“‘Personal Vehicle’ Parking in HOA” – News-Press
Q: Is a motor home/RV considered a “personal vehicle” under the Florida Homeowners’ Association Act? Some motor homes require a commercial driver’s license. (A.K-K, via e-mail)
A: The basic issue you raise involves a series of recent amendments to Chapter 720 of the Florida Statutes, known as the Florida Homeowners’ Association Act. I will refer to this statute as “the Act.”
The Act was amended in 2023, and again in 2024, to add a new Section 720.3045. This new law states that regardless of any covenant or rule to the contrary, an association cannot restrict an owner from “storing any items” on a parcel which are not visible from the parcel’s frontage or an adjacent parcel, an adjacent common area, or a community golf course. Examples of such “items” specifically listed in the statute are artificial turf, boats, flags, vegetable gardens, clotheslines, and recreational vehicles.
The Act was also amended in 2024 to add a new Section 720.3075(3)(d). This law states that a declaration or covenants or other governing documents of a homeowners’ association may not preclude an owner, tenant or guest, from parking their “personal vehicle” in the driveway or other area where parking is not precluded by law.
The same statute goes on to provide that the governing documents may not prohibit an owner, tenant, or guest from parking a “work vehicle” in the driveway, regardless of any “official insignia or visible designation,” as long as the vehicle is not a “commercial vehicle” as defined in the relevant statute.
The retroactive application of these laws was addressed in my column dated April 20, 2025, entitled “New HOA Laws on Vehicle Parking Questioned.”
The “storage statute,” if found to be applicable to any individual community, specifically applies to recreational vehicles.
Whether a motor home/RV is considered a “commercial vehicle” would only be relevant if it was also somehow a “work vehicle.”
As to parking, the statute does not define what a “personal vehicle” is or is not. The courts are required to give words their plain and ordinary meaning. To me, a large “bus type” RV would not be something used as a “daily driver” and I would not consider it to be a “personal vehicle” within the meaning of the statute, but that is up to the courts to decide. Conversely, a “conversion van” that can be lived in but is also used as a primary means of transportation might be.
Q: Our homeowners’ association does not have a physical facility (clubhouse or pavilion) where we can hold board meetings.
We have been holding our HOA board meetings online, including a teleconference “dial-in” capability so community members can participate by telephone as well as from their personal computer or device. Instructions on how to participate are posted on our website.
If everyone (including the board members) attends remotely, there is no “physical location” of the meeting. Is this legal under the Florida Statutes? (S.M., via e-mail)
A: Section 720.303(2)(a) of the Florida Homeowners’ Association Act provides that meetings of the board must be “held at a location that is accessible to a physically handicapped person if requested by a physically handicapped person.” Members (owners) have the right to “attend” meetings of the board (except for meetings between the board and its attorney with respect to proposed or pending litigation where the contents of the discussion would otherwise be governed by the attorney-client privilege and board meetings regarding “personnel” matters).
Section 720.316(1)(a) of the statute states that in response to state of emergency situations, an HOA may “conduct board meetings…in whole or in part, by telephone, real-time video conferencing, or similar real-time electronic or video communication.”
The statute does not specifically address your issue, one way or the other. Some would argue that the exception in the statute for “remote only” board meetings to state of emergency situations limits them to those cases.
Section 617.0820(4) of the Florida Not For Profit Corporation Act states that unless the articles of incorporation or bylaws provide otherwise, “all directors” may participate in board meetings by remote technology, and that such directors are “deemed to be present in person at the meeting.” I would recommend that the board consult with association legal counsel and obtain a written opinion on the subject. I would call this an “open question” under current law.
Joe Adams is an attorney with Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., Fort Myers. Send questions to Joe Adams by e-mail to jadams@beckerlawyers.com. Past editions may be viewed at floridacondohoalawblog.com.
