Florida Association Records
Only condominium owners have a written-inquiry right, and only by certified mail. HOA owners have none: § 720 never uses the word.
These are two different statutes with two different deadlines and two entirely different consequences for being ignored. Owners routinely send one when they needed the other, and homeowners' association members routinely send an inquiry that has no legal existence at all.
If you are in an HOA, there is no inquiry right Chapter 720 does not contain a written-inquiry provision. The word "inquiry" does not appear in the chapter in any form. A letter to an HOA board asking a general question carries no deadline, no presumption, no damages and no fee consequence. The records route is the only one with teeth, so ask for the documents that answer your question rather than asking the question.
Section 718.112(2)(a)2. is the provision with no counterpart anywhere else in Florida community association law. When a unit owner of a residential condominium files a written inquiry by certified mail with the board, the board must respond in writing within 30 days.
Certified mail is a condition of the right The statute is triggered only when the owner "files a written inquiry by certified mail." An email, a hand delivery, or a note at the management office does not start the 30-day clock. This is a hard textual requirement, and it differs from the records provisions, where certified mail is not needed to trigger the duty.
Within 30 days the board must do one of three things: give a substantive response, notify you that a legal opinion has been requested, or notify you that advice has been requested from the Division. The second and third are deferrals, not answers, and they run on different outside clocks that are commonly confused.
| If the board says… | The substantive answer is due |
|---|---|
| It answers outright | Within 30 days of receipt |
| A legal opinion has been requested | Within 60 days of receipt of the inquiry |
| Advice has been requested from the Division | Within 10 days after the board receives that advice, which does not run from your inquiry at all |
A flat 60-day deadline is a drafting error The 60-day outside date applies only to the legal-opinion route. If the board went to the Division instead, the clock is open-ended and runs from the board's receipt of the advice. A letter asserting one flat outside deadline for both scenarios is stating something the statute does not say.
The sanction is narrow, specific, and more useful than it first looks:
The failure to provide a substantive response to the inquiry as provided herein precludes the board from recovering attorney fees and costs in any subsequent litigation, administrative proceeding, or arbitration arising out of the inquiry.
§ 718.112(2)(a)2., Fla. Stat. (2025)
There are no statutory damages here, no per-day penalty, and no injunction. What there is instead is a fee bar. If the board ignores your inquiry and the dispute later becomes litigation, arbitration, or an administrative proceeding arising out of that inquiry, the board cannot recover its fees and costs from you.
This is why owners send one before a fight The practical value of a written inquiry is defensive and it is cheap. An owner who expects a dispute papers it with a certified-mail inquiry precisely to strip the association of its fee claim. Because the preclusion reaches proceedings "arising out of the inquiry," an inquiry that squarely frames the anticipated dispute reaches further than a vague one.
In a condominium, send both They are different statutes with different remedies, and neither substitutes for the other. Our wizard builds either one, a records request under § 718.111(12) or a written inquiry under § 718.112(2)(a)2., and mails it certified, which the inquiry route requires. Start my letter
| Written inquiry (condo only) | Records request | |
|---|---|---|
| Who has the right | Residential condominium unit owners | Condominium unit owners and HOA parcel owners |
| Certified mail | Required. It is what triggers the right | Not required, but it is what creates the presumption |
| Deadline | 30 days, or 60 with a legal opinion | 10 working days (condo) / 10 business days (HOA) |
| If ignored | Board loses its fee claim in proceedings arising out of the inquiry | $50 per calendar day up to $500, plus fees |
| Damages | None | Actual or statutory minimum |
As a matter of Chapter 720, yes. There is no inquiry right and so no duty to answer a general question. What the board cannot ignore is a request for official records, which carries a ten-business-day deadline and statutory damages. If you want an answer with a deadline behind it, ask for the documents rather than the answer.
Only if it has adopted a rule saying so. The statute permits a board to adopt reasonable rules on the frequency and manner of responding, one of which may be a limit of one written inquiry per unit in any 30-day period, but the limit is not automatic. Confirm the rule exists before accepting it.
The statute speaks of "a unit owner of a residential condominium," so commercial condominium owners are outside its terms. The records right under § 718.111(12) is not limited in the same way.
Not sure which one you need? The first question the wizard asks is whether you are in a condominium or an HOA, and it only offers you the letters that statute actually gives you. Nothing is printed or mailed until you have read every word. See what applies to me
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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