adopted by the Department of Business and Professional regulation.
The association must certify to the DBPr each year that each director has met their educational requirements and the DBPr has the power to investigate compliance by directors with all educational requirements. Should a director choose not to complete their required education courses or submit their certificate of completion, then that director is temporarily suspended from the board until they meet their legal obligations.
Homeowners Associations
Florida Statute s. 720.3033( 1) sets out homeowner association educational requirements for directors and these requirements have been further clarified by the DBPr. one of the major differences between the requirements for homeowner associations and condominiums is there is no requirement for the homeowner association board member certification course to be four hours long.
However, it must address specific topics including financial literacy and transparency, recordkeeping, levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements. Another important difference is there is no longer a requirement for a director to submit a written certification that they have read the governing documents of the association and will uphold the association’ s policies. Instead, all board members in a homeowners association must complete a board member certification course. This course must be completed every four years and the certificates from the course must be submitted to the Association. There is no submission to the DBPr.
The DBPr indicates that for board members who were elected or appointed prior to July 1, 2024, then the board member certification program must be completed within four years of their election or appointment to the board, as long as the director serves without interruption during the fouryear period. Board members who are elected on or after July 1, 2024, must complete their board member certification program within 90 days of election or appointment.
Notably for homeowner association directors is a requirement to complete either four or eight hours of continuing education annually, depending on the number of parcels in their association. A director of an association that has fewer than 2,500 parcels must complete at least four hours of continuing education annually. A director of an association that has 2,500 parcels or more must complete at least eight hours of continuing education annually. The DBPr indicates that these hours must be completed each year between July 1st and June 30th by all directors, regardless of when they were elected or appointed, and that Board members may count their completion of their 4- hour board certification requirement once every four years. like condominium associations, if the director fails to comply with the educational requirements, the director is temporarily suspended from the board until compliance occurs.
Cooperative Associations
Finally, Florida has basic educational requirements for cooperative directors in s. 719.106( 1)( d), Florida Statutes. Directors can either sign a written acknowledgement they have read the governing documents and will uphold the association’ s policies, or they can take a board member certification course within 90 days of being elected or appointed or within one year before. There is no requirement that cooperative board member education be a four-hour course and there is no continuing education requirement. The course certificate is valid and does not have to be resubmitted as long as the board member serves without interruption. once again, if the director fails to comply with the educational requirements, the director is temporarily suspended from the board until compliance occurs.
Conclusion
Florida is leading the way forward nationally when it comes to board member education for community association directors. The industry has pushed education even further forward by having a host of cutting-edge courses for board members available on all the various issues they will face as directors. Finally, associations must also remember that all directors’ educational certificates and written acknowledgements are official records of the association that are open to the members, and they must be posted on the website for associations that must comply with website requirements.
WWW. CAIWeSTFlorIDA. org community • March 2026
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