Free Parking HOAs and Parking Under 720.3075(3)(b)
Homeowners Associations in Florida have a long history of regulating parking within communities to maintain a neat and orderly appearance and easy access through residential streets. However, as of July 1, 2024, HOAs (at least those with public streets) no longer have the ability to exert that same level of control over parking within their communities. Newly amended Section 720.3075(3)(b) of the Florida Statutes appear to have the effect of stopping HOAs from enforcing restrictions that have been relied upon in the past, and giving far more latitude to owners over where they can park.
Previously, HOAs could enact and successfully enforce myriad parking restrictions. For example, HOAs could prohibit owners from parking on the street, parking their work vehicles anywhere but inside a garage, and, in some instances, even banning certain types of vehicles altogether (such as pickup trucks). When HB 1203 became law, it purportedly did away with all of those restrictions and now provides owners significant freedom regarding parking. Section 720.2075(3)(b) prohibits HOAs from implementing restrictions on parking, specifically prohibiting:
A property owner or a tenant, a guest, or an invitee of the property owner from parking his or her personal vehicle, including a pickup truck, in the property owner's driveway, or in any other area at which the property owner of the property owner's tenant, guest, or invitee has a right to park as governed by state, county, and municipal regulations. The homeowners' association documents, including declarations of covenants, articles of incorporation, or bylaws, may not prohibit, regardless of any official insignia or visible designation, a property owner or a tenant, a guest, or an invitee of the property owner from parking his or her work vehicle, which is not a commercial motor vehicle as defined in s. 320.01(25), in the property owner's driveway.
As you can see, there is quite a bit to unpack there.
The most important aspect to understand is just what this law does. By allowing owners to park "as governed by state, county, and municipal regulations," the statute effectively allows, generally, any type of parking that would be legal on any other street in the community – meaning that HOA restrictions, to the extent they are more restrictive than local regulations, are now unenforceable. If someone wants to park a pickup truck on the street in front of their house, that is allowed, regardless of what your restrictions may say, or how they have been enforced in the past.
In what may come as a significant change for some communities, pickup trucks can no longer be prohibited from parking outside of a driveway or garage. Some communities had completely banned pickup trucks from their communities, but such restrictions are now unenforceable. Pickup trucks, and even pickup trucks which may previously have been considered "work vehicles" (generally described as having a logo or other type of sign affixed to the vehicle), may now be parked in the garage, on a driveway, or on the street in front of the lot.
To the extent the statute still allows an association to prohibit "commercial motor vehicles," that will not be any sort of great help to association's concerned about parking. A commercial motor vehicle ("CMV") is defined in Section 320.01 of the Florida Statutes and only includes some of the largest vehicles on the road. Specifically, a CMV generally must weigh more than 26,000 pounds. That is a rather large vehicle and not likely something someone will try and park on the street in front of their house (for example, the average weight of an empty cement truck is about 26,000 lbs.). That said, the definition of CMV's does include vehicles with more than three axles, regardless of weight, and that may apply to some of the larger trucks or other work-type vehicles that may find their way into an HOA-governed community.
Going forward, it will be important for HOAs to understand their local parking regulations. This may involve a review of local city or county ordinances to determine what sort of official parking restrictions exist. This could vary from city to city, so if an HOA wishes to continue enforcing any sort of parking restrictions in the future, it would be key to know the limits of their enforcement ability.
While new 720.3075(3)(b) effectively eliminates an HOAs ability to regulate parking within their community, there may be some exceptions. For example, a gated community with privately owned streets may be exempt. Generally, governmental parking restrictions do not apply to private roads, and therefore such communities could probably continue to enforce any reasonable parking restrictions. However, this is a brand-new law, and it has not yet been challenged through the courts yet, so whether it will be found to apply to private, gated communities is yet to be determined.
There may be other challenges to the application of this law through the courts as well. It is likely that this law will be challenged at least to determine whether it is prospective, or retroactive. Generally, new substantive laws cannot be applied retroactively, meaning that associations that already had parking restrictions in place before July 1, 2024, may still be entitled to enforce them. It is unclear from the wording of the statute whether the legislature meant it to apply to existing restrictions or not, and there may be a valid legal argument in support of confining the application of 720.3075(3)(b) only to associations which did not have parking restrictions in place as of July 1, 2024. As odd as it may sound, there may also be challenges to the application of this law under the United States, and Florida, Constitutions. Both documents include the general right to the freedom to contract, and passing a law interfering with a contractual relationship (in Florida, an HOA's Declaration is considered a contract) can be considered unconstitutional. The problem is that such legal challenges can become extremely expensive, and it may not make financial sense for most associations to try and litigate these issues while facing the risk that they do not prevail. As of the date of posting, it does appear that some associations in South Florida may already be prepared to challenge this law, and hopefully, they will be resolved quickly so we can have some firm guidance on how to handle parking moving forward. Until then, whether to continue enforcing parking restrictions is a decision that each association must address through its Board and with legal counsel. What works for one association may not work for another.
In conclusion, an HOA's right to restrict parking has, at least for the time being, essentially been removed by 720.3075(3)(b) for associations with public roads. Whether this law will remain in effect or apply to any particular association is an unanswered question. A conservative approach is limiting parking enforcement to the restrictions enacted by the local municipality, but how to proceed is a question each association must answer for itself. We will likely have some precedent to rely on before the end of 2025, but in the meantime, any association with public roads that is enforcing restrictions more severe than the local municipality's should be prepared to see owner challenges and potentially even litigation.
