It’s official. HB 7119, a bill that gives the state more oversight over planned communities, went into effect on Monday. The impetus of the bill arose from the problems many of these communities encountered as a result of the housing downturn that resulted in high foreclosure rates and developer bankruptcies.
A list of the major provisions was provided by the board of Florida Realtors as detailed below:

• All Florida Homeowners Associations (HOAs) must register with the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) by Nov. 22, 2013. When registering, they must include their a) name, b) federal ID number, c) mailing and location addresses, d) total number of parcels, and e) total revenue and expenses in annual budget.

• HOA directors must disclose any affiliation they have with a vendor, and approval of those contracts requires a two-thirds vote of the directors. It also gives HOA members the right to disaffirm one of these contracts at a future members’ meeting with a simple majority vote.

• HOA directors cannot personally receive goods or services from any providers working with the association.

• Once a developer sells 50 percent of the parcels, the association must add one non-developer HOA member to its Board of Directors.

• Prohibits a community’s developer from making a unilateral amendment to the declaration governing an association if that amendment is arbitrary, capricious or in bad faith; or if it destroys the general plan of development, prejudices the rights of members to use common property, or materially shifts economic burdens from the developer to members.