MANDATORY WEBSITES?

An Opinion By Jan Bergemann

Published February 24, 2026

We have been talking about Mandatory Websites (NO MORE RECORD INSPECTION REQUESTS?) before, but we just see happening what most owners were afraid of: Another statute created by the Florida Legislature many associations plainly ignore. I’m getting lots of e-mails from owners asking me what to do since their associations have no websites as required by law or the websites they published are totally incomplete, with most of the required documents "missing".

For condo owners the next step should be easy: File a complaint with the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes. This department has jurisdiction, and the Legislature gave them lots of money to seriously improve their services, especially by finally trying to enforce the laws. But disappointment as usual: The Division comes up with stupid excuses, asking owners to give these associations more time. In one case the financials were totally missing. Division’s response: “Give them more time. The association said they are working on it!”

Don’t forget: The Legislature gave associations ample time to have these websites ready to be published on January 1, 2026 – or even earlier if applicable. But many associations, knowing full well that the Division is a toothless tiger, are just ignoring these requirements to maintain a website with all the necessary documents.

The Florida Legislature made it a BIG HOOPLA when passing the bill requiring associations to maintain such websites. Their claim: “It saves time, money and resources to publish these websites because it will stop all these time-consuming record requests in the future.”

Like usual: It all sounds great in theory, but daily life tells a total different story!

It just changes the reasons for future litigation between associations, management and owners. In the past it was “failure to allow record inspections”, now it will be “failure to maintain the website containing all these records”.

NOTHING HAS REALLY CHANGED!