The Florida House passed a bill Thursday to reform how homeowners associations work.
Republican Rep. Juan Carlos Porras of Miami, the bill sponsor, calls HOAs a “failed experiment.”
“We have hundreds, if not thousands, of homeowners that have absolutely no recourse for unnecessary fines, for liens, for people that are losing their homes,” he said.
The 85-page bill, HB 657, makes a slew of changes. They include creating a process for homeowners to dissolve an association and allowing circuit courts to set up “community association court programs” to settle disputes.
It also increases transparency requirements and penalties for board members who break rules.
Community association advocates have emphasized they provide important services to homeowners.
“I would say that we have more community associations in the state of Florida than any other state in the country, and the vast majority of those are extremely well-run, not just efficiently but certainly ethically,” said Travis Moore of the Community Associations Institute.
“The owners are pleased with their community, with the value that their homes have been able to maintain and have because of the association,” Moore continued.
While Moore says there are always improvements to be made, he said his group doesn’t support some of the main parts of the bill.
For example, he worries about how it gets rid of pre-suit mediation, which currently allows disputes between homeowners and associations to be resolved before going to court.
“The minute you put the word court in front of something that means attorneys,” he said. “It's going to cost more money. The association is going to spend everybody's money to defend themselves.”
Much of the bill also applies to condo associations. It now heads to the Senate, where it faces an unknown fate.
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
