For most Central Florida associations, the next ten weeks are the busiest of the year. The 2027 budget moves from draft to adopted, and in the same stretch boards are elected and annual meetings are held. All of it runs on strict, unforgiving notice clocks written into Florida law. The most common way a board’s fall unravels isn’t a bad decision; it’s a missed deadline that voids an otherwise sound one. Here’s the calendar to get right, and why starting it today, on October 1, leaves comfortable room before the December rush.
For a condominium, Florida Statute § 718.112(2)(d) lays out a fixed election calendar counted backward from election day, and every step matters. The first notice of the election must reach every eligible unit owner at least 60 days before the election. An owner who wants to run must deliver written notice of intent to the association at least 40 days before, and may submit a one-page candidate information sheet no later than 35 days before. The second notice, carrying the agenda, the ballot listing every eligible candidate, and those information sheets, must go out no fewer than 14 and no more than 34 days before the election. That window is exact: a package sent even a day outside it is a procedural defect that can invalidate the result. Directors are elected by written ballot or voting machine (proxies cannot be used to elect a board), and roughly 20% of voting interests must cast a ballot for the election to count.
One quirk trips up boards every year: if no more candidates file than there are seats open, no actual election is held and those candidates are simply seated, but the statutory notices still have to go out on schedule. Skipping them because “we knew it would be uncontested” is itself a violation.
If you sit on an HOA board, resist the urge to copy the condominium timeline. Chapter 720 does not impose the 60/40/14-day sequence. Instead, your election is conducted the way your own bylaws and governing documents prescribe, and your annual meeting notice must be mailed, hand-delivered, or electronically transmitted to every member, and posted in the community, at least 14 days ahead, with the agenda attached (§ 720.306(5)). Applying condo rules to an HOA, or the reverse, is one of the quieter but more common compliance mistakes we see, and it’s entirely avoidable.
Layered on top of elections is budget adoption. For condominiums, the proposed 2027 budget must be delivered to owners with the meeting notice at least 14 days before the board adopts it (§ 718.112(2)(e)). Because this is also the first budget to sit under Fannie Mae’s higher reserve-funding expectations taking effect in early 2027, you want your reserve numbers settled before that notice goes out, not debated from the floor. Decide the funding question early, then let the notice reflect a plan you’re ready to defend.
One step turns a correct process into a provable one: the affidavit of notice. Florida law lets an officer, your manager, or whoever sent the notice sign a sworn statement that it was mailed, hand-delivered, or electronically transmitted on time, and that affidavit becomes part of the association’s official records (§ 718.112(2)(d)4). When a disappointed candidate or owner challenges a vote months later, the affidavit, not anyone’s memory, is what ends the argument. A contested election is won or lost in the records long before anyone counts a ballot.
None of this is difficult in isolation. What makes the fall hard is the convergence: elections, the annual meeting, and the 2027 budget all landing in the same few weeks, each on its own clock. That is precisely the choreography Aurora handles for the communities we serve: mapping every deadline to a working calendar, preparing and documenting each notice, and keeping the affidavit trail audit-ready so your board can spend its energy on decisions instead of due dates. As a future-focused partner for Florida’s associations, we’d far rather help you build the timeline now than untangle a challenge in January.
Elections, the annual meeting, and the 2027 budget each run on their own clock. Let Aurora map every deadline to one working calendar.
Map your fall calendar with Aurora →This article is general information for Florida community associations and is current as of October 2026; it is not legal advice and is not a substitute for guidance from your association’s licensed Florida attorney. Election and notice requirements differ between condominiums (Ch. 718) and HOAs (Ch. 720), and your own governing documents may impose additional steps. Statutes, administrative rules, and deadlines change. Confirm the specifics that apply to your community with counsel before your board acts.