Florida HOA Rental Restriction Grandfathering Law

Section 720.306 governs amendments to homeowners' association governing documents in Florida, and paragraph (1)(h) protects owners from having new rental restrictions sprung on them after purchase. Subparagraph 1 states the rule: a governing document or amendment enacted after July 1, 2021 that prohibits or regulates rental agreements applies only to a parcel owner who acquires title after its effective date, or to an owner who consents individually or through a representative. An owner who bought earlier and never agreed keeps the rental rights in place at purchase.

Subparagraph 2 carves out two exceptions that override that protection: an association may adopt rules banning rentals for a term under six months, or capping rentals at three per calendar year, and those bind every owner regardless of purchase date or consent. Subparagraph 3 exempts associations of 15 or fewer parcels, which instead follow the separate small-association amendment rules under section 720.303(1).

Grandfathered status survives conveying the parcel to an affiliated entity, a transfer where beneficial ownership does not change, or inheritance by an heir, none of which count as a change of ownership under subparagraph 4; the entity must certify this and supply supporting organizational documents on request. Under subparagraph 5, though, if every interest holder in a business-entity owner conveys to an unaffiliated party, that is a change of ownership and the grandfathering ends.

Adopting these rental rules takes a two-thirds vote of the association's voting interests under section 720.306(1)(b), unless the governing documents set a different threshold. The amendment takes effect only once recorded in the county's public records, and the association must send copies to every member within 30 days of that recording.

An association that enforces a post-2021 rental ban or rule against an owner who purchased earlier and never consented oversteps its authority under 720.306(1)(h), unless the short-term or three-rentals-a-year carve-out applies. That owner can challenge the restriction as unenforceable against them specifically, through the mandatory pre-suit dispute process for homeowners' association disputes or in circuit court. An amendment adopted without the required two-thirds vote, or never recorded in the county's public records, never took legal effect at all.