Florida guide
Florida HOA and condo fee analysis
In Florida the question is never simply whether a condo fee is high — it is whether the fee is adequate to fund what the building actually owes. Post-Surfside law transformed the math: for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, condo associations must fully fund reserves for the SIRS structural components and may not waive them by owner vote.
Risk Intelligence
Get a free read on the notice you just got
Expert Matching
Want help acting on what you found?
A suspiciously low fee in an aging coastal building is often a warning sign that reserves are underfunded and a special assessment is coming, not a bargain.
Reserves are now largely non-waivable
The board adopts an annual budget that must include mandatory reserves. The old Florida practice of waiving reserves by owner vote is gone for the SIRS structural components: for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, those reserves must be fully funded and cannot be waived. Non-structural reserve waivers still require a majority of total voting interests. A building that historically waived reserves is now facing catch-up funding, which shows up in the fee or in an assessment.
Special assessments and §718.112
For a non-emergency special assessment, written notice of the meeting must go to every owner at least 14 days in advance, be conspicuously posted, and state the specific purpose — and the funds may be used only for that purpose. There is no statutory cap on the size of regular or special assessments. In practice, milestone-driven repairs and newly mandatory reserves are producing five- and six-figure special assessments across older Florida condos.
Read the fee against obligations, not averages
Compare the monthly fee against the building's actual obligations: the SIRS funding plan, the milestone inspection findings, the master-insurance premium trend, and the reserve balance versus upcoming capital needs. A low fee paired with a large near-term roof, envelope, or structural need and a thin reserve balance signals that special assessments are the planned funding mechanism — the opposite of a good deal.
What the estoppel and budget must show
Levied and pending special assessments must appear on the estoppel certificate and should be reflected in the budget and minutes. Read all three together. A fee that looks competitive but sits alongside a pending assessment, a deferred milestone repair, or a doubled insurance premium is not competitive once those costs are absorbed.
Florida legal references
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
- Ask whether reserves were historically waived — catch-up funding is now mandatory for SIRS components
- Read the SIRS funding plan and compare it against the reserve balance
- Check the estoppel and minutes for levied or pending special assessments
- Confirm any special-assessment notice stated a specific purpose and gave 14 days' notice
- Compare the fee against the master-insurance premium trend, not a national average
- Map upcoming milestone/structural repairs against the funding plan
- Treat an unusually low fee in an aging coastal building as a warning sign
- Confirm who pays any already-levied special assessment in the contract
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 hoa and condo fee analysis 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
Get a free read on the notice you just got
A special assessment, an insurance non-renewal, a thin reserve study — find out whether it signals real risk, checked against your state's rules, with page citations you can verify. No cost, no obligation.
Expert Matching
Want help acting on what you found?
We can connect you with insurance brokers, realtors, and mortgage brokers who can help you respond to what your documents reveal.
- Realtor
Related risk areas
Read these next to round out your due diligence
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.
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.
Related reading
Guides for Florida buyers and owners
Condo Association Fees in 2026: What Is High, What Is Adequate, and Why It Matters
HOA and condo fees vary dramatically across the country. The right question is not whether your fee is high — it is whether it is adequate. Here is how to evaluate it against the reserve study and budget.
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.
Special Assessment Red Flags: How to Spot One Before You Buy
A special assessment rarely arrives without warning. The clues show up in the reserve study, budget, and meeting minutes months before the vote — here are the red flags to check before you buy.
How to Read a Reserve Study Before Buying: Is the Funding a Red Flag?
Reserve studies are dense engineering-financial documents. Learn what percent funded and baseline funding mean, how to spot unfunded repairs, and when the numbers are a special-assessment red flag — before you buy.
Already own in Florida?
Owner guides for the notice you just got
Already dealing with a specific Florida situation? Start here instead of the buyer flow:
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.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Risk Intelligence
Get a free read on the notice you just got
A special assessment, an insurance non-renewal, a thin reserve study — find out whether it signals real risk, checked against your state's rules, with page citations you can verify. No cost, no obligation.
Expert Matching
Want help acting on what you found?
We can connect you with insurance brokers, realtors, and mortgage brokers who can help you respond to what your documents reveal.
- Realtor