Florida Association Records
An HOA is capped by statute: 25 cents a page, $20 an hour for personnel time after the first half hour, nothing for 25 pages or fewer. Condominiums differ.
If a Florida homeowners' association has quoted you a copying charge, there is a statutory ceiling on it, and the ceiling is low. Condominiums work differently. The cap there comes from an administrative rule rather than the statute, which is a distinction worth keeping straight because the numbers get cross-cited constantly.
| Charge | Statutory limit |
|---|---|
| Per page, on the association's photocopier | Up to 25 cents |
| Personnel time | Only if retrieval and copying exceeds one half hour, and not above $20 an hour |
| A request producing 25 pages or fewer | No personnel charge at all |
| Photographs you take yourself with a phone or scanner | Free. The association may not charge for the use of a portable device. |
The cheapest copy is the one you take yourself Both chapters give a member the right to use a smartphone, tablet, or portable scanner to make electronic copies in lieu of association-provided copies, and expressly bar the association from charging for it. A large request that would run to hundreds of pages at 25 cents costs nothing if you photograph it. Invoke the right in the request letter so it is not a negotiation on the day.
Chapter 718 contains no statutory cap. Section 718.111(12)(c)1.a. gives a unit owner the right to make or obtain copies "at the reasonable expense, if any, of the member." The familiar 25-cent figure in the condominium context comes from the Division's administrative rules in Fla. Admin. Code chapter 61B, not from the statute, so do not cross-cite the Chapter 720 personnel-time caps to a condominium matter, where they do not exist.
A copying charge is not a reason to miss the deadline The duty is to make records available for inspection or photocopying within the statutory period. An association that spends the ten days negotiating a fee has still not made the records available, and in an HOA matter the Fifth District has held that eventual production does not cure a late response.
Ask for inspection, not just copies Our letters demand availability for inspection near the property as the statute requires, and reserve your right to photograph the records at no charge, so a copying quote cannot become the obstacle. Start my request
Chapter 720 authorises a per-page charge and personnel costs for retrieval and copying beyond the first half hour, capped at $20 an hour. It does not authorise passing on legal review costs to the requesting member.
Inspection and copying are separate things. The right of inspection is not conditioned on paying a copying charge, and if you photograph the records yourself with a portable device there is no charge to pay at all.
An association may adopt reasonable written rules on frequency, time, location, notice, and manner. In an HOA those rules may not limit a parcel owner to less than one eight-hour business day per month.
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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