What the 2024 and 2025 laws changed for Florida boards, and what 2026 didn't.

By Carlos Castellano · Current as of July 6, 2026

Florida rewrote the rules for community association boards in two back-to-back legislative sessions. Three bills did the work: HB 1203 and HB 1021 in 2024, then HB 913 in 2025. If you joined a board recently and the requirements feel stricter than what a longtime neighbor remembers, this is why. Here is what each bill changed, and what the 2026 session did not.

The short version

• HB 1203 (2024) made education mandatory for HOA directors and removed the old sign-a-statement shortcut.
• HB 1021 (2024) rebuilt the condo requirement as two parts: a written certification plus a mandatory course.
• HB 913 (2025) was a broad condominium overhaul. It kept the education rules, moved them within the statute, and gave the state express authority to enforce them.

HB 1203: HOAs lost the shortcut

Before 2024, a new HOA director could satisfy the certification requirement by signing a written statement that they had read the association’s governing documents. HB 1203 removed that option. Under Section 720.3033(1)(a), Florida Statutes, a new director now has 90 days after election or appointment to complete an educational curriculum from a department-approved provider covering financial literacy and transparency, recordkeeping, levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements.

The same bill gave the requirement teeth. The certificate is valid for up to four years from completion, directors owe annual continuing education of 4 hours (or 8 hours in associations of 2,500 or more parcels), and a director who does not timely file the certificate is suspended from the board until he or she complies. The details of the new-director clock are in your 90-day certification clock, explained.

HB 1021: condos got a two-part requirement

For condominium directors, HB 1021 built the current structure: a written certification to the association secretary plus a mandatory course of at least 4 hours covering milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies, elections, recordkeeping, financial literacy and transparency, levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements. The pair is valid for 7 years while the director serves without interruption, and directors owe a 1-hour legislative update every year after that.

HB 1021 also created the condo website posting requirement: since January 1, 2026, associations with 25 or more units must post specified official records online under Section 718.111(12)(g).

HB 913: the 2025 condo overhaul

HB 913 (Chapter 2025-175, signed June 23, 2025 and effective July 1, 2025) is a long bill, and most summaries skip what it means for board education. Three things matter here.

First, the education rule moved. HB 1021 had placed it at Section 718.112(2)(d)4.b.; HB 913 renumbered it to Section 718.112(2)(d)5.b. The substance carried forward: the 7-year validity contingent on uninterrupted service, and the annual 1-hour update anchored to the anniversary of your certification submission, both survived intact.

Second, enforcement got real. HB 913 gave the Division of Florida Condominiums express authority over board-education violations. Before that, the requirement existed but the enforcer was less clearly named. What noncompliance looks like in practice is covered in what happens if a board member never certifies.

Third, the bill changed a lot of condo operations beyond education. Among the provisions boards ask about most: board, budget, and member meetings may be held by video or audio conference (the recording becomes an official record); electronic voting is required when a majority of owners request it; the structural integrity reserve study deadline for associations existing before July 1, 2022 was extended to December 31, 2025; the milestone inspection and reserve study threshold was clarified as buildings of three habitable stories or more; reserves may be funded by loan, line of credit, or special assessment with the required approval; and every condominium association had to create an online DBPR account by October 1, 2025.

What the 2026 session changed: nothing

Florida’s 2026 regular session adjourned on March 13, 2026 without passing anything that touches board certification or continuing education. The bill that came closest, HB 657, would have added civil penalties for certain HOA director misconduct and restructured dispute resolution. It passed the House 108 to 2 but had no Senate companion and died when the session ended. Its sponsor has said he will refile in 2027, so it stays on our watch list.

The practical takeaway: everything on this page rests on the 2024 and 2025 laws, and as of the date above it is current.

What a board should do now

• New directors: complete the certification inside your window. HOA directors have 90 days after election. Condo directors can certify up to a year before or 90 days after.
• Sitting directors: calendar your renewal from your completion date, 4 years for HOA and 7 for condo, and renew before it lapses.
• Secretaries: keep every certificate in the association’s records, and track each director’s dates. The retention rules and a working routine are in the board secretary’s job, explained.