Part of the wide-ranging changes to Florida’s condominium association laws enacted by the state legislature this year govern video-conference meetings and are aimed at enhancing transparency and accessibility. Already in effect, the changes call for all condo association meetings that are conducted via online video conferencing to be recorded, and the recordings are to be considered part of the association’s official records and must be retained in accordance with applicable statutory requirements.
As such, associations must now establish and implement appropriate protocols to ensure full compliance with the legal standards governing the recording, preservation, and accessibility of online video-conference meetings.
In accordance with the new provisions of Section 718.103 of the Florida Statutes, a video conference is defined as:
“A real-time audio and video-based meeting between two or more people in different locations using video-enabled and audio-enabled devices.”
This includes board meetings, committee meetings, annual meetings, and owner meetings conducted via platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet.
In addition to the video recordings, the approved meeting minutes must also be made available on the association’s website or mobile application for the video-conference meetings that took place during the preceding 12 months.
The state law also calls for meeting notices for video-conference meetings to include a hyperlink and call-in number for members to be able to attend online. The new law also clarifies that the meetings must include a physical location for owners who wish to attend in person.
The recordings of meetings must be posted and available on associations’ websites within 30 days, and condo associations are also now required to keep the recordings for at least 12 months from the date posted and ensure they are accessible to owners for that entire period.
These changes are part of the state lawmakers’ commitment to transparency in condominium governance. Associations should update their meeting procedures and digital infrastructure to ensure compliance, and they should consult with highly experienced community association attorneys regarding responses to these and other changes enacted this year that are now in effect.