Selecting an attorney for your HOA — what to look for

The single most important vendor relationship most Florida HOA and COA boards manage is the relationship with general counsel. The attorney is the board's adviser on disclosure, governance, enforcement, vendor disputes, insurance claims, and emerging legislation. A good fit pays for itself many times over. A bad fit costs the association in litigation losses, missed deadlines, and avoidable amendments.

This article is how a board with no legal background should evaluate, interview, and hire a community-association attorney in Florida.

Step 1: define what you need

Community-association counsel is a specialty. A good real-estate lawyer is not a good community-association lawyer. A good litigator is not a good general-counsel adviser. Before you contact anyone, write down what you need:

• General counsel. Day-to-day advice on the chapter (718, 719, 720, or 723), records requests, enforcement, board procedure, contract review, light corporate work.
• Special projects. Document amendments, recalls, complex transactions, declaration restatements.
• Litigation. Active or threatened lawsuits — covenant enforcement, vendor disputes, construction defects, insurance bad faith.
• Collections. Assessment delinquencies, liens, foreclosure.

Most boards need (1) and (2) from the same firm and consider (3) and (4) separately depending on the case. Boards that try to handle everything with one firm sometimes overpay (the general-counsel firm's litigation rate is higher than a litigation-specialty firm's rate) and sometimes underperform (the collections specialty often gets faster results than a generalist).

Step 2: identify candidates

In Florida the community-association bar is relatively small. Sources:

• The Community Associations Institute (CAI) Florida chapter directory
• Florida Bar Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
• Recommendations from neighboring associations of similar size and type
• Recommendations from your insurance broker (D&O carriers know the firms that handle their book)
• Common Elements vendor directory (when verified-counsel listings come online)

Build a list of 3 to 5 candidates. Anything more is more interviewing than you have time for; anything less is too narrow a comparison.

Step 3: the interview

Interview each candidate. Most firms offer a free initial consultation. Use it.

Questions that matter:

1. How long have you practiced community-association law in Florida, and how much of your practice is in this area? Look for at least five years and at least 50% community-association work.
2. How many community associations like ours do you currently represent? Ask for general size and type. Beware the firm that names two or three trophy clients only.
3. Who will my day-to-day contact be? The partner you're interviewing may not be the lawyer who answers your emails. Ask. Then ask to meet that lawyer.
4. How do you bill? Hourly, flat-fee retainer, hybrid? See Step 5.
5. How quickly do you typically respond? Same business day for urgent matters? Three business days for non-urgent? Get a number.
6. How do you handle records-inspection requests? Listen for a checklist answer that demonstrates familiarity with 718.111(12) / 720.303(5). If the answer is hand-wavy, that's a signal.
7. What is your view on recent legislation? Listen for substance. The candidate who can speak fluently about SB 4-D, SB 154, recent 2024 amendments, and the 2025 follow-on cycle is current. The candidate who pivots away is not.
8. Do you carry malpractice insurance, and at what limit? Should be at least $1M for community-association work. Lower means the firm is small enough that it can't pay out on a bad outcome.
9. Do you have any conflicts with our likely vendors or with other associations in our community? Conflicts kill engagements late and expensively. Flush them out at the interview.

Step 4: red flags

Walk away if you see any of these:

• Pressure to sign immediately. Good firms don't rush boards.
• Vague answers about scope or fees. You will see this same vagueness in the bills.
• Inability to name recent legislation. Means the firm is not active in the practice.
• One-person shop with no associates and no backup attorney. Solo practitioners can be excellent, but you need a coverage plan when they are unavailable.
• Firms that practice community-association law as a sideline to a developer-focused or builder-focused practice. The conflicts are constant.
• Discomfort with member-facing transparency. Counsel who recommend "tell the members nothing" as the default position are setting up litigation.

Step 5: fee structures

The three common structures, and how to think about each:

Hourly. The firm charges per hour. Rates in Florida community-association work in 2026 range from about $250/hour for an associate at a mid-size firm to $600/hour or more for a senior partner at a large firm. Honest, straightforward, but unpredictable: a busy quarter can produce a five-figure bill from nowhere.

Flat-fee retainer. The firm charges a fixed monthly fee that covers general-counsel work up to a specified scope (typically: meeting attendance, routine advice, contract review under a dollar cap, records-request advice, light correspondence). Litigation and special projects are billed separately. Best fit for most stable associations: predictable, aligns the firm's incentives with efficient service.

Hybrid. A small monthly retainer for access plus hourly for substantive work. Less common; can be a good fit for associations that want a relationship without a big monthly commitment.

For a small-to-mid-sized HOA (under 200 units), a flat-fee retainer in the $1,500 to $3,500 per month range is typical in 2026. A condo association with active litigation can pay much more. Match the fee structure to your usage pattern.

Step 6: the engagement letter

Once you've picked a firm, the engagement letter matters. Read it. Watch for:

• Scope of representation. What is included, what is "special project" billable separately.
• Conflict waivers. What conflicts the firm wants you to waive in advance.
• Termination terms. Can you fire them on 30 days' notice without cause? You should be able to.
• File retention. Who owns the file when the engagement ends? You should.
• E-billing and review. Most firms now use e-billing platforms. Set up a reviewer on the board (typically the treasurer or secretary).

Step 7: managing the relationship

Hire well, then manage the engagement actively:

• Designate one board contact (typically the president or a specific committee chair). Counsel should not be answering five board members separately.
• Provide complete information when asking a question. Half-information produces half-advice and full bills.
• Review every bill. Ask about line items you don't understand. The firm should expect it.
• Schedule a quarterly review with counsel to look at the bigger picture — upcoming legislation, pending disputes, document hygiene.
• If the fit is not working, end the engagement professionally. The community-association bar is small; how you handle separations matters for future referrals.

Common Elements articles are educational and not legal advice. Consult a licensed Florida attorney before making decisions that affect your association.