If you’ve heard that Florida’s community association managers now face tougher training requirements, and that your manager’s credentials are easier than ever to verify on the state’s website, you heard right. Over the last two legislative cycles, Florida raised the bar for the professionals who run its condos and HOAs, and the final pieces are landing in 2026. For boards, that’s good news: the same rules that ask more of managers also give owners a clearer, state-backed way to confirm they’re working with a licensed professional in good standing. Here’s what changed, and what your board should check.
Florida’s community association managers, formally Licensed Community Association Managers (LCAMs), have always carried a state license under Chapter 468 of the Florida Statutes and completed continuing education to renew it. What’s new is the focus. Under HB 1203 (2024), any manager serving a homeowners’ association must complete at least 5 hours of HOA-specific continuing education each two-year renewal cycle, 3 of those hours dedicated to recordkeeping, one of the most frequently disputed corners of association management. That requirement sits alongside the standard 15-hour curriculum covering legal updates, insurance and financial management, physical property operations, and human resources. The most recent two-year cycle closed on September 30, 2026, so every manager serving an HOA should now have that coursework on record.
Here’s the part boards will appreciate most. Managers who provide HOA services must now flag that work on their online account with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), management firms must list every licensed manager they employ, and account information must be updated within 30 days of any change. The result is a state licensee record that’s more complete and current than it has ever been. Any board member, or any prospective client, can visit the DBPR licensee search at myfloridalicense.com, type in a manager’s or firm’s name, confirm the license is active, review its history, and check for any open discipline. It takes about two minutes, and it’s the simplest piece of due diligence a board can do before signing or renewing a management contract.
The heightened expectations aren’t limited to managers. HB 1203 also requires every newly elected or appointed HOA director to complete a state-approved education course and file a certificate within 90 days. The old shortcut of simply signing a statement that you’d read the governing documents is gone. Directors then complete at least 4 hours of continuing education a year, rising to 8 hours for associations of 2,500 parcels or more. And since January 1, 2025, HOAs with 100 or more parcels have been required to post governing documents, budgets, contracts, and other official records on a website or app, a transparency mandate that mirrors the condo website rule. None of it is busywork. It’s the state signaling that running a community association is a professional responsibility, for volunteers and managers alike.
For most boards, the real question isn’t whether these rules are a burden. It’s whether their manager is already ahead of them. At Aurora, our managers carry current, HOA-focused credentials, keep our DBPR records clean and public, and help the boards we serve meet their own education and website obligations without a last-minute scramble. Verifying all of that should be easy, and now it is. As a future-focused partner for Florida’s associations, we’d rather your board spend its energy on the community than on compliance paperwork, so we carry as much of it as we can.
Want to see how Aurora’s credentials check out, or have a question about your board’s own education requirements?
Verify Aurora, or ask us anything →This article is general information for Florida community associations. The requirements described stem primarily from HB 1203 (2024) and HB 913 (2025) and related DBPR rules, with compliance dates through 2026; it is not legal advice and is not a substitute for guidance from your association’s licensed Florida attorney. Rules, hours, and deadlines change. Confirm current specifics with counsel and the DBPR before acting.