Sweeping HOA bill could allow homeowners to dissolve their associations

The bill was a topic of discussion at the Tampa Bay Condo & HOA Expo on Thursday.

TAMPA, Fla. — HOA attorney Eric Glazer often has a lengthy line of attendees at his booth at the Tampa Bay Condo & HOA Expo.

But at this expo, the questions kept coming. It’s no surprise, especially as a sweeping bill moving through the Florida Legislature that could dramatically change how homeowners associations operate across the state.

House Bill 657, filed by Rep. Juan Carlos Porras, is being described as one of the largest rewrites of HOA and condo law in years.

The proposal would create a pathway for homeowners to dismantle their own HOAs — something supporters call a major step toward accountability.

Under the bill, the process would begin with a petition signed by at least 20% of a community’s voting members. Once that threshold is met, the HOA board would be required to hold a meeting within 60 days.

From there, at least two-thirds of all voting interests in the community would have to approve a termination plan in order to dissolve the association.

If the measure fails, homeowners would have to wait 18 months before attempting the process again.

Porras says the goal is to give residents a direct path to challenge associations he believes have grown too powerful.

“They have gone far too unchecked with far too much power for too long,” he said.

Glazer supports that portion of the bill, saying it allows HOAs to mirror what’s already in place for condo associations. However, he doesn’t think an association should just be dissolved because a community is unhappy with its HOA board.

“All this bill is basically doing is saying, ‘Okay, we’re going to level the playing field here,’” Glazer said. “Condo owners, you already have a right to terminate. HOA owners, we want the same thing.”

But Glazer takes issue with another component of the proposal — doing away with the current mediation process used in many HOA disputes. The bill would also create a new court-based system to handle disputes between homeowners and associations, shifting away from the existing processes.

“It works. It gets the cases settled. It gets the cases resolved, and nobody’s complaining about it,” he said. “So why not let it stay?”

As the bill continues to make its way through committee stops in Tallahassee, those watching closely say the outcome could reshape community governance statewide.

HB 657 remains in committee and would need to pass multiple committees before reaching the full House floor for a vote.