Condo fees in Florida: what they cover, why they rise and how to compare

General information, not legal or financial advice. Florida condominium law has changed repeatedly since 2022. Statutes below were read on the Florida Legislature's website in October 2026. Have a Florida real estate attorney review the documents for any building you plan to buy.

What condo fees cover

The monthly fee is each unit's share of what the statute calls common expenses. Section 718.103 defines an assessment as an owner's share of the funds needed to pay them, and section 718.115 lists what they include:

• Operating, maintaining, repairing, replacing and protecting the common elements and association property
• Running the association and carrying out its duties
• The insurance the association buys, including its director and officer coverage
• Security, in-house communications, transportation and road maintenance when reasonably related to the general benefit of owners
• Items government requires, such as fire safety equipment or water and sewer service through a master meter, unless the declaration says otherwise
• Bulk cable, internet or information services, if the declaration or a board contract makes them a common expense
• Hurricane protection on common elements, and sometimes protection for individual units depending on the declaration
• Anything else the declaration or bylaws designate

What a unit's share is depends on the declaration. In residential condominiums the share of common expenses matches the unit's ownership interest in the common elements. Two buildings with the same fee can include very different things, which is why "what is included" is the first question and the declaration is the first document.

Equally important is what the fee does not pay. Under section 718.111(11), owners are generally responsible for personal property and for interior items serving only their unit, such as floor, wall and ceiling coverings, fixtures, appliances, water heaters, built-in cabinets, countertops and window treatments. That is the job of an HO-6 policy, covered in our Tampa condo buying guide.

Sources: s. 718.115; s. 718.103; s. 718.111, Florida Statutes.

Why are condo fees so high in Florida

No official source gives one reason, and the answer is different in each building. News coverage of a 2024 Redfin analysis, as reported by The Capitolist, pointed to two main drivers: rising property insurance costs and the safety rules that followed the 2021 Surfside collapse. The statutes show how the second driver reaches your fee.

Reserves for structural items

Under section 718.112(2)(g), an association with a building of three or more habitable stories must have a structural integrity reserve study at least every 10 years. It covers the roof, structure, fireproofing, plumbing, electrical systems, waterproofing and exterior painting, windows and exterior doors, and any other item over $25,000 (adjusted for inflation) whose failure affects those. The study states each item's remaining life and replacement cost, with a funding plan that keeps the reserve balance above zero.

The key change for fees: for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners in these associations may not vote to waive or reduce reserves for those items. A building that had been collecting little for decades must now catch up, either through higher monthly fees or through assessments.

Milestone inspections and repairs

Section 553.899 requires a milestone inspection of condominium buildings three or more habitable stories tall by December 31 of the year they turn 30, and every 10 years after that. A local agency may require it at 25 years where conditions such as salt water exposure warrant. If the first phase finds substantial structural deterioration, a second phase follows and repairs must begin within 365 days after the local agency receives that report. Those repairs have to be paid for.

Insurance

The association's insurance is a common expense under section 718.115, so a premium increase reaches owners through the budget. The statute treats insurance premiums specially: the rule that forces a substitute budget when assessments would rise more than 115 percent excludes reserve provisions, certain non-recurring expenses and insurance premiums from the calculation. Section 718.111(11) says deductibles are generally a common expense unless caused by an owner, which is one reason a large wind deductible on the master policy deserves attention.

How associations cope, and what it signals

Associations can fund SIRS reserves through regular assessments, special assessments, lines of credit or loans, with a majority of the total voting interests approving a special assessment, line of credit or loan. For budgets adopted on or before December 31, 2028, an association that completed a milestone inspection in the previous two years may, with a majority vote, pause or reduce reserve contributions for no more than two consecutive annual budgets to pay for repairs. A pause can hold a fee down for a time and raise it later. A fee that looks low next to a similar building may be a sign of exactly that, so ask which funding tools the board is using.

Sources: s. 718.112, Florida Statutes; s. 553.899; The Capitolist, reporting on a Redfin analysis (August 2024).

The average HOA fee for a condo in Florida: why we do not give one

Searches for an average are common, but an average does not help the person choosing between two buildings. Published figures use different samples, different dates and different definitions of what is included, and fees move with the age of the building, its amenities, its insurance and its reserve position. Our policy on this site is to state a fee only when we can cite a dated official source. The reliable figure is the one in the budget of the building you are looking at.

That budget is your right to see. Under section 718.112(2)(e), the board must deliver a copy of the proposed annual budget to owners at least 14 days before the budget meeting. Under section 718.111(12), owners can inspect association records on written request, with records to be made available within 10 working days. Associations of 25 or more units must post key records online, including the annual budget, the financial report, the latest reserve study and the last 12 months of approved minutes.

Special assessments: the cost on top of the fee

Section 718.103 defines a special assessment as any assessment other than the one required by the annual budget. It arrives when a board needs money the budget does not hold, for instance for repairs found in a milestone inspection. Three rules are worth knowing as a buyer:

• For a non-emergency special assessment, the board must give written notice at least 14 days before the meeting, and the notice must state that assessments will be considered with the estimated cost and purpose.
• You become liable for assessments that come due while you own the unit. Under section 718.116, a new owner is also jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for unpaid assessments that came due before the transfer, which is why the estoppel certificate matters.
• The estoppel shows assessments already adopted. It will not show a project that is only being discussed, so read the minutes and ask in writing.

Put into the contract who pays any assessment adopted before closing. The details of the seven-day review period and the document list are in our condo buying checklist.

HOA fees in Tampa: how they differ from condo fees

Many townhomes, villas and single-family homes in the Tampa area belong to a homeowners association under Chapter 720 instead of a condominium association under Chapter 718. The fee pays for whatever the governing documents assign to the association, commonly shared grounds, entry features and amenities, and in some communities exterior maintenance. As with condos, read the documents. A few differences matter in practice:

• Reserves. Under section 720.303, an HOA's reserves are optional. They exist only if members approve by a majority of the total voting interests, and members may vote at a meeting to reduce or waive them, for one budget year at a time. The condo rule that bars waiving reserves for structural items does not apply to homes outside a condominium.
• Records. Members can request records and the association must make them available within 10 business days.
• Special assessments. The statute sets notice requirements, at least 14 days written notice for a meeting considering a special assessment, but does not set a separate approval vote.
• Estoppel. Section 720.30851 sets the same base caps as for condos: $250, plus $100 if expedited within 3 business days and up to $150 more if amounts are owed, adjusted every five years for inflation by the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Confirm the current figure with your title company.

Neighborhoods where townhomes and villas appear are described on the where to downsize page, and the question of format is covered in condo, townhome, villa or single-family. Some age-restricted communities have their own fee structures, outlined in our 55+ communities guide, and the single-story homes guide looks at one-level options and what maintenance-included means in practice.

Sources: s. 720.303; s. 720.30851; s. 718.116, Florida Statutes.

CDD fees versus HOA dues

Newer communities in the Tampa area may sit inside a community development district, or CDD. It is a special-purpose local government created under Chapter 190. A CDD is separate from the HOA and from any condo association, and the charges are separate too.

Section 190.021 provides that a district's benefit and maintenance assessments are placed on the county tax roll and collected by the tax collector like taxes, and that they are a lien on the property coequal with the lien of state, county, municipal and school board taxes. Section 190.048 requires the first sale contract in a district to carry a bold notice that the district may levy taxes or assessments. On a resale, the bill is the evidence: look for non-ad valorem assessments on the tax bill. The Hillsborough County Tax Collector notes, in discussing Amendment 3, that non-ad valorem assessments such as CDD fees would continue and can still increase.

Sources: s. 190.021; s. 190.048; Hillsborough County Tax Collector.

What to request before buying

• Declaration, rules and the list of what the fee includes
• Current annual budget with reserve lines, and the year-end financial statement
• The structural integrity reserve study and the date it was completed
• Milestone inspection summary, if the building has one, including any second-phase report
• Twelve months of approved board minutes
• Any special assessment, loan or line of credit adopted or being discussed
• Master insurance declarations page and wind deductible
• Estoppel certificate figures and who pays them
• For a community with a CDD, the most recent tax bill showing the CDD line

The costs outside the monthly fee, such as application and capital contribution fees at closing, are listed in hidden costs of downsizing, and the net proceeds side is in estimating net proceeds.

How to compare two buildings

A lower fee is not necessarily the lower cost. Compare buildings on the same few lines. The example below is hypothetical and uses no real building or real fee.

On fee alone Building A wins. On the other lines Building B may cost less over five years, since a pause postpones contributions that must resume later and Building A's fee covers fewer services. The point is the method: put the fee next to the reserve position, the inspection result, what is included and the insurance terms. The same logic applies to a fixed income, where a predictable number often matters more than a low one. If you want the decision framed around budget, see costs and money and is downsizing worth it.

If you are relocating from another state

Fee structures, insurance and the CDD charge may be new to you. Our moving to Florida to retire guide covers the surprises newcomers meet, and hurricane and flood insurance when downsizing covers the insurance side that sits behind several of the fee drivers above.

When you want an agent to read the documents with you, you can request an introduction. Introductions go to agents on the operating team at eXp Realty, so this is not a search of the whole market, and the agent, not this site, handles the sale.