A buyer closes on a townhouse in Coral Springs, assumes the association handles the roof, and learns eighteen months later that the declaration puts it on the owner. Another buyer closes on a condo, assumes the dues cover everything outside the front door, and then gets a special assessment notice for a building-wide repair. Both bought into an association. Neither understood which kind.
The short answer is this. A condo owner holds title to a unit plus an undivided share of the common elements, and the association runs the building. An HOA owner holds title to a parcel, usually a house and lot, and the association governs the community and maintains the shared areas the documents assign to it. Everything else flows from that split: who repairs what, who insures what, what the dues cover, and what a buyer needs to check before closing.
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What Do You Actually Own in an HOA vs a Condo?
In an HOA community, you typically own the land under your house and the house itself, subject to recorded covenants. The association owns or controls the shared pieces, such as entry features, retention ponds, private roads or amenities, depending on how the community was built.
In a condominium, the deed gives you a unit and an undivided interest in the common elements. The boundary of your “unit” is defined in the declaration of condominium, and it is often not where you would guess. Depending on the declaration, the unit may stop at the interior face of the drywall, and things like balconies, exterior windows, or pipes inside the walls may belong to the common elements.
Here is the part that surprises people. Marketing language tells you almost nothing. A development can call itself a “community” or a “village” and still be a condominium, and a townhome project can be either one. What controls is the recorded paperwork: the declaration, the plat, your deed, and any amendments. Before you rely on a listing’s description, read those.
Which Florida Laws Apply to Each?
Condominiums fall under Chapter 718, the Florida Condominium Act. Homeowners’ associations fall under Chapter 720, the Florida Homeowners’ Association Act. Cooperatives, where you own shares in a corporation that owns the building rather than a deed to a unit, are governed by a separate statute, Chapter 719, and they are a third animal entirely. People lump all three together, and that causes real mistakes when someone looks up the wrong chapter to answer a dispute.
The statutes set the floor. The declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and adopted rules sit on top of that and often decide the actual outcome of a fight over a repair or a restriction. A lawyer reading a condo problem reads Chapter 718 and the declaration together, every time.
Who Maintains the Roof, the Walls, and the Plumbing?
This is where the two structures feel different day to day. In a condo, the association generally handles building-wide components such as the roof, structure, corridors, elevators, and common amenities, with the declaration drawing the line between what the association fixes and what the unit owner fixes. In an HOA, the owner usually maintains the home and lot, and the association maintains the common areas.
Usually is the operative word. Some HOA documents give the association responsibility for lawn care, exterior paint, or even roofs in townhome communities, and some condo declarations push surprising items onto the unit owner. Do not assume the association handles something because it is shared or because it sits near your home. Look at the document.
A practical example. Say you are buying a condo with a balcony. Ask, in writing, whether the balcony slab, the railing, and the sliding doors belong to you or to the association. In many buildings, the answer is split, and the split matters when the building needs concrete restoration.
How Does Insurance Differ?
The ownership structure drives what the association insures and what you must insure yourself. In a condo, the association typically carries a master policy on the building and common elements, and you carry your own policy for personal property, interior items the master policy does not cover, and liability. In an HOA, your homeowners policy usually covers your house and lot, while the association insures its common areas.
Do not assume the association’s policy covers your belongings, your interior finishes, or every kind of loss. The gap between what the master policy covers and what you must cover is where owners get hurt, and the exact line depends on the declaration and the policy itself. Ask the association for its insurance information and have an insurance professional compare it against your own coverage before you close.
Are Condo Fees and HOA Fees Comparable?
Not without looking at what each one pays for. A condo assessment usually funds building-wide expenses: the roof, elevators, structural repairs, insurance on the building, and reserves for those items. An HOA assessment more often funds landscaping, amenities, gates, roads, and common-area upkeep, while you separately budget for your own roof and exterior.
So a lower monthly number is not automatically cheaper. A $250 monthly HOA assessment on a house where you will personally replace the roof and AC can cost you more over ten years than a $600 condo assessment that covers the roof, building insurance, and water. The better question is not “are the fees worth it” but “what costs am I taking on separately, and what risks are priced into this number?”
Counterintuitively, a low assessment is sometimes a warning sign rather than a bargain. An association that keeps dues artificially low may be underfunding reserves, which tends to surface later as a special assessment. Look at the budget, the financial statements, the reserve information, the assessment history, and whether any special assessment is pending or proposed.
What Rules Can Each Association Enforce?
Both types can regulate use and appearance through the governing documents and the statutes. That includes leasing limits, pet restrictions, parking, renovations, occupancy, and amenity use. A condo association often has more say over alterations because your unit is physically part of a shared building. An HOA tends to focus on exterior appearance, landscaping, and use of the lot.
Check the leasing rules before you buy if you ever plan to rent the property out. Some communities cap rentals, impose minimum lease terms, or require approval, and those restrictions are enforceable against you if they are in the recorded documents. A verbal assurance from a listing agent does not change them.
Can You Refuse to Join an HOA?
If the property is subject to recorded covenants that require membership, membership is not optional. It runs with the land. Whether your particular parcel is bound turns on the recorded documents and title, not on whether neighbors say everyone pays. Confirm that during due diligence, before closing, by reviewing the declaration and the title commitment.
Can an HOA Take Your Home or Evict You Over Unpaid Dues?
Not by declaration, and “evict” is the wrong word. Eviction is a landlord-tenant process. When an owner stops paying assessments, the association’s tools are collection and lien remedies, and in some circumstances foreclosure of that lien. Florida law and the governing documents set the notices and steps that must be followed, and an owner has defenses and procedural rights along the way.
That said, nonpayment is not a harmless thing to ignore. A lien can attach to the property, fees and costs can pile on, and the matter can end up in court. If you have received a demand letter or a notice of intent to lien, deal with it early, because the options narrow as the case moves forward.
Can Residents Get Rid of an HOA?
Rarely, and not by one owner opting out. Whether an association can be dissolved or its structure changed depends on the recorded declaration and the applicable statutes, and amending or terminating a declaration usually requires a defined owner vote and compliance with formal procedures. If long-term association obligations worry you, find that out before you buy, not after.
Whether you are buying a home, dealing with a landlord dispute, or recovering from an injury, Eric Goldman can help. Serving clients throughout Florida.
What Should You Review Before Closing?
Ask for the declaration and all amendments, the articles, bylaws, rules, the current budget, recent financial statements, reserve information, meeting minutes, insurance information, and any notice of proposed or pending special assessments. Read the estoppel certificate carefully, since it reports what the association says you or the seller owes. Review the records of recent major repairs and any pending litigation involving the association.
Florida law gives owners rights concerning association records and meetings, but the details differ between Chapter 718 and Chapter 720, so check the specific chapter for the type of association you are buying into. Recent amendments to the condominium laws have also affected inspection, reserve, and financial requirements for condo associations, which is one more reason to confirm the current statutory text rather than rely on what a seller or agent remembers.
This review is the single most valuable thing you can do before signing, and it is the step buyers skip most often because the closing date is looming and the title company says everything looks fine. Florida does not require a lawyer at closing. But a buyer who skips legal review of the association documents is the buyer most likely to find the problem afterward, when it is expensive.
If you are weighing a purchase in a South Florida condo or HOA community, or you have received an assessment demand or lien notice, call the Law Offices of Eric J. Goldman, P.A. at (954) 536-7557 before you sign or respond.
