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.