Florida’s HOAs and condo associations are making the housing crisis worse

news How Florida’s HOAs and condominium associations are making the real estate crisis even worse

A real estate crisis has 3 parts: what a home expenses, the number of are for sale, and whether individuals in them get to remain. In Florida the property owner and condo associations press on all 3. HOA Spy indexes 104,659 Florida associations– the 27,377 with a system rely on file hold 1,518,436 homes in between them. Their records reveal 10,296 foreclosure fits the associations brought versus their own members, 460,412 claims of lien and 277,047 lis pendens taped versus homes, 48,999 court records in all, and 6,661 associations whose own corporation has actually lapsed or fallen out of standing. Every depend on this page originates from main court dockets and county records, and every neighborhood called links to its own record; the charges and cost figures are another person’s, dated and connected where they appear. Matches and liens are counts of filings, not of homes lost.

Where it is taking place

8,148 of the 13,601 Florida neighborhoods with court records (rings– red where foreclosure is the most typical case type) and 8,165 of the 34,198 with tape-recorded liens (dots, coloured by liens in the last 5 years) have an address or ZIP in the record and are drawn here. Click a pin for the neighborhood’s report, or open the full-screen map.

Inspect a Florida neighborhood → Florida suits, liens and foreclosures: all the numbers →

news 5 methods Florida associations make it even worse

An association exists to keep a neighborhood kept and guaranteed and to gather the charges that spend for it. The records reveal what else the 104,659 Florida associations finish with the powers the law provides, and what it does to the real estate around them.

1. They foreclose by themselves members, over financial obligations that begin little

   Florida law offers every association a lien on each home for unsettled evaluations and the right to foreclose it– area 720.3085, Florida Statutes for property owners’associations, area 718.116, Florida Statutes for condos. The financial obligation that begins it can be a couple of hundred dollars; by the time a fit is submitted it brings interest, late charges, collection expenses and the association’s lawyer’s costs, all protected by the lien. 10,296 foreclosure fits on file were brought by a Florida association versus among its own members, from 2,695 neighborhoods– 2.6%of those indexed. The lending institution’s foreclosures that simply calling an association number 1,629: the association is the foreclosing celebration regularly than the bank is.

   The peak was 2009, with 875 matches(about 2 a day); 2025, the last complete year, had 599, and 667 have actually been submitted up until now in 2026.

   Each fit is a home that might be required to offer, a home that might go to auction for the financial obligation and the charges, and a sale that happens under a due date rather of on the marketplace. A foreclosure match is not a lost home– most end when the owner, or the owner’s loan provider, pays– however the pressure is the point.

   brought by the associationloan provider’s fit calling the association · 2026 is partial

2. They put liens on homes that then can not be offered or re-financed

   Before any match there is a claim of lien, a one-page file in the county’s authorities records versus the home. A lien does not need to be foreclosed to do damage: a title business will not close a sale over it, a lending institution will not re-finance behind it, and clearing it indicates paying whatever the association’s attorney states is owed. In the recorder indexes HOA Spy gathers (Broward County Official Records index, Miami-Dade County Official Records index), 460,412 claims of lien have actually been tape-recorded by associations considering that 1978, and 277,047 lis pendens– 60%of the liens were followed by a foreclosure filing. 5,702 neighborhoods taped a lien in the last 5 years; 1,047 liens on file were objected to.

   2025 saw 7,916 claims of lien, up 8% on 2020 (7,352 ); the peak was 2008 with 29,518.

   claims of lienlis pendens · 2026 is partial

   The neighborhoods with the most liens on record: BEACHPLACE TOWERS CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC.(8,798); PALM-AIRE RESORT OWNERS ASSN(4,951); SILVERLAKES COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, INC.( 4,569 ); BEACH PLACE TOWERS CONDO ASSN INC (2,602); CHAPEL TRAIL OWNERS ASSN INC (2,407).

3. They raise the expense of staying: fees, unique evaluations and the condo-safety expense

   Because the Surfside collapse, Senate Bill 4-D (2022)and the laws that followed it need older condo structures to pass a turning point structural evaluation (area 553.899, Florida Statutes )and to money structural reserves on the strength of a structural stability reserve research study (area 718.112(2)(g), Florida Statutes), books the owners can no longer vote to waive. The repair work and the reserves are paid by the owners, through greater fees and unique evaluations, and an owner who can not pay is back at action one above.

   The expense shows up in the charges. Redfin reported in August 2024 that average regular monthly HOA costs in the 3 months to July 2024, versus a year previously, increased Tampa 17.2%to$ 614 a month, Orlando 16.7 %to$467 a month, Fort Lauderdale 16.2 %to$611 a month, versus 5.7 %throughout the cities it tracked (Redfin.

   Purchasers rate that in: Mortgage Professional America reported in January 2026, mentioning real estate expert Nick Gerli, that apartment worths in Florida fell 9.9%over the preceding twelve months(source. A home that costs more monthly to keep and less to offer is the crisis in one sentence.

   No public index records what an association charges, so HOA Spy can notcount the evaluations. What it can count is what occurs when they go unsettled– the liens and foreclosure fits above.

4. They prosecute, and every owner spends for it

   Every fit an association files or protects is spent for out of the fees– and the expense of a fit an owner wins is still passed back to the owners. 48,999 court records call a Florida association, from 13,601 neighborhoods. The association is the complainant in 29,947 of them and the accused in 14,113; when it is taken legal action against, the most typical match is Appellate (4,380). 92 neighborhoods have fifty or more cases each– lawsuits as a matter of regular. The 10 busiest neighborhoods represent 2%of all the records. Amongst the 24,664 closed cases with both dates on the docket, half took more than 223 days.

   Neighborhood	County	Court records	Most typical case
   GRANDE OASIS AT CARROLLWOOD CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC.		137	Other
   PALMERA POINTE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC.		135	Foreclosure
   LOCATION ONE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC.		132	Other
   NORTH BAY VILLAGE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC.		125	Other
   TOWNS OF BLOOMINGDALE I HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.		123	Other

5. Some have actually stopped operating as corporations at all

   An association is a corporation, and a corporation that is liquified, overdue or not in great standing with the state can not dependably guarantee the residential or commercial property, keep its reserves, sign an agreement or respond to a lending institution’s survey– which suffices to stall every sale in the neighborhood. Of the 104,659 Florida associations inspected versus the state’s business windows registry, 3,753 have no active corporation on file and 2,908 are overdue in their registration– 6% in all.

   Business status as the computer system registry records it: active(51,981 ).

news Where it is worst: Florida county by county

The county is the neighborhood’s own, from its registration or ZIP. Court records are counted just in the courts HOA Spy indexes and liens just in the recorder indexes it gathers, so a county whose website is not check out programs couple of or none.

news Florida versus the country

Florida associations bring more foreclosure fits versus their members than those of any other state on HOA Spy. 10,296 of the 14,168 on file (73% ); Texas is next with 2,349.

1. One in 3 HOA claims in the nation is a Florida caseFlorida holds 48,999 of the 147,465 court records calling a house owner or condo association on HOA Spy(33% ). Texas is next with 41,271, and no other state reaches 15,879.
2. Florida associations foreclose by themselves members more than every other state integrated12,006 Florida court records are foreclosure cases– the association foreclosing its lien on a home, or called in a loan provider’s foreclosure– 55 % of the 21,898 across the country. Texas is next with 5,084.
3. When property owners sue their association, half the time it remains in Florida14,113 Florida records have the association as the accused, 51%of the 27,622 such records in every state. Texas is next with 3,747. Florida likewise leads in 996 insurance coverage disagreements (36%of the country’s)and 800 fair-housing and other civil-rights fits (41%of the country’s).
4. 737,459 lien and foreclosure filings versus property owners in Broward and Miami-Dade countiesThe recorder indexes of Broward and Miami-Dade counties alone note 460,412 claims of lien and 277,047 lis pendens(the filing that begins a foreclosure)by associations. At the peak, in 2009, associations there taped 46,427 lis pendens– about 127 a day. One neighborhood, BEACHPLACE TOWERS CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., has 8,798 claims of lien on file.(Lien indexes are gathered for Florida, Illinois and New York just, so this is a count for the covered counties, not a nationwide ranking.)
5. 2026 is currently Florida’s busiest year on file2,816 Florida court records have actually been submitted up until now in 2026, past the 2,549 of 2010, the previous record; 2025 had 2,476. 92 Florida neighborhoods have 50 or more court records each, more than any other state. Maryland is next with 73.

These are counts of records on file, not rates. Florida has 104,659 indexed associations– more than any other state– and its county courts release deep medical history, so it counts more. Per hundred neighborhoods, Florida has 47 court records; Maryland has 603 and Texas has 231. A state whose courts conceal older cases ranks lower whatever its associations do.

news What a purchaser, an owner or a lawmaker can do

• Before purchasing, checked out the association’s record. Browse it on HOA Spy: every lien, lis pendens and lawsuit on file, each connected to the authorities record, and its business standing. A neighborhood that forecloses as a matter of regular, or whose corporation has actually lapsed, is a truth to cost in before the assessment duration ends.
• Request for the budget plan, the reserve research study and the examination report. Florida law entitles a purchaser to the association’s files and a condo purchaser to the turning point evaluation report and the reserve research study; under the normal Florida sale agreement an unique evaluation imposed before the agreement is the seller’s and one voted later on is for the celebrations to settle, so ask what is pending. What the records can not count– the evaluations to come– remains in those documents.
• If a lien or a notification gets here, utilize the notification window. Request an itemised journal; much of a lien balance is typically costs contributed to a smaller sized financial obligation. Paying the evaluations before the due date in the notification of intent stops the match, and a disagreement put in composing before the due date is kept. Legal help workplaces and bar recommendation services deal with these cases.
• For policy: the levers the records point at are the costs and interest a lien might protect, the flooring listed below which an association might not foreclose, a right to a payment strategy before fit, and public reporting of what associations charge– the one number no index holds. This page is illegal guidance.

news Where this information originates from

• High court: Broward County Clerk– eCaseView — Broward County
• High court: Miami-Dade Clerk– civil, household & probate search — Miami-Dade County
• High court: Hillsborough County Clerk– HOVER — Hillsborough County
• Miami-Dade County high court: Miami-Dade Clerk Commercial Data Services Civil FTP feed(everyday civil tables+weekly insolvency dump )(8,025 association cases)
• Federal dockets and state appellate viewpoints: CourtListener (RECAP archive and bulk information, picture 2026-09-30)
• Broward liens: Official Records annual index exports, public SFTP, 1978-2025( 553,668 files)
• Miami-Dade liens: Miami-Dade Clerk Official Records public search API(per-association name questions), 1978-2026(225,403 files)– best-effort(partial): 53%name-match struck rate ; 59 mass filers truncated at the API’s 500-row cap
• Lien index browsed: Broward County Official Records
• Lien index browsed: Miami-Dade Clerk– Official Records
• Association lineup: FL DBPR condominium extracts (27,955 records )
• . Business standing: Sunbiz quarterly non-profit extract( SFTP) (210,713 records)
• Internal revenue service lineup: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File (285 records)
• Not gathered: Palm Beach County lien index– membership$600/yr
• Not gathered: DBPR arbitration last orders– search kind broken; released indexes stop ~ 2008
• Fees: Redfin, August 2024 — average month-to-month HOA costs in the 3 months to July 2024, versus a year previously; not HOA Spy information.
• Apartment worths: Mortgage Professional America, January 2026mentioning real estate expert Nick Gerli; not HOA Spy information.
• The law: area 553.899, Florida Statutes (turning point examinations) and area 718.112( 2 )(g), Florida Statutes (structural stability reserves), area 720.3085, Florida Statutes and area 718.116, Florida Statutes (evaluation liens and foreclosure).

Foreclosure cases are the dockets whose nature of match is a foreclosure, in the courts HOA Spy indexes; the association’s side is the function the court taped, else the caption. Business standing is the state computer registry’s as last inspected. A neighborhood outside the indexed courts can have records this page does not count; names are matched conservatively, so an uncertain match is neglected instead of thought. Sources & & approach.

news Concerns individuals ask

Are HOAs making Florida’s real estate crisis even worse?

The records reveal them contributing to it in manner ins which can be counted: 10,296 foreclosure matches brought by associations versus their own members, 460,412 liens tape-recorded versus homes, 48,999 court records spent for out of fees, and 6,661 associations whose corporation has actually lapsed. The fees and unique evaluations, which no public index records, come.

Can a Florida HOA actually foreclose on a home over overdue charges?

Yes. The association’s lien for evaluations can be foreclosed like a home loan after the statutory notification, and 2,695 Florida associations have actually done it a minimum of as soon as. Florida’s homestead defense does not disallow an evaluation lien.

Just how much have Florida HOA charges increased?

HOA Spy does not gather charges. Redfin reported in August 2024 that mean regular monthly HOA charges in the 3 months to July 2024, versus a year previously, increased Tampa 17.2%, Orlando 16.7%, Fort Lauderdale 16.2% (source.

Why are Florida apartment evaluations increasing?

After the Surfside collapse, Senate Bill 4-D (2022) needed turning point structural evaluations of older structures and totally moneyed structural reserves that owners can no longer waive; the repair work and the reserves are paid by the owners through fees and unique evaluations. The statutes are connected in the sources above.

Which Florida associations have the most court records?

GRANDE OASIS AT CARROLLWOOD CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC. (137 ); PALMERA POINTE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC. (135 ); PLACE ONE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC. (132 ). Each links to its report, with every case and its court record.

Is Florida the worst state for HOA foreclosures?

Florida ranks 1st of the states on HOA Spy for foreclosure matches brought by associations, with 10,296 of 14,168. The count depends upon which courts are indexed in each state in addition to on the associations, so it is a count of records, not a rate.

How do I examine a Florida neighborhood before I purchase?

Browse it by name on HOA Spy: its report lists every lien, lis pendens and lawsuit on file with a link to the authorities record, its business standing, and which sources were examined. The Florida statewide page has every number by county and by year.