with “e-mail”. It also would have updated the definition of a financial report to match the definition of a financial statement and clarified a unit owner’s right to inspection.
Status: DIED in Committee.
This bill would have updated existing statutes to accommodate audioconferencing for meetings, including updates to quorum rules and the recording of meeting minutes. It also would have mandated that audioconference meetings be recorded and that the recordings be made available on a website.
Status: DIED in Committee.
HB 1541 Use of Audioconferencing by Community Associations
Similar to SB 1744, this bill would have updated existing statutes to accommodate audioconferencing for meetings, including updates to quorum rules and the recording of meeting minutes. The major difference is that this bill included an explicit requirement to store audioconference recordings and video recordings for 1 full year.
Status: DIED in Committee.
HB 255/SB 638 Condominium Associations
These identical bills would have required condominium associations to maintain detailed turnover certificates and annual reports as part of their official records. They also would have required boards to file turnover certificates with the Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes and establish a new statewide, searchable database of turnover information.
Status: DIED in Committee.
DBPR INVOLVEMENT
The Florida Legislative Alliance (FLA) continued to actively engage with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) this session, providing meaningful input on key regulatory initiatives impacting community associations. Notably, FLA delegate Matt Kuisle, RS was selected to serve on a DBPR task force focused on updating the standard Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) form.
FLA also provided feedback on the newly released DBPR Budgets and Reserves Training Manual and will continue to offer input as updates are considered. In addition, FLA submitted comments regarding proposed revisions to the administrative code related to meeting requirements, helping to ensure practical implementation and alignment with industry needs.
Get Involved in CAI’s Florida Advocacy Work through Your Local Chapter!
In addition to strong and effective advocacy work in Tallahassee, CAI’s Florida chapters provide information, resources, education programs and best practices designed to help you and your communities throughout Indiana thrive.
Not a member yet? Join a growing global network of more than 51,000 community managers, management company executives, homeowner leaders, and business partners, and open up a world of opportunities for professional growth, networking and industry knowledge.
Find your local chapter at https://www.caionline.org/find-a-chapter/.
This article was originally published by CAI and can be found here.