Condos & HOAs
Florida condo and HOA budgets: the 115% rule
· Adam Eglin, Realtor®
A question I get a lot from condo and HOA owners: is there a limit on how much the board can raise the budget? The short answer is no, Florida doesn't set a hard cap. But owners do have a specific remedy when an increase is large.
How the 115% rule works
If a condo or HOA board adopts an annual budget that requires assessments of more than 115% of the prior year's assessments, owners holding at least 10% of the voting interests can petition for a special meeting to consider a substitute budget. The rules are in Fla. Stat. § 718.112 for condominiums and § 720.303 for homeowners' associations.
- Reserves don't count. Reserve contributions are left out of the 115% calculation, so a budget can rise more than 15% because of reserve funding without triggering the petition right.
- Your documents may be stricter. Declarations and bylaws can set tighter limits or extra approval steps. Read them alongside the statute.
- Deadlines matter. The petition and meeting have timing requirements, so check them as soon as the budget is adopted.
Why buyers should care
For buyers, the bigger question is usually where the budget is headed. Since the 2022 condo safety law, many older Florida buildings have had to fund structural reserves and complete milestone inspections, and that has pushed assessments up. Before you buy, I'd check three things:
- Milestone inspection status for buildings three stories or taller, and whether any repairs came out of it.
- The structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) and how the reserves are actually funded.
- The current budget, recent board minutes and any special assessments, approved or under discussion.
Those three documents tell you far more about the true monthly cost than the listing does.
Adapted from my posts on X (@adamatlevel):
General information only, not legal, tax or insurance advice. Laws and rules change; check the current statute, your association documents and a licensed professional.