Florida Condo Portal Law 2026: What South FL Buyers Must Check

Florida changed the rules on how condo associations have to share information with owners — and as of January 1, 2026, every condominium association with 25 or more units is required to operate a secure, password-protected website or member portal containing the association's key records. For buyers in Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Aventura, Sunny Isles, and the rest of South Florida, this is one of the most useful due-diligence tools we have ever had.

At Sell It Realty, we are now using these portals as a standard part of every condo offer we write. If you are even thinking about buying a unit this year, here is exactly what to look for, what is normal, and what should make you walk.

What changed in 2026

Florida Statute 718.111(12)(g), as amended by House Bill 913, requires every condominium association of 25+ units to maintain a secure digital portal accessible to unit owners. The portal must include the official records the association is required to keep — not summaries, the actual documents.

This is a continuation of the post-Surfside transparency push. Lawmakers decided that owners and prospective buyers should not have to file written records requests and wait days for documents that an association already has on a server somewhere.

What must be on the portal

At a minimum, every compliant South Florida condo portal should contain:

• The declaration of condominium, articles of incorporation, and bylaws
• The current annual budget and the most recent year-end financial report
• Meeting notices, agendas, and at least 12 months of meeting minutes
• All active contracts the association is a party to
• Active vendor bids
• The most recent Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS)
• Milestone inspection reports (for buildings 3+ stories that have hit the trigger age)
• Insurance certificates and policy summaries

✅ Pro tip: Ask your agent to request the seller's owner login the day your offer goes under contract. You usually have a short condo-doc review window after acceptance — do not waste it waiting for PDFs to be emailed one at a time.

The South Florida buyer's portal checklist

Here is the checklist I walk every Hollywood and Hallandale condo buyer through before we release the inspection contingency.

1. Is there a current SIRS — and what does it actually say?

The Structural Integrity Reserve Study is the most important document in any South Florida condo file right now. It tells you what the building's major components are, how much life is left in each one, and how much money the association should be setting aside.

When you open the SIRS, look at three things:

• The funded percentage. A reserve fund that is 5%–15% funded against the recommended balance is a red flag in 2026. After the new reserve funding rules, buildings that are still that far behind are very likely heading toward a special assessment.
• Major components flagged as "poor" or "critical." Roof, structural concrete, electrical, plumbing, waterproofing — these are six-figure line items per unit when they hit.
• The recommended monthly reserve contribution vs. what is actually being collected. If they do not match, someone is going to write a check eventually.

If you want a deeper walk-through of what a 40-year recertification really involves, see our guide to the Miami condo milestone inspection.

2. Pull the last 12 months of meeting minutes

The minutes will tell you the truth that the listing sheet will not. You are looking for:

• Discussions of pending or proposed special assessments
• Lawsuits — naming the association as either plaintiff or defendant
• Insurance non-renewals or large premium jumps
• Owner complaints about leaks, mold, or recurring concrete repairs
• Board turnover or treasurer resignations within the last year

⚠️ Warning: If the minutes are missing, sparse, or only show "executive session" entries with no detail, that is itself a signal. Compliant boards in 2026 are documenting everything because they have to.

3. Read the budget — line by line

At minimum, confirm:

• Reserves are being funded, not waived. Florida ended the practice of waiving reserves for the components covered by the SIRS.
• Insurance is a realistic number. South Florida master policies have moved sharply over the last three years. If the line item looks suspiciously low, the renewal hit is coming.
• The association is not running a deficit. Two consecutive years of operating losses usually means an assessment, a dues hike, or both.

4. Check active contracts and vendor bids

This is the section most buyers skip. It is also where you find out the association just signed a $4 million concrete restoration contract that has not been assessed yet. Active vendor bids tell you what is coming next.

5. Confirm the milestone inspection status

For any building 3 stories or taller that is at the trigger age (generally 25 years within 3 miles of the coast, 30 years elsewhere), the milestone inspection should be on the portal. "Phase 1 complete, Phase 2 pending" is normal. "Phase 2 complete with required repairs" means you need to know how those repairs are being funded.

What if the portal is missing or incomplete?

Not every association is fully compliant yet. If you are buying into a building where:

• There is no portal at all
• The portal exists but key documents are missing
• The board cannot produce a current SIRS

…that is not an automatic deal-killer, but it is a negotiation point. We have used non-compliance to:

• Extend the condo-doc review period
• Get a price reduction
• Walk away cleanly under the condo-rider review right

Florida law gives buyers a window to cancel after receiving condo documents. If the documents are not delivered or are incomplete, that window does not start ticking against you the way the seller might want it to. This is one of those moments where having a broker who reads these files for a living matters — please consult a licensed Florida real estate attorney for the specifics of your contract.

How this looks in Hollywood, Hallandale, and Aventura specifically

Hollywood, FL

A lot of Hollywood inventory east of US-1 is in mid-rise oceanfront and intracoastal buildings that hit milestone age years ago. Many of these associations are deep into Phase 2 repairs right now. The portal should make it obvious whether the building is post-assessment (relatively safe) or pre-assessment (you are walking into a bill).

Hallandale Beach

Hallandale's high-rise condo market has a wide spread — newer buildings on the intracoastal vs. older buildings on the beach side. Median home prices in Hallandale have moved into the low-$300s in mid-2026, and a portion of that softness is the market pricing in known reserve and insurance issues. The portal is how you tell the priced-in buildings from the not-yet-priced-in ones.

Aventura and Sunny Isles

Newer towers here are generally well-funded and well-documented, but the portal still matters — premium buildings often have premium master insurance bills and big-dollar contracts (valet, concierge, amenities) that show up in the budget. Read them before you commit.

If you are still deciding which neighborhood fits your goals, our pages on Hollywood, Aventura, and Cooper City break down the trade-offs.

What this means for sellers

If you own a South Florida condo and you are planning to list this year, do not wait for a buyer to find a missing document. Log into your owner portal yourself, confirm everything is there, and fix gaps with the manager before you go to market. Buyers in 2026 are reading these files — and so are their attorneys.

Thinking about selling? Request a home valuation and I will tell you exactly which documents your building still needs to post before we list.

Bottom line

The 2026 portal rule moved an enormous amount of information from "buyer has to ask" to "buyer can verify in 20 minutes." Use it. The buyers who do are getting fairer prices and avoiding seven-figure surprises. The buyers who do not are still finding out the hard way.

Call Adi directly at 305-409-1305 or request a home valuation and I will personally walk through any South Florida condo portal with you before you sign anything.