HOA and condo fees in Florida: what is covered, what is not, and how the rules differ from Quebec

Section 01Why this guide matters for a Canadian reader

If you own or are buying a residential property in Florida, you will almost certainly belong to an association. About 45 percent of Florida's owner-occupied homes pay HOA or condo fees, compared to roughly 25 percent nationally (US Census ACS 2024). The contribution is not optional, it is collected with statutory enforcement powers, and unpaid amounts become a lien on the unit. Whether you reside in the property full time, rent it out, or use it only in winter, the fee is due in full every period. The Canadian-specific question is therefore not "should I pay" but "what am I getting, what am I exposed to, and how does this compare to my Quebec or other-province expectations."

Two consequences flow directly from that. First, the cost structure of a Florida condo cannot be evaluated on the monthly fee alone. The fee is a function of the building's age, the recently mandated reserve-funding schedule, the master insurance premium, and the presence or absence of a CDD bond. A Florida condo bought in 2018 at USD 600 per month may now charge USD 1,200 to USD 1,500 because of post-Surfside reserve funding. Second, the line between "what the association pays for" and "what the unit owner pays for" is statutory in Florida, not contractual. A Canadian used to a Quebec syndicat de copropriété structured under articles 1071 to 1078 of the Civil Code of Québec will recognize the principle but should not assume identical scope, identical reserve obligations, or identical voting mechanics.

Section 02Condo (Chapter 718) versus residential HOA (Chapter 720): the structural difference

The Florida Condominium Act, codified at F.S. Chapter 718, governs property where a unit owner owns the interior of an individual unit while the building structure, exterior, common corridors, elevators, roof, and grounds are jointly owned by all unit owners through the association. Because the association owns and is responsible for everything outside the unit's interior surfaces, the monthly fee in a condo necessarily funds a wide perimeter of physical maintenance, structural reserves, and a master insurance policy on the building. The founding document is the Declaration of Condominium, recorded against the property at creation.

The Florida Homeowners' Association Act, codified at F.S. Chapter 720, governs single-family or townhouse subdivisions where each owner holds the home and the underlying lot in fee simple. The association owns and maintains only the shared common areas of the subdivision: internal streets, the entrance gate, the clubhouse, the community pool, the perimeter landscaping. The owner remains entirely responsible for the home itself, including the roof, exterior paint, and the lawn within the lot line. The founding document is the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, generally referred to as the CC&R.

This distinction governs every downstream question: what the fee covers, what reserves the association must hold, what insurance the owner must carry separately, and which post-Surfside obligations apply.

> Verified fact. The Civil Code of Québec, the Florida Condominium Act, and the Florida Homeowners' Association Act are three distinct statutory regimes. Condo (Ch. 718) and HOA (Ch. 720) are not interchangeable in Florida, and a Quebec syndicat de copropriété is not a Florida condo for legal purposes even though the underlying logic is similar. Sources: F.S. Ch. 718, F.S. Ch. 720, CCQ art. 1071 et seq. [1][2][8]

Section 03What condo fees typically cover

In a Florida condo regime, the fee is the unit owner's pro rata share of the association's annual budget. That budget covers, in essentially every association of any size: building maintenance (roof, exterior paint, balconies, common corridors, parking deck, pool deck), elevator maintenance and statutory certifications, common plumbing risers and drains up to the unit, common electrical (corridors, elevator shafts, exterior lighting), landscaping and irrigation of common grounds, on-site amenities (pool, spa, gym, clubhouse), security (guards, video surveillance, access control where applicable), administration (Florida-licensed CAM manager, bookkeeping, audited financials, association attorney, insurance broker), and the master insurance premium. Statutory reserves for SIRS items are now funded out of the same budget for buildings of 3 or more habitable stories, with no waiver allowed since December 31, 2024 (F.S. §718.112(g)).

Whether utilities such as water, sewer, garbage, and basic cable or internet are included in the fee depends entirely on the Declaration of Condominium. In older South Florida buildings, water and sewer are commonly bundled into the fee because the building has master meters; in newer buildings with sub-meters, owners pay utilities directly. As a 2026 trend, bundled cable and internet have largely been removed because most associations have determined that owners prefer to choose their own provider. The only reliable answer is to read the Declaration and the current annual budget, both of which are part of the documents an owner must obtain at purchase.

Section 04What condo fees do not cover

The interior of the unit is the owner's exclusive responsibility. That includes interior paint, flooring, cabinetry, fixtures, appliances, furniture, and any improvement made within the unit boundaries as defined in the Declaration. The owner's mortgage and the owner's individual property tax line on the county tax bill are obviously separate from the association fee. Damage caused by the owner's negligence (an unattended faucet leak that damages the unit below, for example) is the owner's responsibility and is what the unit owner's HO-6 insurance policy is designed to cover. Personal upgrades to the kitchen or bathroom are the owner's expense, and most Declarations require the owner to obtain association approval before structural alterations.

One item that surprises Canadian buyers in particular is the hurricane deductible on the master insurance policy. Florida master policies typically carry a separate hurricane or named-storm deductible, often expressed as a percentage of the insured building value (commonly 5 to 10 percent). When a hurricane causes covered damage, the association absorbs the deductible portion before the policy pays, and the deductible is generally allocated back to unit owners as a special assessment. Two consequences follow. First, an apparently moderate fee can be supplemented by a four- or five-figure assessment after a single major storm. Second, the unit owner's HO-6 policy can be configured to include "loss assessment coverage," which reimburses the owner for a share of an association assessment up to a chosen limit. This is the single most important addition to verify in an HO-6 policy if the building is in a coastal county.

Section 05What a residential HOA fee covers

In a Chapter 720 HOA, the fee is materially smaller because the association is responsible only for the shared common areas of the subdivision: internal streets and lighting, perimeter landscaping and entrance gate, the clubhouse and community pool, common parks, the on-site management or volunteer board administration, and a master insurance policy on the common-area structures. The home itself, including the roof, exterior paint, the lawn and irrigation within the lot line where applicable, and all interior systems, remains the owner's exclusive responsibility. There is no statutory reserve mandate. Reserves are optional and can be waived or reduced by a member vote (F.S. §720.303(6)).

This means a single-family HOA fee is much more predictable in absolute terms (typical range USD 100 to USD 400 per month), but the owner is exposed to all of the home's own structural risks: roof replacement, hurricane wind and water damage, plumbing failure, and so on. The risk envelope is shifted from the association to the homeowner's personal HO-3 or DP-3 policy and to the homeowner's reserves.

Section 06Community Development District (CDD): the third line you may not have noticed

Many large master-planned communities, including high-profile examples such as The Villages, Lakewood Ranch, Babcock Ranch, and Wellen Park, are organized with both an HOA and a Community Development District. The CDD is created under F.S. Chapter 190 (Uniform Community Development District Act of 1980) as a special-purpose unit of local government. It issues tax-exempt municipal bonds to finance the developer's initial infrastructure (roads, water, sewer, drainage, parks, sometimes amenities), and it then assesses property owners over 20 to 30 years to repay those bonds, plus an annual operating and maintenance assessment.

A CDD assessment is not part of the HOA fee. It appears separately on the annual county property tax bill under "non-ad valorem assessments." Owners regularly conflate the two, but they are governed by different statutes (Chapter 190 versus Chapter 720), collected through different channels (the tax collector versus the association), and used for different purposes. A typical CDD assessment falls in the USD 1,500 to USD 3,500 per year range, and the bond debt portion can in many districts be prepaid in full to extinguish that line item.

Section 07Annual increases and the often-misunderstood 115 percent rule

It is widely repeated that a Florida condo association cannot raise the budget more than 15 percent without a unit-owner vote. That is not what F.S. §718.112(2)(e) actually says. The statute provides that if the board adopts a budget where assessments exceed 115 percent of the prior year's assessments, unit owners may petition for a special meeting (10 percent of voting interests, within 21 days of adoption) to consider a substitute budget. The board may still adopt a budget exceeding the 115 percent threshold, and the budget remains in effect unless owners successfully petition and approve an alternate. Critically, the 115 percent calculation excludes statutory reserves, insurance premiums, and one-time non-recurring expenses. Almost all of the fee increases that Canadian owners encountered in 2024 and 2025 fell into one of those excluded categories and therefore did not even trigger the petition right.

For an HOA, increases follow the CC&R. Most CC&R formulas allow the board to raise annual dues each year subject to a stated cap, often 10 to 15 percent, beyond which a member vote is required. The exact formula is in the recorded CC&R for the subdivision.

> Verified fact. F.S. §718.112(2)(e)2.a establishes the 115 percent unit-owner petition right, and §718.112(2)(e)2.b expressly excludes reserves, insurance premiums, and non-recurring assessments from the 115 percent calculation. Sources: F.S. §718.112; Florida condominium counsel commentary on substitute budgets. [3][9]

Section 08SB 4-D, SB 154, HB 1021, HB 913: why fees jumped in 2024 and 2025

The Surfside collapse of June 2021 led the Florida Legislature to pass SB 4-D in the May 2022 special session, followed by clarifying and amending legislation in SB 154 (2023), HB 1021 (2024), and most recently HB 913 (2025). Together these laws impose, on every condominium and cooperative building of 3 or more habitable stories, two mandates: a periodic structural milestone inspection performed by a Florida-licensed engineer or architect (initial inspection at 30 years, or 25 years where local rules apply for buildings within 3 miles of the coast, then every 10 years), and a Structural Integrity Reserve Study that must be updated every 10 years and that must be fully funded with no waiver allowed for SIRS items.

The SIRS items expressly listed in the statute are the roof, the load-bearing walls and other primary structural members, the floor, the foundation, fireproofing and fire-protection systems, plumbing, electrical systems, waterproofing and exterior painting, windows, exterior doors, and any other component with a deferred maintenance expense or replacement cost over USD 25,000 whose failure would compromise one of the listed items. After Dec 31, 2024, owner votes can no longer waive or underfund reserves for these items.

HB 913 (2025) gave associations some practical relief: the SIRS deadline for unit-owner-controlled associations existing on or before July 1, 2022 was extended to December 31, 2025, the definition of "stories" was clarified to refer to habitable stories (excluding ground-floor parking), associations may now fund mandated reserves through special assessments, lines of credit, or loans with majority owner approval, and a temporary 2-year reserve pause is now available with member approval to prioritize urgent milestone repairs.

The aggregate effect on fees has been substantial. South Florida high-rise condo associations now average around USD 1,800 to USD 1,900 per month in monthly contributions (FirstService Residential 2025 benchmark), insurance alone accounts for roughly USD 377 to USD 438 per unit per month in those buildings, and median Miami-Dade and Broward condo fees rose from approximately USD 567 in 2019 to USD 900 in 2024 (about 59 percent in five years).

> Typical range, not a verified universal. Florida condo fee 2026: USD 400 to USD 600 per month for an average condo, USD 1,000 to USD 2,000 per month for a high-rise in Miami-Dade or Broward, USD 600 to USD 1,200 per month for an older 3-story-plus building still adjusting to SIRS funding. Single-family HOA fee: USD 100 to USD 400 per month. CDD annual assessment: USD 1,500 to USD 3,500 per year on the property tax bill. These are typical ranges based on 2024 to 2025 reporting; your actual fee depends entirely on the building, the location, and the current budget. Sources: FirstService Residential 2025 benchmark, US Census ACS 2024, KSR Properties 2025 South Florida brief. [4][5][6]

Section 09Canada-Florida comparison: condo and HOA mechanics

The reference province for this comparison is Quebec, governed by the Civil Code of Québec for divided co-ownership. Equivalent comparisons for Ontario (Condominium Act, 1998), British Columbia (Strata Property Act), and Alberta (Condominium Property Act) are forthcoming in their respective province-by-province guides.

The single most important Canadian-specific insight is that the Quebec fonds de prévoyance and the Florida SIRS-based reserves serve the same economic purpose (reduce the future-special-assessment risk by pre-funding major repairs) but the Florida regime is now much more prescriptive: pre-2024 underfunding is no longer legal, the funding is pegged to a professional study, and waivers are categorically banned for the listed SIRS components. A Quebec investor accustomed to a 5 percent floor that many syndicates underfund in practice will find Florida buildings are now obliged to do something closer to what the Quebec study-based regime will require by 2028.

Section 10Worked example: a Canadian-owned 30-year condo in Pompano Beach

Consider a Canadian who owns a 1,200-square-foot condo in a 6-story, 60-unit oceanfront building in Pompano Beach, certificate of occupancy 1995. The building turned 30 in 2025 and triggered both its initial milestone inspection and its first SIRS, with the SIRS completed in late 2025 to align with the HB 913 extended deadline.

In 2018, the unit's monthly condo fee was USD 580. The 2026 fee, after SIRS-based reserve funding, post-Surfside insurance increases, and a CAM management fee adjustment, is USD 1,290. Of that USD 1,290, approximately USD 410 funds the master insurance policy, USD 380 funds reserves on the SIRS items (roof, waterproofing, windows, electrical, plumbing), USD 360 funds operations (water, sewer, garbage, security, maintenance, management, landscaping, pool), and USD 140 funds the amenities (gym, beach access, valet). The owner additionally pays an HO-6 policy of approximately USD 1,200 per year for the unit interior plus USD 50,000 of loss-assessment coverage. The owner pays property tax separately, billed in November by the Broward County Tax Collector, with no homestead exemption because the unit is a non-resident second home (10 percent annual assessed-value cap under F.S. §193.1554 applies). There is no CDD on this property because it is not a master-planned community.

> Opinion, not a verified fact. For a Canadian buying into a 3-story-or-higher Florida condo building today, the underwriting question is not "what is the current fee" but "what is the SIRS recommendation versus the current reserve balance." A building with a recent SIRS showing a 5- to 10-year structural component schedule and reserves at less than 30 percent of recommended is a building where additional fee increases or special assessments are essentially priced in. Ask for the SIRS report and the most recent reserve balance before you sign. (This is editorial judgment, not legal or financial advice.)

Section 11For Canadian owners: tax and operational implications

The fee is due whether or not you reside in the unit. There is no snowbird rebate, no part-year proration, and no reduction for non-occupancy. Most associations require an automated ACH or EFT debit from a US-dollar bank account; setting up this bank account before closing avoids the cumbersome workaround of mailing US-dollar money orders or wires from Canada. A small minority of associations still accept cheques.

For Canadian tax purposes, HOA and condo fees attached to a Florida property held for rental income are generally deductible against the rental income reported to the IRS on Form 1040-NR Schedule E (US side) and against worldwide rental income to the CRA on Form T776 (Canadian side), subject to the Canada-US treaty allocation. For a property used personally and not rented, the fees are generally not deductible on either side, although they are tracked as part of the property's adjusted cost base for future capital-gain calculation at sale. Cross-border tax treatment is fact-specific and Canadian owners should review their position annually with a cross-border tax professional.

Two operational items. First, before signing a purchase agreement, request the resale package: the most recent budget, the most recent audited financials, the SIRS (if applicable), the milestone inspection report (if applicable), the master insurance binder, the past 12 months of board minutes, and any pending or recent special assessments. The seller is required to deliver most of this under F.S. §718.503 for condos. Second, verify the rental restrictions in the Declaration before assuming you will be able to rent the unit short term. Many Florida condo associations have restricted minimum rental periods to 30, 90, or 180 days, and HOA subdivisions in markets such as Boca Raton, Naples, and Marco Island commonly prohibit short-term rentals altogether.

Section 12Common mistakes Canadian owners make

1. Comparing buildings on monthly fee alone. A USD 600 fee in an underfunded 30-year building can be far more expensive over 5 years than a USD 1,000 fee in a fully reserved building. The relevant benchmark is the SIRS plus the current reserve balance, not the headline fee.
2. Assuming the 115 percent rule caps increases. It does not. The board can adopt a budget exceeding 115 percent of prior year, and the most expensive line items (reserves, insurance, one-time expenses) are excluded from the calculation entirely.
3. Confusing CDD with HOA. A CDD assessment of USD 2,500 per year on the tax bill is in addition to the HOA fee, governed by a different statute, and continues for the life of the bond regardless of changes to the HOA.
4. Forgetting the hurricane deductible exposure. A Florida master policy with a 10 percent hurricane deductible on USD 30 million of insured value carries a USD 3 million first-dollar exposure that gets allocated back to unit owners as a special assessment. HO-6 loss-assessment coverage of USD 50,000 to USD 100,000 is the standard hedge.
5. Skipping the resale package review. F.S. §718.503 entitles a buyer to the governing documents, the budget, and the financials before closing. A 3- to 5-day attorney review of those documents is the single highest-yield expense in a Canadian condo purchase.
6. Treating an HO-6 as optional. Most Florida lenders require an HO-6 policy for any financed condo unit. Even for cash purchases, the master policy does not cover the unit interior; if a pipe bursts in your unit, the master policy is not your remedy.
7. Buying without verifying rental restrictions. A condo with a 6-month minimum-lease rule cannot legally be operated as an Airbnb. The restriction is in the Declaration, recorded against the property, and enforceable against subsequent buyers.

Section 13Pre-purchase actionable checklist

1. Request the full resale package from the seller: Declaration, bylaws, current budget, last 2 years of audited financials, SIRS (for buildings of 3 or more stories), milestone inspection report (if applicable), master insurance binder, last 12 months of board minutes.
2. Compute the all-in monthly carry: condo or HOA fee, CDD assessment (annualized then divided by 12), property tax (no homestead), HO-6 premium (annualized then divided by 12), expected utilities not included in the fee.
3. Read the rental restriction clause in the Declaration. Note any minimum-lease period, registration requirement, or outright prohibition.
4. Read the pet, parking, and short-term-guest restrictions.
5. Confirm the reserve balance against the SIRS recommendation. Flag any building where the funded ratio is under 50 percent of the SIRS recommendation as a high special-assessment risk.
6. Confirm whether any special assessment is pending or has been voted in the last 24 months.
7. Confirm the master insurance hurricane deductible and verify your draft HO-6 policy includes loss-assessment coverage of at least USD 50,000.
8. If buying in a master-planned community, confirm whether the CDD bond can be prepaid and obtain the current payoff figure from the District Manager.
9. Have a Florida-licensed real estate attorney review the resale package before the inspection contingency expires.
10. Set up a US-dollar bank account (BMO Harris, RBC Bank, or US-side equivalent) ahead of closing to handle ACH payment of fees and taxes.

Section 14FAQ

Section 15Out of scope and forthcoming

This guide is the entry-point article on HOA and condo fees coverage. The following topics are covered or will be covered in dedicated guides on the site:

• Special assessments: triggers, board procedure, owner remedies (chapter 02, existing).
• SB 4-D milestone inspection at 30 years, 3-story-plus buildings (chapter 02, existing).
• SIRS Structural Integrity Reserve Study (chapter 02, existing).
• Reading condo documents before buying (chapter 02, existing).
• Short-term rental restrictions in HOA and condo (chapter 02, existing).
• HO-6 unit-owner insurance with loss-assessment coverage for Canadians (forthcoming, chapter 02).
• CDD fees: a stand-alone Canadian guide (forthcoming, chapter 02).
• Estoppel certificate at closing F.S. §718.116 (forthcoming, chapter 04 sale).

Province-by-province comparisons for Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta are forthcoming.

CanadaFlorida Editorial Team. Research drawn from primary public sources cited at the bottom of every guide: U.S. and Florida statutes, U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, official Florida county and state authorities, and Canadian provincial bodies where applicable. Every figure, rate, threshold, and deadline in this guide is drawn from a verifiable primary source listed below. The article is updated whenever the underlying rules change, with a fresh review date stamped at the top.

Essential disclaimer. Educational purpose only. This document is reference information. It is not legal, tax, accounting, real estate, immigration, medical, or financial advice and does not create a client-professional relationship. Before any concrete decision, consult a licensed professional in the relevant jurisdiction: a Florida-licensed attorney, a cross-border tax professional, a Florida-licensed insurance broker, an immigration attorney, or your physician, depending on the question. Treat this content as a research starting point, not as professional advice. A consultation with a licensed professional in the relevant jurisdiction is indispensable before any decision.

Section 16Disclaimer

This guide is for educational purposes only. The figures, rates, thresholds, deadlines, and rules cited are drawn from public sources at the date indicated and may change. Florida statutes are amended regularly; the Civil Code of Québec is amended periodically; the federal income-tax treatment of cross-border rental property is subject to Canada Revenue Agency and Internal Revenue Service guidance that evolves. Treat this content as a research starting point. For any concrete decision, consult a Florida-licensed attorney, a cross-border tax attorney, or a Florida-licensed insurance broker, depending on the question. CanadaFlorida is not a substitute for licensed professional advice in your specific jurisdiction.