HOA fees in Tampa: what sellers must provide and buyers should check

HOA fees in Tampa: homeowners association or condo association

The first question for any listing is which statute governs its association, because the rules on disclosure, reserves and inspections differ. A townhome, villa or single-family home in a planned community may belong to a homeowners association under Chapter 720. A condominium unit belongs to a condominium association under Chapter 718, whatever the building looks like. A home can belong to more than one association, and the estoppel certificate must list every other one, which is how a master association often comes to light.

Other charges can sit next to the association fee. The Hillsborough County Tax Collector describes non-ad valorem assessments as charges based on the benefit to specific parcels, set by the local governing board rather than the Property Appraiser. CDD fees are explained in the Florida condo and HOA fees guide, and the formats are compared in condo, townhome, villa or single-family.

Sources: s. 720.303; s. 718.112, Florida Statutes; Hillsborough County Tax Collector, understanding your tax notice.

What a Tampa seller must provide before the contract

Homes in a homeowners association

Section 720.401 requires the seller, when the seller is not the developer, to give the buyer a disclosure summary before the buyer signs. The contract must refer to and incorporate the summary and must tell the buyer, prominently, not to sign before reading it. The form is short: mandatory membership, recorded covenants, regular and special assessments, possible assessments by a local government or special district, the lien that can follow unpaid assessments and any rent or land use fees for common facilities. It also notes that recorded covenants and governing documents are public records at the county's records office.

If the buyer does not receive the summary before signing, the contract is voidable. The buyer may cancel by written notice within 3 days after receiving the summary or before closing, whichever comes first. That right cannot be waived and ends at closing. A seller who fills in the summary before listing avoids handing the buyer a late exit.

Condo units

A condo seller owes more paper. Section 718.503(2) entitles the buyer, at the seller's expense, to the governing documents, the budget and financial statement, the milestone inspection summary and reserve study where they apply and the state's governance form; the full list and the 7-day review period are in our guide to downsizing to a condo in Tampa. One newer rule is easy to miss: for contracts entered into after December 31, 2024, the contract itself must state whether the association is required to have, and has completed, a milestone inspection, a turnover inspection report and a structural integrity reserve study.

All of this sits on top of the general seller disclosures, such as flood history and known defects, covered in what Florida sellers must disclose.

Sources: s. 720.401; s. 718.503, Florida Statutes.

Florida estoppel certificates: fees, deadlines and who pays

An estoppel certificate is the association's written statement of what is owed on a home, requested before closing. It fixes the seller's payoff and protects the buyer: an association that later tries to collect more than the certificate stated waives that claim against anyone who relied on it in good faith. The condo and HOA rules are nearly identical.

The fee amounts are adjusted every five years by the change in the Consumer Price Index, and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation calculates and publishes the adjusted figures. The statutory caps above are the starting point; ask the title company which adjusted amount the association is charging for your closing.

What the certificate tells a buyer

Read the certificate as a buyer, not only as a payoff letter. Under both statutes it must show:

• The regular assessment, how often it is due, the date it is paid through and the next installment's amount and due date
• An itemized list of amounts owed now and of amounts that will come due while the certificate is valid
• Any capital contribution, resale, transfer or other fee due on the sale
• Whether there is an open violation of the rules
• Whether the board must approve the transfer, and whether a right of first refusal applies
• Any other association the property belongs to
• Contact details for the association's insurance

Who pays the estoppel fee

The statutes cap the fee and make it payable when the certificate is prepared. They do not decide whether the buyer or the seller pays it at closing. That is set by the purchase contract, so check the clause before you sign and ask your agent or attorney how it is handled in the form you are using.

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

Special assessments, late fees and liens

The monthly fee is the predictable part. The rest comes from special assessments and anything left unpaid.

• Notice of a special assessment. An HOA board meeting that will consider a special assessment needs at least 14 days written notice to members, also posted on the property or broadcast on closed-circuit television, stating that assessments will be considered and their nature. A condo association must state the purpose of each special assessment in writing, and under section 718.116(10) the money may be used only for that purpose, with any surplus returned to owners or credited against future assessments.
• The buyer inherits the debt. In both kinds of association, a new owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for assessments that came due before the transfer, and may then try to recover them from the previous owner. This is why the estoppel figure has to be settled at closing.
• Interest and late fees. If the governing documents do not set a rate, unpaid assessments accrue simple interest at 18 percent a year. Where the documents allow a late fee, it may not exceed the greater of $25 or 5 percent of the late installment. Payments go first to interest, then to late fees, then to collection costs and attorney fees. Only after that do they reduce the assessment itself.
• The HOA lien process. Under section 720.3085, an HOA must send a notice of late assessment giving 30 days to pay before it may charge attorney fees, and a 45-day written demand before it may record a claim of lien. It may not file to foreclose until 45 days after the owner receives notice of intent to foreclose.

For a seller, the practical point is to settle any balance well before listing, so the certificate comes back clean and the past-due fee does not apply. For a buyer, read the last year of minutes, since an assessment still under discussion will not appear on the certificate.

Sources: s. 720.3085; s. 718.116; s. 720.303(2)(c), Florida Statutes.

Tampa HOA budgets, reserves and financial reports

A homeowners association's budget must show estimated revenues and expenses for the year and the expected surplus or deficit, and it must list separately any fees for recreational amenities, whoever owns them. Members must receive a copy, or notice that one is available free on request. Reserves are optional: they exist only if a majority of the total voting interests has approved them, and members may vote to waive or reduce them for one budget year at a time. If an association has no reserves, its financial report must carry a prescribed statement saying so. Without reserves, ask how the board plans to pay for large repairs when they come due.

The financial report itself depends on the association's size. Section 720.303(7) sets the level by total annual revenue:

Members must receive the report, or notice of it, no later than 120 days after the fiscal year ends. They may vote to lower the level, though not for consecutive years, so check which level the community actually used.

Condominium budgets are stricter. Section 718.112 requires them to be itemized by account, with reserves for roof replacement, building painting, pavement resurfacing and any other item costing more than $25,000, a threshold the state adjusts each year for inflation. A majority of the total voting interests may waive or reduce those general reserves, but not reserves for structural items in a required reserve study.

Sources: s. 720.303(6) and (7); s. 718.112(2)(f), Florida Statutes.

Milestone inspection and SIRS rules for Tampa condos

These two requirements apply to condominium and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories tall. Section 553.899 covers only buildings under condominium or cooperative ownership and excludes single-family through four-family dwellings of three or fewer habitable stories, and the HOA budget and reserve rules in section 720.303 contain no reserve study requirement. The inspection timetable, the two phases and the 2025 reserve changes are in our Tampa condo buyer's guide. The notice and reporting duties tell you what paper should already exist:

• Notice to owners. The association must tell owners within 14 days after the local agency's notice arrives, and must send every owner the inspector's summary within 45 days after receiving a report, whatever it found. If the association has a website, the full report goes on it.
• Reserve study deadline. Unit-owner-controlled associations that existed on or before July 1, 2022 had until December 31, 2025 to complete a structural integrity reserve study. One that must also finish a milestone inspection by December 31, 2026 may combine the two, but the study cannot be completed after that date.
• Reporting to the state. Within 45 days after receiving a study, the association must give owners a copy or notice that it is available, and file a statement with the state's Division of Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes confirming completion.

Those filings feed a SIRS reporting database linked from the division's milestone inspection and SIRS page. Only complete submissions appear, shown as submitted, so treat it as a first check and still ask for the study.

Sources: s. 553.899; s. 718.112(2)(g), Florida Statutes; DBPR Division of Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes, inspections.

Reading the association records before you offer

Much of what you need can be read before a contract. Since January 1, 2025, a homeowners association with 100 or more parcels must post its key documents on a website or app: the declaration, bylaws, articles and rules, the annual and proposed budgets, the financial report, current insurance policies, a list of current contracts and notices of meetings. Some of it may sit in an owners-only section, so ask the seller to download what you need. Members may also inspect records within 10 business days after a written request.

On the county side, the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's property search finds a parcel by address or folio, and the Tax Collector's guide to the tax notice explains the non-ad valorem lines that can appear on a bill. Put the association fee, any district assessment and the insurance you will carry side by side before you compare homes, and add the one-time fees in the hidden costs of downsizing.

Sources: s. 720.303(4) and (5), Florida Statutes; Hillsborough County Property Appraiser.

What to check before buying into a Tampa HOA or condo association

• Which chapter governs the association, and whether there is also a master association or a CDD
• The HOA disclosure summary, dated before you sign, or the full set of condo documents under section 718.503
• The current budget, with amenity fees shown separately in an HOA
• Whether the HOA has reserves at all, and the statement in its financial report if it does not
• The level of the latest financial report: cash, compiled, reviewed or audited
• Twelve months of minutes, looking for special assessments, loans or large repairs under discussion
• For a condo of three or more habitable stories: the milestone inspection summary, the reserve study and the contract statement on both
• The estoppel certificate: regular assessment, amounts owed, transfer or capital contribution fees, open violations, board approval and other associations
• Who pays the estoppel fee and any transfer fees under your contract
• The rules on leasing, pets, parking, exterior changes and approval to buy

If you are selling one home and buying another, put both sides in one plan: estimating net proceeds covers the sale, costs and money covers the ongoing costs and the step-by-step downsizing guide puts the dates in order. Age-restricted communities and how they are organized are described in our 55+ communities guide. Anything in the governing documents you do not understand is a question for a Florida real estate attorney before the review period ends.

When you want an agent to go through association 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.