In Florida, your HOA generally cannot fine you for holiday decorations or lights unless the restriction already existed in the governing documents and the association first gives you written notice and at least one week to take them down (Fla. Stat. §720.305, as amended by HB 1203, effective July 1, 2024). A surprise fine for holiday lights, with no warning and no time to remove them, does not hold up.
What changed in 2024
Before HB 1203, some boards fined owners the moment holiday decorations went up too early or came down too late. The 2024 reforms curbed that. Now, even where a valid rule exists, the association has to give you a fair chance to comply before it can fine you.
The rule
Under the HB 1203 amendments to Chapter 720, an association may not fine an owner for holiday decorations or lighting unless:
- The restriction is actually contained in the association's governing documents, and
- The association first provides written notice and at least one week (7 days) to remove the decorations.
The warning-and-cure step is mandatory. The board cannot skip straight to a fine. If you take the decorations down within the week after a proper written notice, no fine may be imposed.
How to tell if the board followed the rule
Ask:
- Do your governing documents actually restrict holiday decorations? If there is no such rule, there is nothing to fine you for.
- Did the board give you written notice before fining you?
- Were you given at least one week to remove the decorations?
- Did you remove them within that week? If so, no fine is allowed.
If the board fined you with no warning, gave you less than a week, or has no decoration rule in its documents at all, the fine is improper.
And the fine process still applies
Even where a holiday-decoration rule is valid and you ignored the one-week notice, the association still has to follow the normal fine procedure: at least 14 days' written notice of a hearing before an independent three-member committee that must approve the fine (Fla. Stat. §720.305(2)). A fine under $1,000 can never become a lien. See how to fight an HOA fine.
What to do
Step 1: Check your documents. Confirm whether a holiday-decoration restriction even exists. Pull them with the records request letter.
Step 2: Dispute in writing. If you got no warning or no one-week cure period, say so in writing and cite the HB 1203 amendments to Fla. Stat. §720.305. Use the fine dispute letter.
Step 3: Escalate if needed. A holiday-lights fine dispute follows the normal ladder: written dispute, then pre-suit mediation (Fla. Stat. §720.311), then small claims court. DBPR does not handle this kind of dispute. See who regulates HOAs in Florida.
What you can do next
- Confirm whether a decoration rule exists and how you were noticed, with the records request letter.
- Send the fine dispute letter if you got no written warning or no one-week cure period.
- If unresolved, escalate to pre-suit mediation, then small claims court.