The percentage is the easy part. The denominator is where communities lose years.
✓ Condo: one-third of the board at 15% ownership
✓ HOA: one director at 50%, majority at 90%
✓ Bulk sales and foreclosures usually count
✓ Condos have a 7-year backstop. HOAs have none.
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Turnover trigger analysis for Florida boards
Communities lose years to this arithmetic, and almost never because anyone miscounted the sales. They lose them because the denominator was never checked against the recorded plat and phase amendments — the one number a developer genuinely controls.
Ledgerly builds the count from county records, phase by phase, so a board knows where it stands and when the entitlement arrives rather than being told.
What "conveyed" actually means
Title transferred. A deed recorded, a closed sale, to someone other than the developer. Not under contract, not reserved, not built-and-listed. A house closing next month does not count until it closes.
For homeowners' associations there is one express exclusion worth knowing: s. 720.307 provides that "members other than the developer" does not include builders, contractors or others who purchase a parcel for the purpose of constructing improvements on it for resale. A production builder buying twenty lots does not move you twenty parcels closer to turnover.
The denominator is the whole fight
The numerator is a count of closed sales. The denominator is defined by the governing documents, and that is what a developer controls.
Chapter 720 measures against "the parcels in all phases of the community that will ultimately be operated by the association" — every parcel the community will contain under the declaration and plat, including phases that have not broken ground. Chapter 718 uses "the units that will be operated ultimately by the association," which in a multi-condominium association reaches every condominium the association will eventually operate, not only those already created.
So a developer that platted 1,000 homes across six phases, built 450 and sold 400 is at 40%, not 89%, however close to sold out the sales office looks. Add a seventh phase and the denominator moves again.
Condominiums: the seven triggers
Section 718.301(1). Control passes upon the first to occur of any of these.
| ¶ | Trigger |
|---|---|
| (a) | Three years after 50% of the units that will ultimately be operated by the association have been conveyed to purchasers |
| (b) | Three months after 90% have been conveyed |
| (c) | All such units are complete, some conveyed, and none of the others are being offered for sale by the developer in the ordinary course of business |
| (d) | Some conveyed, and none of the others are being constructed or offered for sale in the ordinary course |
| (e) | The developer files a petition seeking protection in bankruptcy (any chapter) |
| (f) | A receiver is appointed and not discharged within 30 days, unless the court determines within 30 days that transfer would be detrimental to the association or its members |
| (g) | Seven years after the earlier of the recording of the surveyor and mapper certificate under s. 718.104(4)(e), or the recording of an instrument transferring title to a unit unaccompanied by a recorded assignment of developer rights |
Since July 1, 2025, paragraphs (a), (c), (d) and (g) do not apply to nonresidential condominiums of ten or fewer units. Those associations turn over only under (b), (e) or (f).
The seven-year clock does not run from the declaration
It runs from the surveyor and mapper certificate, or the first transfer deed not accompanied by an assignment of developer rights, whichever came first. The declaration-recordation formulation is the pre-2008 rule. It survives in Division Rule 61B-23.003(9), which was never conformed to the amended statute, and it is republished constantly. The statute controls.
For an association that will operate more than one condominium, the seven years run from those dates for the first condominium it operates. That is the provision that stops an association from being held indefinitely by adding condominiums.
Homeowners' associations: the six triggers
| ¶ | Trigger |
|---|---|
| (a) | Three months after 90% of the parcels in all phases have been conveyed to members other than the developer |
| (b) | Another percentage, date or event set in the governing documents to comply with a governmentally chartered mortgage-financing entity |
| (c) | The developer abandons or deserts its responsibility to maintain and complete the amenities or infrastructure disclosed in the governing documents — with a rebuttable presumption of abandonment after two years of unpaid assessments or guarantee amounts |
| (d) | The developer files a petition under Chapter 7 of the federal Bankruptcy Code |
| (e) | The developer loses title through foreclosure or deed in lieu, unless the successor accepted an assignment of developer rights and responsibilities |
| (f) | A receiver is appointed and not discharged within 30 days, subject to the same court-determination exception |
Chapter 7 only. A Chapter 11 reorganization filing does not trigger HOA turnover. Published summaries routinely flatten this to "bankruptcy," and the condominium provision genuinely is unqualified — which is probably where the error comes from.
Do bulk sales and foreclosures count?
For condominiums, yes, and this is frequently decisive. Division Rule 61B-23.003(7) provides that units sold or transferred in bulk by the current developer count toward the conveyance percentages unless the transfer is accompanied by an assignment of the developer's rights to the transferee. "Bulk transfer" means any sale or transfer of two or more units in one condominium to the same person, expressly including units conveyed through foreclosure or deed in lieu, voluntary or involuntary. And "assignment of developer rights" means a written agreement expressly transferring all developer rights and existing obligations under the declaration.
So a lender taking forty units at foreclosure starts the clock on those forty, unless there is a written instrument transferring all developer rights and obligations. Partial assignments do not qualify. Informal ones do not qualify.
The minority seat comes earlier, and it is bigger than most boards think
Condominiums: where non-developer owners own 15% or more of the units, they are entitled to elect at least one-third of the board. Not one director. On a five-member board that is two seats; on a seven-member board, three. Note also that this threshold is measured by ownership, while the majority triggers in (a) and (b) are measured by conveyance — different verbs, different counts.
For a multi-condominium association, the Division rule measures the one-third right condominium by condominium: 15% of the units in any one condominium the association will operate. The majority right is measured across all of them.
Homeowners' associations: one director once 50% of parcels in all phases are conveyed, with no waiting period attached.
Once you are entitled, the election has its own clock
For condominiums, s. 718.301(2) requires the association to call the election within 75 days after owners become entitled, giving not less than 60 days' notice. And then the sentence worth memorising: the notice may be given by any unit owner if the association fails to do so. A developer-controlled board that simply never calls the meeting can be routed around by one owner.
After the first non-developer director is elected, the developer must report that director's name and mailing address to the Division, and the Division rule sets ten business days for it.
The developer keeps a seat, for a while
Condominiums: the developer is entitled to elect at least one director as long as it holds for sale in the ordinary course at least 5% of the units, or 2% in condominiums with more than 500 units. HOAs: 5% of the parcels in all phases, with no size gradation. After relinquishing control, the developer may vote its remaining interests like any other member — except to reacquire control or to select a board majority.
Quick answers
Where do we find the denominator?
The declaration and the plat, plus every phase amendment. If a phase was added, there is a recorded amendment showing it. Pull them from the county clerk rather than asking the developer.
What if the developer disputes our count?
Your count comes from recorded deeds, which are public and dated. The developer's comes from a spreadsheet. Build the record early and in writing, and note that bulk and foreclosure transfers count for condominiums unless developer rights were expressly assigned.
Can the governing documents set an earlier trigger?
For HOAs, yes — s. 720.307(1)(b) recognizes another percentage, date or event set in the governing documents in order to comply with the requirements of a governmentally chartered mortgage-financing entity. It is a document-driven hook rather than a statutory backstop, so read the declaration.
Does an association in an old community or a DRI have to do any of this?
Section 720.307(5) excludes homeowners' associations already in existence on the effective date of the act that created the section, and associations in communities covered by an effective development-of-regional-impact order as of that date. If your community is old or sits inside a DRI, check this before assuming the section applies.
Where this fits
This page covers one stage of the handover. The full sequence, with the before-and-after board checklist, is on the pillar: Developer to owner control: the complete Florida transition guide for boards.
Related pages in this series
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