Field Notes · 11
Florida HOAs With 100 or More Parcels Have Needed a Website Since January 2025
Section 720.303(4)(b) requires Florida homeowners' associations with 100 or more parcels to post governing documents and other records on a website or app. What the law asks, how it plays out in Palm Beach County neighborhoods, and why smaller HOAs may want one anyway.
Somebody on the street wants to repaint the front door. In most Palm Beach County neighborhoods, that question ends up at the architectural review committee. The committee's first question back is whether the color is on the approved palette.
Where is the palette? Too often the answer is a PDF someone emailed in 2019, a binder at the clubhouse or a board member's memory. Florida decided that answer is no longer good enough for larger associations.
What the law says
In 2024 the Legislature passed House Bill 1203, a broad rewrite of the Homeowners' Association Act. The governor signed it on May 31, 2024, and it took effect July 1, 2024.
One piece of it is now section 720.303(4)(b) of the Florida Statutes. By January 1, 2025, an association with 100 or more parcels must post certain documents on its website, or make them available through an app that can be downloaded on a mobile device.
That date is almost two years behind us. An HOA with 100 or more parcels and no website or app has been out of compliance since the first day of 2025.
The condominium statute started at 150 units years ago and dropped to 25 in 2026. The HOA rule never had an earlier threshold. For most homeowners' associations, this was the first time the state required a website at all.
What goes on it
The statute names the records. At the core are the governing documents: the declaration of covenants, the articles of incorporation, the bylaws, and the rules and regulations. The list also includes the association's current contracts and other official records the law spells out, such as meeting notices and certain bids once bidding has closed.
A few working rules come with the requirement:
- Owners get a login on request. When a member asks in writing, the association provides a username and password for the protected part of the site.
- Some records stay off. Information members are not entitled to inspect must not be posted or reachable.
- The board writes a policy. The association adopts written rules for how the website or app is run and how records are posted.
Lawyers who practice in this area point out that the HOA website rules are far less detailed than the condominium ones. That gives boards more room and less guidance. A board that reads the statute closely with its counsel and writes a clear posting policy will be in better shape than one waiting for the state to fill the gaps.
How it plays out locally
Palm Beach County is HOA country. Wellington and Royal Palm Beach are built largely from planned neighborhoods. The gated communities west of State Road 7, the newer developments in Westlake and the Acreage edges, and the established neighborhoods in Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens almost all sit inside an association. Many of them clear 100 parcels.
Plenty of these associations already have a website. The question is whether it does what the law asks. A homepage with a gate code reminder and a photo of the entrance fountain is a start. A compliant site has the current declaration with every recorded amendment, the rules as they stand today and an up-to-date contract list.
The case beyond compliance
From a seat on an architectural review committee, the value is plain. Put the design guidelines, the approved paint colors, the roof tile list and the application form in one place an owner can reach. Applications then come in complete. Fewer get denied for a missing document. Fewer neighbors learn about a rule only after they break it.
Most HOA disputes begin with somebody who did not know. A website is the cheapest way to make sure they could have known.
The same holds across the rest of the association's business:
- Sales go smoother. Buyers and agents can read the covenants and rules before closing, so there are fewer surprises after move-in.
- Budgets draw fewer rumors. Owners who can see the contracts and the meeting notices spend less energy guessing.
- Storms have a home base. After a hurricane, the website is where the board posts debris pickup, gate status and when the clubhouse reopens.
- Boards keep their memory. Volunteers rotate off. The website is where the next board finds what the last one approved.
If you have fewer than 100 parcels
Smaller associations do not need a website. Many still benefit from one, for every reason above.
The Legislature also has a steady habit of lowering thresholds. The condominium rule went from 150 units to 25. A 60-home association that builds a simple site now, with its governing documents and rules in order, will have nothing to scramble for if the line moves.
A short checklist
- Count your parcels, including lots not yet built on.
- Confirm the association owns or controls its website or app, and can keep it if the management company changes.
- Post the declaration with all recorded amendments, the articles, the bylaws and the current rules.
- Keep the list of current contracts up to date.
- Adopt the written policy the statute calls for, and set up a simple way for owners to request a login.
- Keep protected information off the site, and decide who checks before anything is posted.
This is general information and not legal advice. Your association's attorney should read section 720.303 alongside your governing documents. The principle underneath is simple: neighbors who live under the same rules should be able to find them.
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