If your Florida HOA is fining you, look closely at who voted on the fine. Florida law requires the fining committee to be independent of the board, and most HOAs in this state cannot actually prove they comply.
The independence test is one of the strongest procedural arguments a homeowner has.
What the statute requires
Four specific disqualifications. Any one of them defeats the committee:
- The member is an officer (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer)
- The member is a director (a sitting board member)
- The member is an employee of the association (including, in many cases, the property manager)
- The member is the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of any of the above
The legislature picked those four family relationships deliberately. The whole point of the committee is to provide an outside check on board enforcement — a committee made up of board members or their family is not a check.
How to find out who voted
This is where §720.303(5)(a) does the work. Send a written records request asking for:
- The written appointments of every committee member who heard your case
- A list of the current officers, directors, and employees of the association
- Any disclosure forms filed by committee members regarding relationships with the board
- The minutes of the committee meeting at which your fine was considered
The HOA has 10 business days to produce. If they refuse, that itself is a separate violation worth statutory damages.
What the records will usually show
In our experience reviewing Florida HOA records, the most common findings are:
- The "committee" was the board itself. Same three people, same meeting, no separate appointment.
- The committee was appointed but only had two members present. The statute requires three.
- The committee included a board member's spouse or sibling. Often the family relationship is undisclosed and only surfaces when the homeowner asks.
- The committee was never formally appointed in writing. The board verbally tapped three neighbors, no written record exists.
Each of these independently defeats the fine.
What to do this week
- Check who voted on your fine. The notice of fine, the hearing record, or the minutes should name the committee members.
- Cross-reference each name against the current board roster on the HOA's website, the public records of the association (filed with the state), and any community directory you have access to.
- Send a records request for the items listed above. Calendar the 10-business-day deadline.
- If the records confirm a failure of the independence test, send a response letter citing §720.305(2)(b) and demanding rescission of the fine.
Most procedurally bad fines are rescinded at the response-letter stage. The HOA's attorney does not want to litigate a fine that was voted on by an improperly composed committee.
Or draft the response letter in minutes — every committee-independence citation, every procedural defect, written for your specific case.