Fla. Stat. Chapter 723
Mobile Home Park Lot Tenancies
Florida Statutes Chapter 723 — Mobile Home Park Lot Tenancies
Florida's mobile-home-park statute. Governs the landlord-tenant relationship between a park owner (who owns the land) and a mobile-home owner (who owns the home but rents the lot). Covers rent increases, mandatory disclosures via the prospectus, the homeowners' association's right of first refusal when the park is sold, fair-housing rules, and the limited fiduciary duties of officers and directors of mobile-home-park homeowners' associations. Distinct from Chapter 718 (condominium) and Chapter 720 (HOA) — mobile-home-park communities are a separate regulatory regime.
Official source on leg.state.fl.usSections (8)
§ 723.061
Eviction; grounds, proceedings
Common Elements summary — Section 723.061 lists the exclusive grounds on which a park owner may evict a mobile-home owner from a park: (a) nonpayment of lot rental amount, (b) conviction of a violation of a federal or state law or local ordinance that may be deemed detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of other residents, (c) violation of a park rule or rental agreement that is reasonable and significant, (d) change in use of the park land, or (e) failure of the purchaser/transferee/assignee to be qualified as a tenant. For mobile-home-park homeowners' associations this section is the protective floor. A park owner cannot evict for reasons outside the 723.061 list, and the procedural requirements (written notice with the specific ground, opportunity to cure where the chapter requires) are strict. The change-in-use ground is the one that has consumed Florida park communities over the last two decades. When a park owner files a 723.061(1)(d) change-in-use notice, the homeowners' association's right of first refusal under 723.071/723.072 is triggered. Boards facing this scenario should engage counsel within days, not weeks.
evictionpark-ownerchange-in-usetenant-rights§ 723.063
Waivers; unenforceability
Common Elements summary — Section 723.063 declares that any provision of a mobile-home-park rental agreement that purports to waive, modify, or limit the mobile-home owner's rights under Chapter 723 is void and unenforceable. The chapter's protections are floor-level statutory rights, not default rules that a clever lease can override. For park homeowners' associations this section is the answer to every "but the lease says..." argument. Lease clauses that purport to authorize rent increases without prospectus notice, to forbid resident assemblies, to bar attorneys' fees on enforcement actions — all unenforceable under 723.063 if they cut against a 723 right. Boards encountering a park owner who tries to enforce one of these clauses should respond in writing citing 723.063, copy the homeowners' association's counsel, and consider whether a counterclaim under 723.068 (the chapter's damages remedy) is appropriate.
waiversunenforceablerental-agreementtenant-rights§ 723.066
Rental agreements; term
Common Elements summary — Section 723.066 sets default rules for the term of a mobile-home-park rental agreement when the parties have not specified one. The default term is one year, with automatic renewal year-to-year unless either party gives written notice at least 90 days before the renewal date. The notice rule favors the homeowner: a park owner who fails to give a timely change-in-rent notice is generally bound to the prior year's lot rental amount. For park homeowners' associations this section is the procedural backbone behind rent increases. Combined with the 723.037 prospectus-disclosure rules and the 723.033 unconscionability test, 723.066 gives associations a basis to push back on a park owner who tries to raise rent without proper notice or who tries to short-circuit the annual cycle. Boards should keep a calendar of the 90-day notice deadlines for the park. Missed deadlines are the cheapest defense to a rent-increase dispute.
rental-agreementtermrent-increasenotice§ 723.075
Homeowners' associations
Common Elements summary — Section 723.075 authorizes mobile-home owners in a Florida park to form a homeowners' association and lays out the basic membership and operational rules. The association may be incorporated as a Chapter 617 nonprofit and is the statutory vehicle for negotiating with the park owner, exercising the right of first refusal under 723.071, and pursuing collective remedies on behalf of homeowners. For park residents this section is the legal basis for collective action. A homeowners' association under 723.075 has standing to sue the park owner under the chapter on behalf of its members, can hold members' meetings, can elect a board of directors, and can collect dues to fund operations. Boards forming a new association under 723.075 should pair the filing with a Chapter 617 incorporation, adopt bylaws that explicitly track the 723 rights, and notify the park owner in writing of the association's formation and officer slate. The 723.075 framework is more potent when the formalities are observed.
homeowners-associationformationgovernancemobile-home-park§ 723.078
Bylaws of homeowners' associations
Common Elements summary — Section 723.078 specifies what must be in the bylaws of a mobile-home-park homeowners' association: the form of administration, the qualifications, manner of election, removal, and compensation (typically none) of the board of directors, member meeting procedures and quorum requirements, the procedure for adopting or amending rules, financial accounting and budget procedures, and the procedure for amending the bylaws themselves. For park associations this section is the structural template. Bylaws that do not address one of the 723.078 elements are unenforceable as to that element, and the chapter's defaults kick in. The most common drafting mistake is borrowing condominium bylaws (built for 718) and slapping a 723 label on them. The two regimes have different vocabulary and different default rules. Bylaws should be drafted (or at minimum reviewed) by Florida counsel who actively practices Chapter 723.
bylawshomeowners-associationgovernanceboard§ 723.079
Powers and duties of homeowners' associations
Common Elements summary — Section 723.079 lists the powers and duties of a Florida mobile-home-park homeowners' association: to maintain official records, to operate within a budget adopted by the board, to enforce the rental agreement and the chapter on behalf of members, to commence and defend legal actions, to negotiate collectively with the park owner over rent increases and material rule changes, and to exercise the statutory right of first refusal if the park is offered for sale. For park boards this is the legal authority for the most consequential things the association does. The collective-negotiation right (723.079(5)) is what gives an association leverage in rent-increase disputes — individual homeowners have almost no leverage; an organized association under 723.079 can demand mediation and force a documented record. The records right under 723.079(2) gives members access to association records on the same general terms as Chapter 617 — but boards should write a records-request policy that addresses the specific records categories (financials, contracts, ballots, board meeting minutes) before a contested request arrives.
powersdutieshomeowners-associationgovernance§ 723.0791
Officers and directors
Common Elements summary — Section 723.0791 imposes fiduciary duties on the officers and directors of a Florida mobile-home-park homeowners' association and grants them immunity from civil liability for any act or omission performed in their official capacity, provided the act or omission was not in bad faith, was not malicious, and was not in reckless disregard for the rights of others. This is the 723-specific parallel to 617.0834 and 720.303(1). For park association boards the protection is comparable to other community-association immunity statutes: volunteer directors acting in good faith are not personally liable. Compensated directors lose the volunteer-immunity layer (treat any honorarium carefully). The section also confirms that officers and directors are subject to the records-inspection and conflict-of-interest rules in 617 — the volunteer immunity does not relieve a director from the obligation to disclose a personal financial interest in a board-approved contract. Boards should document the disclosure and recusal in writing.
officersdirectorsfiduciary-dutyimmunity§ 723.0801
Recall of board members
Common Elements summary — Section 723.0801 lets the members of a Florida mobile-home-park homeowners' association recall one or more board members with or without cause, by a vote or written agreement of a majority of all voting interests. The recall is effective immediately upon delivery of the written recall to the board, unless the board votes to certify or not certify it within five business days. A non-certifying board must file for arbitration with DBPR; otherwise the recall stands. For park boards facing a recall this is the operative procedural section. The five-business-day clock is real — boards that try to litigate the merits of the recall before voting to certify or not certify routinely find themselves recalled by default. The arbitration path under 723.0801 is run through DBPR, parallel to the recall arbitration regimes in Chapter 718 and Chapter 720. Counsel who handle one routinely handle the others, and the procedural mistakes are similar across the three chapters.
recallboardarbitrationdbpr