HB 657 Is Going to Hurt HOA Members. Representative Porras, Let’s Talk About It.
- Eric M. Glazer
- Feb 23
- 2 min read
Representative Juan Porras has introduced HB 657, a bill that would effectively dismantle decades of alternative dispute resolution policy for Florida HOAs.
That is not a small tweak. That is a major shift.
For context, prior to 2004, HOA owners were routinely dragged into court over minor disputes. Because Chapter 720 awards attorney’s fees to the prevailing party, the moment an owner was sued, they were staring at thousands of dollars in legal exposure. It was lopsided. Associations had assessment power. Owners had personal checkbooks.
So the Legislature stepped in.
Florida Statute 720.311 was enacted with clear intent, reduce court dockets, reduce legal fees, and require mediation before litigation. In 2007, the process was strengthened to require presuit letters and structured mediator selection. The goal was simple, resolve disputes early and cheaply.
The Condominium Act contains similar findings. The Legislature explicitly recognized that owners are financially disadvantaged in litigation against their associations and that mediation and arbitration reduce delay and attorney fees.
This was not accidental policy. It was deliberate consumer protection.
Representative Porras, you are now proposing to undo that structure.
So here are the questions.
What problem are you solving?
Is there data showing mediation is failing HOA owners?
Is there a study showing owners prefer immediate litigation over mediation?
Are you aware that most presuit mediations resolve without a lawsuit being filed?
If mediation is working in the majority of cases, why eliminate it?
Under HB 657, owners will be pushed straight into court. They will need to hire lawyers. They will fund both sides of the fight through assessments. Attorney’s fees exposure will once again become the pressure point.
Is that the intent?
You are also proposing a specialized court track for HOA disputes. Have you evaluated how many of these cases will be filed annually?
Have you spoken to judges about whether one assigned division can realistically absorb that volume?
Because anyone who has practiced law knows what happens when dockets get overloaded.
Cases stall.
Costs increase.
And guess what judges routinely order when parties show up in court?
Mediation.
So respectfully, Representative Porras, why are we dismantling a structured, cost-controlled mediation system that has protected HOA owners for decades, only to replace it with a process that increases litigation, increases attorney involvement, and increases financial risk for homeowners?
If there is compelling evidence that thirty years of legislative policy has failed, present it.
Show the data.
Show the harm.
Show why forcing owners into court is better than resolving disputes before a lawsuit is filed.
Because absent that proof, this bill does not look like reform. It looks like a rollback of consumer protections that were put in place specifically to shield homeowners from crushing legal costs.
HOA owners do not need more litigation.
They do not need more attorney’s fees exposure.
They do not need crowded courtrooms and delayed resolutions.
They need affordable dispute resolution.
HB 657 moves in the wrong direction.
Representative Porras, reconsider this proposal and withdraw it before Florida homeowners are the ones who pay the price.
So disappearing of an HOA because the majority actually wants it is bad? The roads and other infrastructure ill be maintained by the city/county for which the owners already pay taxes. the only question will be recreational facilities like pools, the cities won't t be willing to pay for that.
Civilized countries do not have mandatory HOAs, a corporate rule was already seen by Mussolini as fascism.
But it's very simple why all association lawyers are foaming and lobbying against it- less HOAs, less lucrative business.
And BTW there will be rules, the city rules , often strict. But no abuses, no terror, no corruption, no skyrocketing fees for little to nothing.
The teaser for this article said
Your HOA disappears overnight.
No board.
No violations.
No rules.
But also…
No one maintaining the roads.
No one managing stormwater systems.
No one insuring the shared property.
Why do you write as if all HOA's are gated communities? The county maintains the roads & sidewalks in my HOA. The county maintains the stormwater system.
When I bought into this HOA dues cost $25 a month. 4 years later they are close to $200 a month. Why? Our President hears from a single homeowner "We need to have a heater & chiller for our pool." $45,000 later we have one installed. Someone said "Everyone wants a full size basketball court.…
With all due respect, the mandatory mediation was one of the many bad "improvements" of the statute.
How does it work in reality.
The poor homeowner is summoned to the mandatory mediation for which he has to PAY. At the mediation, the board president shows up with his legal team - in 90% of all cases consisting out of the most unethical and unscrupulous attorneys - and they all together try to bully the homeowner into submission. Either the homeowner surrenders or the lawsuit follows anyway.
Mediation would only make some sense if it were conducted by an impartial mediator WITHOUT attorney presence in a neutral location.
But much better would be if the legislature clipped the wings of the…