Florida Association Records
Since July 2024, § 718.111(12)(c)1.b. makes a condominium hand over a checklist of what it produced and what it withheld. It cuts both ways.
If you have asked a Florida condominium association for records since 1 July 2024, it owes you two things, not one. It owes you the records within ten working days. And it owes you a checklist: a written list of every record it made available, and every record it did not.
The checklist requirement came in with HB 1021, ch. 2024-244, Laws of Florida. It is the single most consequential change to condominium records practice in years, and it is missing from most of what you will find written about this online, much of which still cites subsection numbers that the same bill renumbered.
The provision in full. It is short, and every sentence matters:
In response to a written request to inspect records, the association must simultaneously provide to the requestor a checklist of all records made available for inspection and copying. The checklist must also identify any of the association's official records that were not made available to the requestor. An association must maintain a checklist provided under this sub-subparagraph for 7 years. An association delivering a checklist pursuant to this sub-subparagraph creates a rebuttable presumption that the association has complied with this paragraph.
§ 718.111(12)(c)1.b., Fla. Stat. (2025)
Read that last sentence again. Delivering a checklist creates a rebuttable presumption that the association complied. That is a defensive weapon, and it was handed to the association, not to you. It is a direct counterweight to the owner's presumption of willful noncompliance that arises when records are late.
The same provision works against the association in the two situations that come up most.
Ask for it in the request itself The duty is triggered by the written request and must be satisfied "simultaneously" with production. Naming it expressly in your letter costs nothing and makes its absence conspicuous, because the association cannot later say it did not understand what was being asked for.
Our condo letters demand the checklist by name Every records request we draft under § 718.111(12) cites the checklist provision and demands it expressly, then goes out USPS Certified with return receipt so the receipt date is documented. Start my condo request
Section 718.111(12)(b) requires the records to be made available within 45 miles of the condominium property, or within the county, within ten working days after the board or its designee receives a written request. Failure creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply, and a unit owner denied access is entitled to actual damages or minimum damages of $50 per calendar day for up to ten days, beginning on the eleventh working day.
The fee award runs against a person, not just the association Section 718.111(12)(c)1.a. entitles a prevailing party to recover reasonable attorney fees "from the person in control of the records who, directly or indirectly, knowingly denied access." That is personal exposure for a director or manager, not a line item on the association's budget.
Associations resist this one routinely, so it is worth quoting:
An association shall allow a member or his or her authorized representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, tablet, portable scanner, or any other technology capable of scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of the official records in lieu of the association's providing the member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of such records. The association may not charge a member or his or her authorized representative for the use of a portable device.
§ 718.111(12)(c)5., Fla. Stat. (2025)
Bring a phone. There is no per-page charge for photographs you take yourself, and the association may not invoice you for the privilege.
HB 1021 rewrote § 718.111(12) substantially. The catch-all category of official records, "[a]ll other written records of the association not specifically included in the foregoing which are related to the operation of the association," is now item (a)21. Guidance citing it as (a)15. is quoting a superseded numbering; item 15 is now the structural and life-safety inspection reports category the same bill added. The exempt-records list moved too, to (12)(c)5.a. through h.
Then it gets no presumption of compliance, and it has failed a duty the statute states in mandatory terms. The checklist is required in response to a written request and must be provided simultaneously with the records; its absence is a distinct problem from the records being late.
For records that are actually posted, yes. Section 718.111(12)(c)1.a. lets an association fulfil its obligation by directing requesters to its website or mobile application where the requested records are available there. A condominium of 25 or more units, excluding timeshares, must post the specified documents within 30 days of receiving or creating them.
Records in items (12)(a)1. through 6. must be maintained permanently from the inception of the association. Bids are kept at least one year. Everything else is at least seven years, in Florida. And loss is not a defence: the statute imposes a good-faith obligation to obtain and recover records that are lost, destroyed, or otherwise unavailable.
Ten working days, starting when they sign for it We draft the request, cite the current subsection numbering, demand the checklist, and mail it certified so the receipt date is on a card with a signature. Build my letter
Florida Association Records prepares Florida condominium and homeowners' association records requests and written inquiries under §§ 718.111(12), 718.112(2)(a)2 and 720.303(5), Florida Statutes, mails them USPS Certified with Return Receipt, and tracks the statutory deadline that delivery starts.
Florida Association Records is not a law firm, does not provide legal advice, and does not represent you. Using this site creates no attorney-client relationship.
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