Florida guide
Florida condo resale certificate review
Florida gives condo resale buyers stronger statutory disclosures — and a longer cancellation window — than almost any other state, and the 2025 reform (HB 913) expanded both. Under §718.503(2), a resale seller must provide the association's core governing and financial documents at the seller's expense, and a separate estoppel certificate (§718.116(8)) states exactly what the unit owes.
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The documents are a disclosure mandate, not a clean bill of health: a complete package can still reveal a pending special assessment, an overdue milestone inspection, or a reserve study the association is not funding. The value is reading the resale package and estoppel together, against the building's milestone and SIRS status.
What §718.503(2) requires the seller to provide
For a non-developer (resale) sale, the seller must provide, at the seller's expense, the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and rules; the Frequently Asked Questions and Answers sheet (§718.504); the governance form; and the most recent year-end financial statement together with the annual budget. HB 913 expanded the financial disclosure and added any available milestone inspection report and Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) to the required package. If required documents are not delivered, the contract is voidable at the buyer's option before closing (§718.503(2)(e)).
The 7-day cancellation window (HB 913)
For resale contracts executed on or after July 1, 2025, the buyer has 7 calendar days after receiving the required documents — or the contract execution date, whichever is later — to cancel, extended by HB 913 from the prior 3 business days. New (developer) sales are different: the developer must provide a prospectus / public offering statement and the buyer gets a 15-day cancellation right. Calendar the deadline from the date documents were actually received, not the contract date.
The estoppel certificate (§718.116(8))
On written request, the association must issue an estoppel certificate within 10 business days. It is binding on the association for the amounts and period stated (typically 30 days), and must disclose assessment amounts and frequency, delinquencies, special assessments (both levied and pending), transfer or capital-contribution fees, and whether there are open violations or pending litigation affecting the unit. A levied special assessment that appears on the estoppel is a negotiation point — confirm in the contract whether the seller or buyer pays it.
Read the resale package against milestone and SIRS status
Because HB 913 folded the milestone inspection report and SIRS into the resale disclosure, the resale package is where structural and reserve risk surfaces. A building three or more habitable stories owes a milestone inspection, and SIRS reserves for the mandatory structural components cannot be waived for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024. Read the SIRS funding plan and any milestone findings against the budget and minutes: identified structural work that is not yet funded is the classic precursor to a special assessment.
HOA resales are less protected
If the community is a homeowners' association under Chapter 720 rather than a condominium, the disclosures are less prescriptive and buyers generally do not get the 7-day statutory rescission that condo buyers receive. HOAs still issue estoppel certificates (§720.30851). For an HOA purchase, front-load diligence into the contract with an explicit document-review contingency rather than relying on a statutory cancel right.
Florida legal references
- Fla. Stat. §718.503 — Developer/resale disclosure; buyer cancellation rights
- Fla. Stat. §718.504 — FAQ sheet / prospectus
- Fla. Stat. §718.116(8) — Estoppel certificate (10 business days, binding)
- HB 913 (2025) — Condominium reform expanding resale disclosure
Informational only. Not legal advice. Always confirm against current statute and counsel.
Need help applying these Florida statutes to your specific situation? We can connect you with state-licensed counsel and specialists familiar with this exact regulatory environment.
Find a Florida specialist →Reviewer's checklist
- Confirm the seller delivered the full §718.503(2) resale package (governing docs, Q&A sheet, governance form, year-end financials + budget)
- Verify whether the milestone inspection report and SIRS were included (required if available under HB 913)
- Calendar the 7-day cancellation window from the date you received the documents
- Request the estoppel certificate and confirm it issued within 10 business days
- Read the estoppel for levied AND pending special assessments
- Negotiate in the contract who pays any already-levied special assessment
- Cross-check the SIRS funding plan against the budget — unfunded structural work signals a coming assessment
- Confirm whether any required document was undelivered (the contract is voidable before closing)
- If it is an HOA (Ch. 720), build a document-review contingency into the contract — no 7-day statutory rescission
Want this same review on your actual documents? We do it free, with page citations you can verify.
Get My Free Risk Report →Source documents
- Declaration & bylawsthe rules
- Budget & financialsthe money
- Reserve studythe big repairs
- Meeting minuteswhat the board fears
Cross-reference
The risk lives in the contradiction between documents.
An assessment in the minutes but not the estoppel; a reserve the budget never funds.
Risk report
Severity-graded across 8 categories.
Every finding cites the document, page number, and quoted text.
How CondoSignal reviews this
We read the reserve study, operating budget, and 24 months of meeting minutes together — florida condo resale certificate review risk usually lives in the contradiction between documents, not in any single one of them. Every finding cites the source document, the page number, and the quoted text behind it.
See our 8-category framework →Risk Intelligence
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Related risk areas
Read these next to round out your due diligence
Condo document review
A condo document review is the structured analysis of every disclosure document your seller or association has provided — declaration, bylaws, rules, reserve study, budgets, financials, meeting minutes, insurance summary, estoppel or resale certificate, and any pending special assessment notices.
Special assessments
Special assessments are the single largest source of financial surprise in condo and HOA ownership.
Reserve studies
A reserve study tells you what the association expects to spend on long-term capital repairs and replacements, and whether it is funding those obligations adequately.
Related reading
Guides for Florida buyers and owners
Florida SIRS Explained: What Boards Must Fund and Disclose
The Structural Integrity Reserve Study is now mandatory for most Florida condo buildings. Understand what a SIRS must include, how it affects reserve funding requirements, and what boards must disclose to owners.
Milestone Inspection Buyer Guide: Reading the Report Before You Close
Understand what a Florida Milestone Inspection report discloses, what follow-up questions to ask the engineer, and how to evaluate the special assessment risk the findings imply.
What Is a Condo Estoppel Certificate? A Buyer's Guide
The estoppel certificate is the one document an association is legally required to provide before closing. Understand what it says, what it omits, and how to read each line before you sign.
The Post-Surfside Florida Condo Law Guide (2026)
From the 2021 Champlain Towers collapse through four years of legislative reform, this is the complete guide to Florida condo law as it operates in 2026 — for buyers, owners, and boards.
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Reviewed by Kirk Hasley, Founder. Every claim here is checked against current Florida statute and primary sources, using the same documented review framework we run on every file. Last reviewed June 13, 2026.
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Risk Intelligence
Review the documents before your contingency ends
Most buyers get 7–14 days to review condo documents. Upload the packet — we read the reserve study, budget, minutes, and insurance summary and flag the risks, every finding linked to the exact page. Free.
Expert Matching
Need a real estate lawyer or mortgage specialist?
We can connect you with vetted real estate lawyers, mortgage brokers, and insurance brokers familiar with the specifics of condo and HOA transactions.
- HOA lawyer