Florida community association management firms: licensing and duties

Who needs a CAM or firm license under Chapter 468, the duties the statute sets, conflict-of-interest rules and the 20-day records return.

Florida regulates community association management more tightly than most states. It licenses both the individual manager (the CAM) and the company that employs managers, and it writes specific duties into the statute. If your condominium or homeowners' association is choosing or reviewing a management company, these are the rules that apply, all from Part VIII of Chapter 468 of the Florida Statutes.

What counts as community association management

Florida defines community association management as a list of practices "requiring substantial specialized knowledge, judgment, and managerial skill" done for pay, when the association or associations served "contain more than 10 units or have an annual budget or budgets in excess of $100,000" (s. 468.431(2)). The list is long: controlling or disbursing association funds, preparing budgets, helping with meeting notices and conduct, calculating quorum and votes, collecting amounts due before a lawsuit, preparing estoppel certificates, negotiating contract terms for the board's approval, and coordinating maintenance, among others.

A "community association" includes condominiums, cooperatives, homeowners' associations, townhouse and villa communities and mobile home communities whose fees can become a lien. Clerical staff working under a licensed manager's direct supervision, and staff who only do maintenance, don't need a license.

Two licenses: the manager and the firm

Under s. 468.432:

• No person may manage, or hold themselves out as able to manage, a community association in Florida without a community association manager license.
• A firm "responsible for the management of more than 10 units or a budget of $100,000 or greater" may not engage in community association management unless it holds a community association management firm license. It must be registered to do business in Florida and designate a licensed manager to answer the Department's inquiries.
• If the firm has no individual licensed manager with an active license, the firm's license "is canceled automatically during that time".
• Firm licenses expire on September 30 of odd-numbered years and renew every two years.

This directory lists Florida-based firms whose firm license (DBPR class CAB) is current in the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's weekly license extract. Individual managers are licensed separately; ask which licensed CAM will be assigned to your community and look up that person too on DBPR's license search.

Duties the statute puts on the manager and firm

Section 468.4334 sets professional practice standards. The manager and firm act as the association's agent, must discharge their duties "loyally, skillfully, and diligently; dealing honestly and fairly; in good faith; with care and full disclosure", account for all funds, and not charge unreasonable or excessive fees. A management contract cannot waive or limit those standards, and it must contain a statement that the manager will abide by the Part VIII professional standards and record-keeping requirements.

The same section requires a manager or firm under contract to:

• attend in person at least one member or board meeting a year;
• give members the name and contact information of each manager or firm representative assigned to the community, their hours of availability and a summary of their duties, and update it within 14 business days of a change;
• give any member, on request, a copy of the management contract, and include it in the official records;
• return all official records within 20 business days after the contract ends or after a written request for them, whichever comes first.

Where the association is subject to Florida's milestone inspection or structural integrity reserve study requirements, the manager must comply with them as the board directs.

Conflicts of interest

Section 468.4335 requires a manager or firm, its directors, officers and owners, and their relatives, to disclose to the board any activity that may reasonably be construed as a conflict of interest. A conflict is presumed if, without prior notice, the firm or its insiders propose or enter into a contract with the association for something other than management services, or hold an interest in or receive compensation (including referral fees) from a business that works for the association. If the association considers a bid over $2,500 for goods or services that is or may be a conflict, it must solicit multiple bids from other providers.

In practice: ask every candidate firm, in writing, whether it or its owners own or receive anything from maintenance, insurance, landscaping, collection or other vendors it would recommend.

The "care-of" figure on our listings

Florida condominium associations file with DBPR's Division of Florida Condominiums, and many of those filings give the association's mailing address "c/o" their management firm. Where the care-of name matches exactly one firm's licensed name or DBA, we show how many condominium associations name the firm that way and how many units they represent. It is a floor, not a client list: it covers condominiums only (not HOAs or cooperatives), relies on how each association filed its address, and misses filings that spell the firm differently. We never show a zero.

Checking a Florida firm

1. Search the firm's name or CAB number on DBPR's license search and confirm it is current.
2. Get the names of the CAMs who will work on your account and check each license.
3. Ask for proof of the firm's insurance, including crime or fidelity coverage for association funds, and check how association money will be held.
4. Read the contract for the statutory statement, the term and termination notice, and the records-return clause.
5. Get the conflict disclosures in writing.

DBPR's community association managers page has the licensing rules and complaint forms.

Updated 2026-10-16.

General information only, current as of the date above. The information on HOA Manager Check is not a recommendation or a guarantee of anyone's work. A license record shows registration status on the date shown, not workmanship, insurance coverage at the time of your job, or suitability for your project. Confirm license, insurance and permits directly before you hire. Rules and programs change; check the official sources linked in this guide.