How to levy an HOA fine the right way in Florida.

By Carlos Castellano · Current as of July 14, 2026

Fining a homeowner is one of the most sensitive powers a board holds, and one of the easiest to get wrong. A fine does not take effect just because the board votes for it. Florida law puts a specific process around it: a dollar cap, a written notice, and a hearing before a committee the board does not control. Skip a step and the fine is not valid as imposed, even if the violation was real. Here is how to do it the right way, board-facing, from the primary statute.

Where the power comes from

The authority is in Section 720.305(2), Florida Statutes. An association may levy reasonable fines against a parcel owner, or the owner’s tenant, guest, or invitee, for failing to comply with the declaration, the bylaws, or a reasonable rule of the association. The key word is “reasonable,” and the statute backs it up with hard limits on how large a fine can be and a process the board must follow before the fine counts.

This is also one of the four topics every Florida HOA director is required to be trained on. Section 720.3033(1)(a) names the certification curriculum as financial literacy and transparency, recordkeeping, “levying of fines,” and notice and meeting requirements. The rules below are, quite literally, part of the state-required course.

The dollar limits

A fine may not exceed $100 per violation, up to a maximum of $1,000 in the aggregate, unless the association’s governing documents specifically allow a higher amount. If your declaration or bylaws set a higher cap, that number controls; if they are silent, the statutory $100 and $1,000 limits apply. The board may fine for each day of a continuing violation, but it takes only a single notice and a single hearing to cover the whole run, not a fresh hearing for every day.

One limit surprises new directors: a fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien against the parcel. That is different from unpaid assessments, which can. A small fine is a debt the owner owes, but it is not something the association can attach to the home. Only where the governing documents allow a larger aggregate fine could a lien even come into the picture, so check your documents, and your attorney, before ever treating a fine as a lien.

Two things you can never fine for

Section 720.305(7) names two violations the board may not fine or suspend for, even if a rule says otherwise. The first is leaving garbage receptacles at the curb within 24 hours before or after the collection day or time. The second is leaving holiday decorations or lights up too long, unless they stay up more than one week after the association provides written notice of the violation. If a proposed fine is for either of these, stop; the statute takes it off the table.

The process: notice, then an independent hearing

This is the part boards skip, and it is the part that most often gets a fine thrown out. A fine is valid only after the owner has had notice and a real chance to be heard.

Step one: at least 14 days’ written notice. Before a fine takes effect, the association must give the owner at least 14 days’ written notice of the right to a hearing. That notice states the alleged violation, the action needed to cure it if a cure is possible, and the date, location, and access information for the hearing. The owner may attend by telephone or other electronic means.

Step two: a hearing within 90 days, before a committee the board does not control. The hearing must be held within 90 days after the notice, before a committee of at least three members appointed by the board who are not officers, directors, or employees of the association, and are not the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of one. That independence is the whole point. The committee’s only job is to confirm or reject the fine by majority vote. If the committee does not approve the fine, the fine may not be imposed. The board proposes; the committee decides.

Step three: written findings, then payment. Within 7 days after the hearing, the committee gives the owner written findings. If the fine is approved and the violation is not cured, the committee sets a date by which the fine must be paid, and that date must be at least 30 days after the written notice. And if the owner cures the violation before the hearing, or in the way the notice describes, no fine may be imposed at all. The process is built to reward fixing the problem, not to collect money.

A worked example of what goes wrong

Suppose a board votes to fine an owner $150 for a fence violation and simply adds it to the next dues statement, with no hearing. Two things are wrong. First, $150 is over the $100 per-violation cap, unless the governing documents allow more. Second, and just as important, the owner never received the required 14-day notice of a hearing before an independent committee. Even if the fence violation was real and provable, the fine is not valid as imposed. The board would have to start the process over, correctly, to make it stick.

Fines are a fiduciary act

Every step here is an expression of the same duty that governs everything else the board does. Levying a fine fairly, within the caps, and only after due process is exactly the kind of careful, good-faith decision-making Florida law expects of a director. For the standard behind it, see fiduciary duty for board members, explained. For how the work of running the board divides across its officers, see president, secretary, treasurer: who does what.