- What is the maximum late fee a Florida HOA can charge?
- If the declaration or bylaws authorize it, a Florida HOA may charge an administrative late fee up to the greater of $25 or 5% of each installment paid past the due date, under F.S. § 720.3085(3)(a). On a $350 monthly assessment, 5% is $17.50, so the $25 floor controls and $25 is the maximum. On an $800 assessment, 5% is $40, so $40 is the maximum. Condos use the same greater-of-$25-or-5% cap under F.S. § 718.116(3), and cooperatives under F.S. § 719.108(3)(a). If the governing documents do not authorize a late fee, the association may not charge one at all.
- How much interest can a Florida association charge on unpaid assessments?
- Unpaid assessments bear interest from the due date until paid at the rate set in the declaration, which may not exceed the rate allowed by law (the chapter 687 usury ceiling). If the declaration is silent, interest accrues at the statutory default of 18% per year under F.S. § 718.116(3) (condo), F.S. § 720.3085(3) (HOA), and F.S. § 719.108(3)(a) (co-op). For HOAs, the statute adds that compound interest may not accrue. Interest must be simple.
- How must a Florida association apply a partial payment?
- By statute, any payment the association receives must be applied first to accrued interest, then to the administrative late fee, then to costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred in collection, and last to the delinquent assessment. This order is mandatory under F.S. § 718.116(3) (condo), F.S. § 720.3085(3)(b) (HOA), and F.S. § 719.108(3)(a) (co-op), and it applies notwithstanding any restrictive endorsement or instruction the owner writes on the payment. Writing 'paid in full' on a partial check, for example, does not change the order. Because the assessment is paid last, a delinquency can keep growing even while the owner is paying.
- Can my HOA raise dues, and is there a maximum increase?
- Florida statute imposes no percentage cap on how much an owner-controlled board may raise regular dues or assessments. There is no statutory 'maximum HOA dues increase' in Chapter 718, 719, or 720. Any ceiling comes from your governing documents (the declaration or bylaws), not the statute. The single exception in the statutes is the developer-control rule: while a developer controls a condominium board, assessments may not exceed 115% of the prior fiscal year's unless a majority of all voting interests approve, under F.S. § 718.112(2)(e)2.c. Outside that scenario, the limit on a dues increase is whatever your governing documents say, plus the procedural requirement that the budget be adopted at a properly noticed meeting.
- Is a Florida HOA late fee a fine, and is it subject to usury limits?
- No. An administrative late fee is not subject to chapter 687 (the usury statute), and for HOAs the statute expressly states the late fee is not a fine, under F.S. § 718.116(3) and F.S. § 720.3085(3)(b). That means the late fee does not go through the fining-hearing process and is not capped by usury law. The interest charged on the unpaid balance is the part that is bounded by 'the rate allowed by law.'
- What can the association do if assessments stay unpaid?
- Beyond the late fee and interest, the association can pursue a lien and ultimately foreclose, but Florida law builds in notice waiting periods first. For condos, no assessment-lien foreclosure judgment may be entered until at least 45 days after the association gives the owner written notice of its intent to foreclose, under F.S. § 718.116(6)(b), and a separate notice precedes recording the claim of lien. The exact pre-lien and pre-foreclosure notice letters are statutory forms with their own timing, so associations typically work with collections counsel before recording a lien.