Unless registered with the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes, Citizens will not insure or renew.

In a 2013 legislative session, changes were made to homeowners' association governance (720.303(13)) that require community association managers, or the management firm and every manager within the firm, to register with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes (Division). When there is no community association manager or management firm, the association is responsible for reporting the required information to the Division.

Citizens Will Not Insure or Renew Unlicensed Accounts

Now that Florida law requires condos, HOAs and co-ops to be registered with the Division, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) will require a copy of the Division license before they insure or renew an account.

How to Register Your HOA

If you meet Florida Statute 720.301(9), you'll want to report the following information to the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes through the Division's web portal, which is the only way to register:

• HOA's legal name
• Federal employer ID number
• Mailing and physical addresses
• Total number of parcels
• Total amount of revenues and expenses from the association's annual budget

Developer-controlled associations must report the above as well as developer's legal name, mailing address and total number of parcels owned on the registration date.

Community Association Managers reporting on behalf of their association must also include his or her license number.

Homeowners' Association Directors Are Not Required to Take a Board Certification Class, But…

While HOA directors are not legally required to take a board certification class, he or she must do one of the following.

1. Certify in writing that he or she:

• Has read the association's declaration of covenants, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and current written rules and policies
• Will work to uphold the documents to the best of his or her ability
• Will faithfully discharge his or her fiduciary responsibility to the association's members

2. Submit to the association an educational certificate from a Division-approved education provider attesting that the director has completed the education curriculum.

Consequences of Not Registering

This legislation also gave DBPR the authority to “take administrative action against a community association manager's license for violations of state laws relating to condominiums, cooperatives and homeowners' associations that are committed during the course of performing contractual community management services.” Associations may also be subject to fines and penalties for noncompliance.

If you have any legal questions regarding your HOA, registration with the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes, or insurance coverage through Citizens, contact PeytonBolin today.