Board members of Florida condominium and homeowners’ associations follow chapter 718 or chapter 720 closely. Fewer follow chapter 617. That is understandable and, as of July 1, 2026, a problem.
Most Florida community associations are incorporated as nonprofit corporations. Chapter 617 supplies the corporate machinery beneath the community association statute: how the entity acts, who may act for it, and what happens when a director’s judgment is questioned. On July 1, 2026, chapter 2026-168, Laws of Florida, comprehensively revised that chapter and renamed it the Florida Nonprofit Corporation Act.
How the Two Statutes Fit Together
Section 617.1703(1) states the rule directly. Chapter 617 applies to a corporation that is an association defined in and regulated by chapter 718, chapter 719, chapter 720, chapter 721, or chapter 723, except where its provisions conflict with those chapters or where those chapters provide otherwise. Where either exception applies, the community association chapter controls.
For a board, that means every governance question has two possible answers and an order of operations. Read chapter 718 or chapter 720 first. Where it is silent, chapter 617 fills the gap, and the gap filler was just rewritten.
The Carve-Out Boards Should Not Miss
Section 617.1703(2) provides that sections 617.0605 through 617.0608 do not apply to associations regulated by those chapters, or to any other corporation where membership is required pursuant to a document recorded in the county’s official records. Those four sections address transfer of membership interests, resignation of members, termination, expulsion, and suspension, and purchase of memberships.
The exclusion makes sense. Association membership runs with the parcel and cannot be resigned or transferred at will. The risk is a board or a manager reading the new chapter, finding attractive language about member discipline, and applying it. Those provisions are not available to associations, and discipline remains governed by the community association statute and the recorded documents.
A Definition Written Specifically for Associations
Section 617.0143 defines material interest as an actual or potential benefit or detriment, other than one devolving on the corporation or the members generally, that would reasonably be expected to impair the objectivity of a director’s judgment. For associations, the Legislature narrowed it. For a corporation regulated by chapter 718, 719, 720, 721, or 723, or where membership is required by a document recorded in the county property records, material interest is limited to familial, financial, professional, or employment interests.
That limitation is deliberate and useful. In a community where directors are neighbors, nearly every decision touches a director personally in some diffuse way. The statute confines the disqualifying interests to four identifiable categories rather than letting any personal stake become an argument for recusal or, later, an argument that a vote was tainted.
Officers Now Have a Statutory Standard
Section 617.0844 is new, and it reaches association officers through section 617.1703(1). It requires good faith, a reasonable belief that the officer is acting in the corporation’s best interests, and the care of an ordinary prudent person in a like position. It also requires an officer to report actual or probable material violations of law involving the corporation, or material breaches of duty to the corporation, up to a superior officer, the board, or a committee.
For a treasurer who suspects a problem with the association’s funds, or a secretary who learns records are not being maintained, silence is now measured against a statutory duty.
What Boards Should Do
Have counsel read the association’s articles and bylaws against both statutes, confirm that the conflict of interest procedure matches the new statutory terms, and make sure the board and the manager know which chapter answers which question. The analysis is not difficult, but it now runs through two statutes rather than one.
Haft Law Group advises Florida nonprofit corporations, including community associations, on governance, records, and disputes. Contact the firm to review your governing documents against the revised chapter 617.