29-04-2025
Floridians deserve transparency in lifestyle community fees. This bill delivers it
Among the many reasons people want to call Florida home is the quality of the state's communities and the ability to enjoy year-round activities. That's why so-called lifestyle communities are so popular — offering residents amenities to socialize, play tennis and pickleball, swim, golf and enjoy a range of other activities.
It's like having a country club in your own backyard and Florida developers have been building them since the 1990s.
The amenities can help bolster property values, but just like joining a country club, they aren't free — and a confusing mishmash of homeowners associations and special districts can make it hard for residents to know exactly where their assessments and taxes are going.
However, a bill pending in the Florida Legislature aims to correct that with a package of consumer protections that give buyers and owners more clarity and long-term control over the amenities that may have drawn them to a particular community in the first place.
Community developers build these clubs to offer high-end fitness centers, pools, beautiful clubhouses, courses and courts that make lifestyle communities such desirable places to live, but the costs incurred to build and operate them are separate from the expenses related to common areas overseen by HOAs.
However, one judge in central Florida lumped club fees in with other fees like common area lawn care and landscaping.
Florida House Bill 579 would clarify that private recreational amenities are stand-alone entities with new, mandatory disclosures inclusive of additional financial reporting requirements so homeowners know where every dollar is spent.
This is good for Floridians because HB 579 simultaneously adds transparency and protection that are not in current state law.
For example, the recreational covenants under HB 579 would provide potential buyers unprecedented insight into how amenity fees are calculated, assessed, changed and spent. It would also let buyers knows who can use the amenities, who owns and operates them and how much profit (if any) they generate.
Importantly, HB 579 clarifies collection of amenity fees is not the homeowners' associations obligation, and rightly puts that burden on the amenity owner. And amenity owners would face annual caps on how much amenity fees could be raised each year. None of these protections are in current law.
In addition, residents would better understand where those fees go because HB 579 would amend the information included in an HOA's annual financial reports required under the HOA Act to include information provided to them related to amenity dues, amenities, and operational costs and expenses.
In addition, under current law, if the owner of an amenity wants to sell, it can — with only limited input from the homeowners with the most at stake. HB 579, by contrast, empowers homeowners with the first right of refusal to buy the facilities and a six-month notice period to decide. That's a huge improvement to Florida law, which currently does not include this option.
Florida's weather and beaches make it the Sunshine State, but the moniker could just as easily apply to the transparency laws that legislators have put in place over the years to protect consumers, homeowners and taxpayers.
HB 579 adds more sunshine to the books and ensures that residents in one of Florida's fastest-growing types of communities have the information and power they need to truly enjoy the lifestyle they were promised.
Jeb Bush is a two-time Republican governor of Florida, serving from 1999 to 2007. He is a leader in education and consumer advocacy. Bush is also a consultant for Lennar, which is a member of a coalition supporting HB 579.
