Florida House Bill 913 changed everything about how community reserves function. You did not sign up to be a structural engineer or a legal scholar when you volunteered for the board. Yet you are now expected to navigate dense statutory mandates just to pass your annual budget. It is an overwhelming amount of pressure.
We need to cut through the noise and get straight to the facts. That is exactly why we brought in the actual experts to break this down. Will Simons from Association Reserves has directed thousands of structural studies across the state. Attorney Stephen Rappaport from Sachs Kaplan has spent years guiding boards safely through these exact legislative landmines.
They have seen what works and what causes communities to face massive financial penalties. We are going to strip away the legal jargon and hand you the practical steps your neighborhood must take right now to stay compliant.
Important: this content cannot be considered as legal advice. This is provided solely for informational purposes. If you have any questions, we advise you to contact your community’s attorney.
The Real Difference Between Operating Funds and HOA Reserves
Before we tackle the new 2026 updates, we need to strip away the complex accounting terms.
Think about your personal finances for a second. Your community operating fund is exactly like your personal checking account. This is the money you use to pay the landscaper, keep the lights on in the clubhouse, and cover the monthly property management fees. You collect it. You spend it. You move on.
HOA Reserves are completely different. Your reserve fund is your specialized savings account.
This money is restricted. Once a dollar goes into that reserve account, it is locked in for a specific long-term project. We are talking about the massive bills: Roof replacements, paving the entire community and elevator modernizations are some examples. These are the expenses that only happen every ten or twenty years, but when they hit, they hit hard.
If you do not have that money sitting there waiting, you only have one terrible option left. You have to issue a special assessment. Proper reserve planning is how you prevent that entirely.
The Hard Stop on Structural Inspections
Following the tragic collapse of the Champlain Towers South in 2021, Florida lawmakers realized they had to act. The result of that legislation is the Structural Integrity Reserve Study. We just call it a SIRS.
A SIRS is basically a highly focused physical and financial analysis of your property. An inspector comes out, looks at the load-bearing walls, the fire protection systems, and the waterproofing, and then tells you exactly how much money you need to save right now to replace them before they fail.
If you are hoping for another legislative delay, you need to hear what Will Simons stated point-blank during our broadcast.
“If you’re in a building out there that is 3 or more stories and you have not done your SIRS, you are in violation of Florida statute,” Will explained. He noted that the original deadline was December 2024. The state extended it to December 2025. But that leniency is now over. There has been no further discussion about additional extensions.
Who is Actually Qualified to Tell You What to Do?
In the past, the law vaguely stated that “any person qualified” could perform these studies. That loophole is completely dead.
You cannot have a handy board member walk the property and guess the lifespan of the roof. Your property manager cannot perform the SIRS.
According to Pages 149 and 150 of the engrossed House Bill 913 text, a SIRS visual inspection must now be performed or verified by a very specific set of professionals. You must hire a Florida-licensed engineer, a Florida-licensed architect, a Reserve Specialist (RS), or a Professional Reserve Analyst (PRA). The state demands real expertise.
House Bill 913 and the 2026 Scenario
The laws have shifted constantly over the last few years. One of the most practical changes in HB 913 involves the dollar threshold for reserve items.
For decades, the magic number in Florida was $10,000. House Bill 913 raised that statutory threshold to $25,000.
At first glance, this sounds like a break. It sounds like you have fewer items to track. But I want you to be very careful here. Just because the state says you only have to legally reserve for items over $25,000 does not mean it is a smart financial strategy for your specific neighborhood. Tracking the smaller items in your reserve plan is just good governance. It means you are not crossing your fingers and hoping your operating account can absorb a sudden $15,000 hit.
The Problem with “Future Money”
One of the biggest concerns boards face is figuring out how to pay for the massive deficits a new SIRS reveals.
The updated law does provide some financial flexibility. Boards can incorporate loans or special assessments into their planning to fund their SIRS components. However, there is a massive caveat that catches many communities off guard.
Will Simons clarified this perfectly. He explained that any loan or assessment funding must be immediately available to the board without further approval by the members.
“In other words, a board can’t just say we will cross that bridge when we come to it,” Will warned. You cannot legally use the promise of a hypothetical future bank loan to balance today’s required budget. The money must be accessible right now.
What is Your Association’s Credit Score?
During the presentation, Will used a fantastic analogy to explain the concept of being “Percent Funded.”
When you apply for a mortgage, the bank pulls your credit score. Percent Funded is the exact same concept for your community association. To find this number, you divide how much money you actually have in the bank by how much money you technically should have at this exact moment based on the age of your assets.
If your community is 0 to 30 percent funded, you are standing on thin ice. If you are 30 to 70 percent funded, you have some breathing room. If you are above 70 percent funded, you are in the strong zone.
This metric cuts through the noise. It gives your board a clear, undeniable picture of your financial reality.
The End of Kicking the Can Down the Road
For a very long time, Florida law had a unique loophole. The board would present a fully funded budget. Then the members would hold a vote to waive the reserve funding so their dues would not go up.
They were simply kicking the massive bill down the road to whoever happened to own the unit ten years later. The new laws have severely restricted this practice.
For SIRS-required items, you simply cannot waive or reduce the funding anymore. Period.
Even for non-SIRS items, the rules have tightened. Attorney Stephen Rappaport clarified this critical shift during the webinar.
“It used to be that the non-SIRS reserves you could waive or reduce them by a vote of a majority of the quorum,” Steve stated. “They’ve changed that to now make it a majority of the entire voting interest.”
This makes it significantly harder for a small group of vocal residents to defund the community’s future.
Furthermore, the state codified the concept of Baseline Funding. As stated on Page 95 of HB 913, your funding plan must ensure that your reserve cash balance never drops below zero during the planning period. If your projection hits zero, you are legally planning to fail. The state no longer allows this.
Transparency and Conflict of Interest
When there is big money on the table, bad actors sometimes appear. The updated laws include strict transparency requirements.
If an engineering firm intends to bid on the actual repair work they recommend in their study, they must disclose this conflict of interest in writing upfront. You can point your contractors to Page 93 of the bill if they question this. This rule ensures the person telling you that you need a million-dollar roof is not secretly the same person waiting to sell you that exact roof.
The transparency rules apply to the board as well. Within 45 days of completing the SIRS, you must distribute a copy to all unit owners. You must also report the completion to the DBPR online database, and an officer must sign an affidavit acknowledging receipt.
Your Statutory Cheat Sheet
When residents get angry about rising dues, they often demand proof. They want to see the law. When that happens, just hand them this list of citations from the CS/CS/HB 913 and explain what changed and how all these steps are necessary for a compliant community:
- The $25,000 Threshold: Page 92, Lines 2279 to 2285.
- Financial Flexibility & Loans: Pages 87 to 88, Lines 2172 to 2188.
- Transparency and Conflicts of Interest: Page 93, Lines 2320 to 2333.
- Baseline Funding (The Zero Balance Rule): Page 95, Lines 2355 to 2362.
- The 45-Day Reporting Requirement: Pages 98 to 99, Lines 2435 to 2463.
- Authorized Professionals: Pages 149 to 150, Lines 3721 to 3728.
Managing the Chaos Without Burning Out
Reading through all these legal mandates is exhausting. You are probably picturing the next board meeting. You are wondering how you are going to explain a necessary dues increase without someone yelling across the room.
This is the hardest part of the job.
When residents do not understand the laws, they assume the board is just wasting their money. They only see the bottom line on their monthly statement. You have to communicate clearly, early, and constantly.
You cannot wait until the budget ratification meeting to drop this massive news on the neighborhood. You need to start sending out educational updates right now.
This is exactly where having the right tools changes everything.
If you are trying to manage this communication crisis using a messy spreadsheet and a personal Gmail account, you are going to burn out. Residents will claim they never saw the email. You will lose track of who received the mandated 45-day notice.
Using a centralized platform like Neigbrs by Vinteum changes the entire dynamic. You can securely store the full 50-page reserve study and the signed state affidavits in the resident portal where everyone can read them at their own pace. You can use the smart communication tools to send out automated text messages summarizing the engineering findings.
When residents ask the same questions repeatedly, you can direct them to the community website where you have already posted the statutory cheat sheet.
It takes the heat off the board. It transforms a chaotic, emotional shouting match into an organized, professional process. When residents feel informed, they feel safe.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is House Bill 913 in Florida?
House Bill 913 changed everything about how community reserves function. It mandates a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) for buildings three stories or higher. The law also raised the statutory threshold for reserve items to $25,000. It forces boards to keep strict baseline funding and introduces transparency rules so residents receive a copy of the engineering study within 45 days.
What does it mean when a HOA has reserves?
Your reserve fund is your specialized savings account. This money is restricted. Once a dollar goes into that reserve account, it is locked in for a specific long-term project. We are talking about massive bills like roof replacements and elevator modernizations. Proper reserve planning is how you prevent the nightmare of a sudden special assessment.
How do HOA reserves work?
They are completely different from your operating funds. Operating funds act like your personal checking account to pay the landscaper and cover monthly property management fees. You collect it, you spend it, and you move on. Reserves are meant for massive expenses that only hit every ten or twenty years. A qualified inspector looks at your property and tells you exactly how much money you need to save right now to replace those items before they fail.
What does a 70% funded reserve mean?
Think of percent funded as your association’s credit score. To find this number, you divide how much money you actually have in the bank by how much money you technically should have at this exact moment based on the age of your assets. If you are above 70 percent funded, you are in the strong zone. If you are 30 to 70 percent funded, you have some breathing room. If you sit between 0 and 30 percent funded, you are standing on thin ice.
Should HOA reserves be fully funded?
Yes. For a very long time, Florida law had a unique loophole where members could hold a vote to waive reserve funding so their dues would not go up. They were simply kicking the massive bill down the road to whoever happened to own the unit ten years later. The new laws severely restricted this practice. For SIRS-required items, you simply cannot waive or reduce the funding anymore. The state codified the concept of Baseline Funding, which means your funding plan must ensure your reserve cash balance never drops below zero.
The Path of Compliance
We are living in the new normal. The days of ignoring the cracks in the concrete and hoping the roof holds out for one more hurricane season are permanently over. The state of Florida has drawn a very hard line in the sand.
It feels intimidating right now. The numbers are large. The legal text is dense.
But I promise you this. Getting a grip on your reserves is the most liberating thing you will ever do for your community. Once you have a professional study in your hands, the anxiety fades. You stop guessing. You simply look at the math and execute the plan.
You are doing the right thing. You are protecting the homes, the investments, and the lives of the people in your neighborhood.
