Just elected to your HOA board? Your first 90 days, step by step.
By Carlos Castellano · Current as of
Congratulations, you were just elected or appointed to your homeowners’ association board. Before the committee assignments and the first agenda, Florida law asks a few specific things of you, and most of them share one deadline: 90 days. This is the checklist of what to do in your first three months, in the order that keeps you out of trouble.
Just need the checklist? Download our free one-page new-director checklist: every step below, with a box to tick off each one. Print it, work through it, hand it to the next new director. No email required. Download the checklist (PDF).
How to read this article
BoardComply provides education and compliance tools, not legal advice. This article explains Florida law as we read it, with citations to the statutes. Where the law is unsettled we say so, and where regulators clarify a point we will update this article and note the change. For advice about your association’s specific situation, talk to a Florida community association attorney.
Step 1: Write down the day you were seated
Your single most important date is the day you were elected or appointed. Under Section 720.3033(1)(a), Florida Statutes, the clock to complete your board-member certification runs 90 days from that date. Not from your first meeting, not from when your term officially starts on paper. Write it down now, because every other deadline in this article is measured against it. The full mechanics are in your 90-day certification clock, explained.
Step 2: Get the governing documents and read them
Ask the secretary or your management company for the association’s declaration or covenants, the bylaws, the articles of incorporation, and the current rules and policies. Read them. These documents, not your instincts, define what the board can and cannot do, how meetings are noticed, how fines are levied, and how the money is handled.
One thing to clear up right away: as an HOA director, you do not sign a written certification that you have read the documents. That option existed under the old law and HB 1203 removed it in 2024. Reading the documents is still your job; it just is not a separate form you file. If someone hands you one, they are working from the old rules. The difference between HOA and condo here is covered in the condo written certification, explained.
Step 3: Complete the certification course before day 90
This is the requirement with the deadline. You must complete a board-member certification course from a provider approved by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and file the certificate, within your 90-day window. The course covers the four topics the statute names: financial literacy and transparency, recordkeeping, levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements.
The course is self-paced, so you can take it on your own schedule and pick up where you left off. Approved courses range from free to paid, and a certificate from any approved provider satisfies the law equally. What the paid options add, and where the free ones come from, is laid out in what board certification actually costs.
Step 4: Hand your certificate to the secretary
Completing the course is only half of it; the certificate has to reach the association’s records. Give a copy to the board secretary. Section 720.3033(1)(c) requires the association to keep each director’s educational certificate available for member inspection for 5 years after the director’s election, so this is a records duty, not a formality. Why the secretary carries this weight is explained in the board secretary’s job, explained.
Step 5: Note the June 30 your certificate runs through
Florida counts board education in education years, which run from July 1 to June 30. Under Rule 61B-19.004(6)(c), Florida Administrative Code, your certificate is valid for four education years, as long as you serve without a break. The year you complete the course counts as the first, so it runs through June 30 of the fourth year. Write that June 30 down. To renew, complete the course again and file the new certificate with your secretary by the September 29 that follows, or the board must suspend you until it is on file. The reasoning is in what to do when a board certificate is about to expire.
Step 6: Plan for your annual continuing education
Certification is a one-time step; continuing education is not. Every year you serve, you owe continuing education: at least 4 hours if your association has fewer than 2,500 parcels, or at least 8 hours if it has 2,500 or more. The hours are due by June 30 of each education year, and the certification course counts toward your hours for the education year you complete it in. The details are in the continuing-education article. For your first 90 days, it is enough to know the obligation is coming and to start tracking your hours and certificates from the beginning.
What happens if you miss the 90 days
It is worth knowing the stakes, because they are real but not as dire as people fear. Section 720.3033(1)(b) provides that a director who does not timely file the certificate is suspended from the board until he or she complies, and the board may temporarily fill the seat in the meantime. The operative word is “until.” It is a curable suspension, not a removal: finish the course, file the certificate, and the suspension lifts. The full picture is in what happens if a board member never certifies.
BoardComply’s Florida HOA board certification course covers all four required topics at a pace you set, saves your place, and issues a verifiable certificate when you finish, so Step 3 through Step 5 are handled in one place. See the HOA training.