Know Your Rights

You can make a written request to inspect or copy official Association records. Florida law generally requires access within 10 business days, and official records generally must be kept for at least 7 years. Some records may be protected or exempt from owner inspection.

If you question what the HOA says you owe, you can make a written request for a detailed accounting of the amounts tied to your property. Florida law gives the Board 15 business days to provide it. Pineloch's online ledger is designed to make that information easier to review before a formal request is even necessary.

Most Board meetings must be open to homeowners and properly noticed. Florida law contains limited exceptions, including certain attorney-client and personnel matters, so not every closed discussion is automatically improper.

The Board can propose a fine, but it cannot simply post the fine to your account and call the process finished. You must receive at least 14 days' written notice of your right to a hearing, and an independent committee must confirm or reject the proposed fine. If the violation is cured as allowed by the statutory notice process, the fine may not be imposed.

Pineloch's current quarterly assessment is $125 per home. The former South West $132 figure is not treated by the current Association as an approved assessment. Any future change must follow Pineloch's governing documents and the applicable Florida voting and notice rules.

If the board isn't doing their job, homeowners can vote to remove them. You need a majority of ALL homeowners (not just those at a meeting) to sign a recall petition. This is exactly what happened at Pineloch — the DBPR confirmed the recall was valid on April 6, 2026.

An ARC decision has to come from actual authority in the Declaration or authorized published standards, not an invented preference. If a request is denied, the owner should receive a written explanation identifying the specific rule or covenant and what part of the proposal does not comply. Florida's current statute does not create a blanket 30-day automatic-approval rule for every HOA ARC request.

The board must create a yearly budget and make it available to every homeowner for free. You have the right to see exactly how your dues money is being spent. No hidden fees, no secret accounts.

Collection has required notice steps. Florida law includes a late-assessment notice before attorney fees may be demanded for the delinquency and a separate 45-day notice process before recording a claim of lien. A foreclosure action has additional notice requirements.

Many covenant, property-use, meeting, and records disputes require a presuit mediation demand before court. But not every HOA case does: assessment and fine collection disputes are excluded, and election or recall disputes follow different procedures.

As of 2024, every board member must complete 4 hours of training each year. If a board member is charged with stealing HOA money, they're automatically removed. This law was passed to protect homeowners from bad board members.