Florida Senate - 2025 CS for SB 496
By the Committee on Regulated Industries; and Senator McClain
580-03182-25 2025496c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to timeshare management firms;
3 amending s. 468.4334, F.S.; conforming provisions to
4 changes made by the act; amending s. 468.4335, F.S.;
5 revising applicability for provisions governing
6 conflicts of interest between community association
7 managers or community association management firms and
8 certain persons with a financial interest in such
9 associations; amending s. 468.438, F.S.; providing
10 construction; amending s. 721.13, F.S.; deleting a
11 provision requiring managing entities that perform
12 community association management to comply with
13 certain provisions related to community association
14 management firms; requiring timeshare management firms
15 and individuals employed by timeshare management firms
16 to discharge their duties in good faith; exempting
17 such firms and individuals from liability for monetary
18 damages; requiring the board of administration of a
19 timeshare condominium to meet once per year; providing
20 an exception; requiring disclosure of certain
21 information annually to certain persons if a timeshare
22 management firm or an owners’ association provides
23 goods and services through arrangements with specified
24 entities; providing construction; reenacting s.
25 721.14(2), F.S., relating to discharge of a managing
26 entity, to incorporate the amendment made to s.
27 721.13, F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an
28 effective date.
29
30 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
31
32 Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 468.4334, Florida
33 Statutes, is amended to read:
34 468.4334 Professional practice standards; liability;
35 community association manager requirements; return of records
36 after termination of contract.—
37 (4) A community association manager or a community
38 association management firm shall return all community
39 association official records within its possession to the
40 community association within 20 business days after termination
41 of a contractual agreement to provide community association
42 management services to the community association or receipt of a
43 written request for return of the official records, whichever
44 occurs first. A notice of termination of a contractual agreement
45 to provide community association management services must be
46 sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, or in the
47 manner required under such contractual agreement. The community
48 association manager or community association management firm may
49 retain, for up to 20 business days, those records necessary to
50 complete an ending financial statement or report. If an
51 association fails to provide access to or retention of the
52 accounting records to prepare an ending financial statement or
53 report, the community association manager or community
54 association management firm is relieved from any further
55 responsibility or liability relating to the preparation of such
56 ending financial statement or report. Failure of a community
57 association manager or a community association management firm
58 to timely return all of the official records within its
59 possession to the community association creates a rebuttable
60 presumption that the community association manager or community
61 association management firm willfully failed to comply with this
62 subsection. A community association manager or a community
63 association management firm that fails to timely return
64 community association records is subject to suspension of its
65 license under s. 468.436, and a civil penalty of $1,000 per day
66 for up to 10 business days, assessed beginning on the 21st
67 business day after termination of a contractual agreement to
68 provide community association management services to the
69 community association or receipt of a written request from the
70 association for return of the records, whichever occurs first.
71 However, for a timeshare plan governed by created under chapter
72 721, s. 721.14(4) applies the time periods provided in s.
73 721.14(4)(b) apply.
74 Section 2. Subsection (7) is added to section 468.4335,
75 Florida Statutes, to read:
76 468.4335 Conflicts of interest.—
77 (7) This section does not apply to a community association
78 manager or a community association management firm that manages
79 a timeshare plan governed by chapter 721 and that must provide
80 disclosure under s. 721.13(13)(c)1.
81 Section 3. Subsection (3) is added to section 468.438,
82 Florida Statutes, to read:
83 468.438 Timeshare management firms.—
84 (3) A timeshare management firm and any individual licensed
85 under this part who is employed by a timeshare management firm
86 are governed by s. 721.13 and not by s. 468.4335.
87 Section 4. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) and subsections
88 (4), (10), and (13) of section 721.13, Florida Statutes, are
89 amended to read:
90 721.13 Management.—
91 (1)
92 (e) Any managing entity performing community association
93 management must comply with part VIII of chapter 468.
94 (4) The managing entity shall maintain among its records
95 and provide to the division upon request a complete list of the
96 names and addresses of all purchasers and owners of timeshare
97 units in the timeshare plan. The managing entity shall update
98 this list no less frequently than quarterly. Pursuant to
99 paragraph (3)(d), the managing entity may not publish this
100 owner’s list or provide a copy of it to any purchaser or to any
101 third party other than the division. However, the managing
102 entity shall mail to those persons listed on the owner’s list
103 materials provided by any purchaser, upon the written request of
104 that purchaser, if the purpose of the mailing is to advance
105 legitimate owners’ association business, such as a proxy
106 solicitation for any purpose, including the recall of one or
107 more board members elected by the owners or the discharge of the
108 manager or management firm. The use of any proxies solicited in
109 this manner must comply with the provisions of the timeshare
110 instrument and this chapter. A mailing requested for the purpose
111 of advancing legitimate owners’ association business shall occur
112 within 30 days after receipt of a request from a purchaser. The
113 board of administration of the owners’ association shall be
114 responsible for determining the appropriateness of any mailing
115 requested pursuant to this subsection. The purchaser who
116 requests the mailing must reimburse the owners’ association in
117 advance for the owners’ association’s actual costs in performing
118 the mailing. It is shall be a violation of this chapter and, if
119 applicable, of part VIII of chapter 468, for the board of
120 administration or the manager or management firm to refuse to
121 mail any material requested by the purchaser to be mailed,
122 provided the sole purpose of the materials is to advance
123 legitimate owners’ association business. If the purpose of the
124 mailing is a proxy solicitation to recall one or more board
125 members elected by the owners or to discharge the manager or
126 management firm and the managing entity does not mail the
127 materials within 30 days after receipt of a request from a
128 purchaser, the circuit court in the county where the timeshare
129 plan is located may, upon application from the requesting
130 purchaser, summarily order the mailing of the materials solely
131 related to the recall of one or more board members elected by
132 the owners or the discharge of the manager or management firm.
133 The court shall dispose of an application on an expedited basis.
134 In the event of such an order, the court may order the managing
135 entity to pay the purchaser’s costs, including attorney
136 attorney’s fees reasonably incurred to enforce the purchaser’s
137 rights, unless the managing entity can prove it refused the
138 mailing in good faith because of a reasonable basis for doubt
139 about the legitimacy of the mailing.
140 (10) Any failure of the managing entity to faithfully
141 discharge the fiduciary duty to purchasers imposed by this
142 section or to otherwise comply with the provisions of this
143 section is shall be a violation of this chapter and of part VIII
144 of chapter 468.
145 (13)(a) Notwithstanding any provisions of chapter 607,
146 chapter 617, or chapter 718, an officer, a director, or an agent
147 of an owners’ association, including a timeshare management firm
148 and any individual licensed under part VIII of chapter 468
149 employed by the timeshare management firm, shall discharge its
150 his or her duties in good faith, with the care an ordinarily
151 prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar
152 circumstances, and in a manner it he or she reasonably believes
153 to be in the interests of the owners’ association. An officer, a
154 director, or an agent of an owners’ association, including a
155 timeshare management firm and any individual licensed under part
156 VIII of chapter 468 employed by the timeshare management firm,
157 are shall be exempt from liability for monetary damages in the
158 same manner as provided in s. 617.0834 unless such officer,
159 director, or agent, or firm breached or failed to perform its
160 his or her duties and the breach of, or failure to perform, its
161 his or her duties constitutes a violation of criminal law as
162 provided in s. 617.0834; constitutes a transaction from which
163 the officer or director derived an improper personal benefit,
164 either directly or indirectly; or constitutes recklessness or an
165 act or omission that was in bad faith, with malicious purpose,
166 or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human
167 rights, safety, or property.
168 (b) Notwithstanding chapter 718, the board of
169 administration of a timeshare condominium is required to meet
170 only once each year, unless additional board meetings are called
171 pursuant to a timeshare instrument.
172 (c)1. If a timeshare management firm or an owners’
173 association provides goods or services through a parent, an
174 affiliate, or a subsidiary of a timeshare management firm, the
175 fact that a related party provides goods or services must be
176 disclosed annually to the members of that owners’ association as
177 an explanatory note to the annual budget pursuant to
178 subparagraph (3)(c)1. or in the management contract, or by mail
179 sent to each owner’s notice address, in the notice of an annual
180 or special meeting of the owners, by posting on the website of
181 the applicable timeshare plan, or by any owner communication
182 used by the managing entity.
183 2. A timeshare management firm and any individual licensed
184 under part VIII of chapter 468 employed by the timeshare
185 management firm are governed by this section and s. 468.438.
186 Section 5. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
187 made by this act to section 721.13, Florida Statutes, in a
188 reference thereto, subsection (2) of section 721.14, Florida
189 Statutes, is reenacted to read:
190 721.14 Discharge of managing entity.—
191 (2) In the event the manager or management firm is
192 discharged, the board of administration of the owners’
193 association shall remain responsible for operating and
194 maintaining the timeshare plan pursuant to the timeshare
195 instrument and s. 721.13(1). If the board of administration
196 fails to do so, any timeshare owner may apply to the circuit
197 court within the jurisdiction of which the accommodations and
198 facilities lie for the appointment of a receiver to manage the
199 affairs of the owners’ association and the timeshare plan. At
200 least 30 days before applying to the circuit court, the
201 timeshare owner shall mail to the owners’ association and post
202 in a conspicuous place on the timeshare property a notice
203 describing the intended action. If a receiver is appointed, the
204 owners’ association shall be responsible as a common expense of
205 the timeshare plan, for payment of the salary and expenses of
206 the receiver, relating to the discharge of her or his duties and
207 obligations as receiver, together with the receiver’s court
208 costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees. The receiver shall have
209 all powers and duties of a duly constituted board of
210 administration and shall serve until discharged by the circuit
211 court.
212 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.