TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Trash cans, street parking and fees.
These are things impacted by the law Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 1203 Friday, which includes sweeping changes to the authority HOAs have over property owners.
The law prohibits HOAs from making rules that:
- Limit or place requirements on what property owners do with the inside of a structure that is not visible from the parcel's frontage or an adjacent parcel, an adjacent common area, or a community golf course.
- Require the review and approval of work on a central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating, or ventilating system if it is not visible from the parcel's frontage, an adjacent parcel, an adjacent common area, or a community golf course and is substantially similar to a system that is approved or recommended by the association or a committee thereof.
- Ban vegetable gardens or clotheslines that are not visible from the parcel's frontage or an adjacent parcel, an adjacent common area, or a community golf course
- Ban a property owner or a tenant, a guest, or an invitee of the property owner from parking his or her personal vehicle, including a pickup truck, in the property owner's driveway, or in any other area at which the property owner or the property owner's tenant, guest, or invitee has a right to park as governed by state, county, and municipal regulations.
- Ban a property owner from allowing entry to a contractor or worker on the owner's parcel solely because the contractor or worker is not on a preferred vendor of the association or doesn't have a license.
- Ban operating a vehicle that is not a commercial motor vehicle while abiding state traffic laws, on public roads or rights-of-way or the property owner's parcel.
- Charge compound interest on overdue assessments (HOAs can still charge simple interest).
It also prohibits HOAs from fining for the following things:
- Leaving garbage receptacles at the curb or end of the driveway within 24 hours before or after the designated garbage collection day or time.
- Leaving holiday decorations or lights on a structure or other improvement on a parcel longer than indicated in the governing documents, unless such decorations or lights are left up for longer than one week after the association provides written notice of the violation to the parcel owner.
If an HOA denies a request for construction or improvement to a parcel, it has to provide notice of why, specifically citing which policy it violates.
“People just feel hopeless and that they don’t have a voice in houses or communities that are supposed to be theirs," said State House Representative Kimberly Daniels.
Daniels said she’s had a stream of people reach out to her, not just from Jacksonville, but across the state, with complaints about HOAs.
It’s why she backed the HOA bill.
“We need HOAs, but what we do need is to feel like our homes are our homes," said Daniels.
After working with one homeowner who lost her home, Daniels added to the bill to make sure HOAs can no longer charge compound interest on unpaid fines or fees.
“With lawyer fees and all the other fees they were putting on, in one year, what she owed the HOA went from $11,000 to $90,000," said Daniels.
The bill also calls for HOAs to be more transparent by giving homeowners two weeks' notice of any fines and their right to a hearing to appeal them first.
“I’m getting phone calls," said Daniels. "People are pretty happy, and the keyword for this bill is relief.”
The new rules for HOAs take effect July 1.