Hearing

Florida Statutes 720.305(2)(b) builds the hearing committee by exclusion. It must have "at least three members appointed by the board who are not officers, directors, or employees of the association, or the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of an officer, director, or employee."

• May sit: members the board appoints who hold none of the excluded roles, at least three of them.
• May not sit: an officer, director or employee of the association.
• May not sit: the spouse, parent, child, brother or sister of an officer, director or employee.

The board chooses the panel, and the statute then keeps the board's own people and their close family off it. Read together, the two halves of the sentence separate the people who levy a fine from the people who confirm it.

Condominiums have a parallel committee under Florida Statutes 718.303(3)(b), and the two rules line up closely where the panel is concerned.

Which of the two committees applies depends on which chapter governs the association, and the homeowners' association statute has its own entry under Chapter 720.

The hearing is announced in the notice, which must carry "the hearing date, location, and access information if held by telephone or other electronic means." The statute adds a right on the owner's side: "A parcel owner has the right to attend a hearing by telephone or other electronic means."

That notice goes to the owner's designated mailing or e-mail address in the association's official records at least 14 days before any fine or suspension, and the hearing must follow no more than 90 days after it. The committee itself may also hold the hearing by telephone or other electronic means. What else the notice must say is set out under violation notice.

Florida Statutes 720.305(2)(c) keeps the committee narrow: "The role of the committee is limited to determining whether to confirm or reject the fine or suspension levied by the board." If a majority does not approve, the proposed fine or suspension may not be imposed.

No later than 7 days after the hearing, the committee sends the owner written findings: any fines or suspensions it approved or rejected, and how the owner may cure the violation, if applicable, or the date by which a fine must be paid.

The order of events from the notice to that payment date is walked through under how to respond to an HOA roof cleaning notice, and whether a violation cured before the hearing changes the outcome is taken up under whether exterior cleaning can help with an HOA fine. Questions about a particular hearing go to the association, or to an attorney.