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HOA transition from developer: checklist, tender template and owners’ rights

By Ilia Sotonin

At turnover the owners decide what happens to the manager you picked, and Florida law lets them cancel contracts signed before they took control. Choose a manager they will want to keep, and make the handover clean.

This page cites Florida condominium law (Chapter 718). The tender and the checklist work for any community association. Florida homeowners’ associations (Chapter 720) and other states have their own turnover rules, which this page does not describe.

What happens to your pick at turnover

Turnover is a legal event, not a handshake. These are the rules that matter for the manager you appoint.

  1. 1When. Owners other than the developer elect at least a majority of the board at the first of several events, among them three years after 50 percent of the units are conveyed and three months after 90 percent are conveyed (s. 718.301(1)).
  2. 2What you deliver. At turnover the developer delivers, at its own expense, all property of the owners and the association: the records, the funds, the contracts, the warranties, the plans and the audited financial records (s. 718.301(4)).
  3. 3What owners can cancel. A management contract made before the owners took control must be fair and reasonable and can be canceled by the owners other than the developer. For an association that operates only one condominium, that takes the concurrence of at least 75 percent of the voting interests other than the developer’s, where those owners have assumed control or own at least 75 percent of the voting interests (s. 718.302(1)(a)); associations that operate more than one condominium are under s. 718.302(1)(b).
  4. 4Who may manage. Nobody may manage a community association in Florida without a license, and a firm responsible for more than 10 units or a budget of $100,000 or more needs a firm license too (s. 468.432).

A contract with a manager chosen for independence and openness is one the owners have less reason to cancel.

What owners check first: independence

When owners compare the manager you chose with one they could choose, the first question is who the manager works for. Put the answer into the tender.

  • A written declaration of any ownership, financial or family link between the manager and the developer.
  • No work given to companies that the developer or the manager owns, unless it is disclosed and priced like any other bid.
  • A contract the owners can end on the terms the law gives them, without a penalty clause that makes ending it expensive.
  • Fees that are itemized and can be shown to buyers before they sign.
  • Reports to owners from the first month, not only after turnover.
  • A handover list that the owners’ first board can check line by line.

The scorecard below shows an “owners will likely keep this manager” meter. It is driven by independence and by openness about money and records, never by software.

Score the candidates

Rate each candidate the way the owners will. Independence carries the most weight here, because it is the first thing owners check and the reason they replace a manager they did not choose.

Company A —

Seven questions are about what owners can see online. They are a fair way to tell managers apart, not a requirement, so they start switched off. Switch them on to score them too: each counts for half of a core question.

Click a selected answer again to clear it.

Independence

Weight 25 %
Does it declare in writing any ownership, financial or family link to the developer, the sellers of units or the people deciding for the owners?
Is the contract term within what the law allows, and can the owners end it on notice without a penalty?
Does it disclose when it gives work to companies that it or the developer owns?

Credentials and compliance

Weight 10 %
Do the company and the person who will run your building hold the license or certificate that applies where you are (if any), and will they show you the number?
Does it carry professional-liability and fidelity (crime) insurance, and will it show you the certificate?
Is it a member of a professional association with a code of conduct that owners can read?

Money handling

Weight 20 %
Is the building’s money kept in a separate account in the association’s name, never mixed with the manager’s own funds?
Does it publish a statement of income and spending to owners every month, within a fixed number of days?
Are the accounts reviewed by someone independent of the manager once a year?

Reporting and governance

Weight 10 %
Does it deliver the annual budget and the year-end statement on time, in a form an owner can read?
Does it keep a complete archive of minutes and resolutions that any owner can open?

Service and response

Weight 10 %
Is there a named manager for your building, and does it tell you how many buildings or units that person runs?
Is there a backup person and an out-of-hours route for burst pipes, elevators and power cuts?
Are response and resolution times reported to the board every month?

Handover readiness

Weight 15 %
Will it take over the common parts, keys and technical documents from the developer or the previous manager in a signed protocol?
Will it track defects and warranty claims with deadlines, and chase them with the builder?
Will it collect and keep the as-built drawings and the technical file of the building?

Price transparency

Weight 5 %
Is the fee itemized, with what is included written down?
Are extras and the share charged on major works stated up front, with no open-ended add-ons?
Is the yearly increase tied to a stated index or cap, and is last year’s real workload shown so offers can be compared like for like?

Proof

Weight 5 %
Can it give references from buildings of a similar size and age, and say how many years it has been in business?

Result

Company A

Answer the questions to see a score.

Nothing you enter here leaves this browser tab. It is kept for the tab only, so you do not lose your answers when you switch languages.

Tender template for the developer

One document for every bidder. It states the principles above as conditions, carries the scorecard’s questions and weights independence highest.

What is inside

  • Principles of this tender
  • How to bid
  • Turnover and cancellation
  • Questions for bidders
  • Fees
  • How offers will be scored
  • Declaration of independence
  • References

Tender: management company for a new condominium

Download Word (.docx)Download PDF

Free, no sign-up. Fill it in on screen or print it.

Turnover checklist

The first part follows the list the statute puts on the developer at turnover (s. 718.301(4)). The rest covers defects, warranties and a clean financial start. Keep the signed list.

What is inside

  • Checklist

Delivered by the developer at turnover (s. 718.301(4))

  • Recorded declaration of condominium and all amendments, articles of incorporation, bylaws, minute books and house rules
  • Resignations of the officers and board members who are required to resign
  • Financial records and statements from incorporation to turnover, audited by an independent CPA
  • Association funds, or control of them
  • Inventory of the association’s tangible personal property
  • Plans and specifications, with the certificate that they are the ones used in construction
  • List of the contractors, subcontractors and suppliers who built the property
  • Insurance policies, certificates of occupancy and the permits still in force
  • All written warranties of the contractor, subcontractors, suppliers and manufacturers that are still effective
  • Roster of unit owners with addresses and telephone numbers, if known
  • Leases of the common elements and other leases to which the association is a party
  • Employment and service contracts, including the management contract, and all other contracts to which the association is a party
  • Turnover inspection reports under seal of an architect or engineer, including the structural integrity reserve study

Documents

  • Operating manuals and maintenance schedules for the building systems (elevators, heating and cooling, fire safety)
  • Latest inspection records of the elevators, fire systems and other equipment that is inspected

Common parts, defects and warranties

  • Walk-through of every common part with the manager and, if possible, owners’ representatives
  • Signed list of open defects, each with a deadline and who answers for it
  • Warranty register: what is covered, by whom and until when, with the claim procedure
  • Keys, access cards, remotes and codes counted and signed for
  • Meter readings for the common supply on the day of handover, with photos

A clean financial start

  • Separate bank account opened in the association’s name
  • Opening balance, with what the developer has paid and what is still owed by it
  • First budget and the advance payments that cover it
  • Reserve or repair fund opened, with the rule for how it grows
  • Unpaid bills and open orders at handover, each stating who pays

Owners and communication

  • List of owners with their units, shares and contact details, as far as the law allows it to be passed on
  • Date and agenda of the first owners’ meeting agreed
  • Way for owners to report a problem and to see its status explained in writing
  • Contact for emergencies at any hour given to every owner

Turnover checklist: developer to association and manager

Download Word (.docx)Download PDF

Free, no sign-up. Fill it in on screen or print it.

Legal sources

Every legal statement on this page comes from the text of the law itself. The quotes are in the original language.

  • Fla. Stat. s. 718.301(1)
    Unit owners other than the developer are entitled to elect at least a majority of the members of the board of administration of an association, upon the first to occur of any of the following events:
  • Fla. Stat. s. 718.301(1)(a)
    Three years after 50 percent of the units that will be operated ultimately by the association have been conveyed to purchasers;
  • Fla. Stat. s. 718.301(1)(b)
    Three months after 90 percent of the units that will be operated ultimately by the association have been conveyed to purchasers;
  • Fla. Stat. s. 718.301(4)
    the developer shall deliver to the association, at the developer’s expense, all property of the unit owners and of the association which is held or controlled by the developer
  • Fla. Stat. s. 718.301(4)(c)
    The records must be audited for the period from the incorporation of the association or from the period covered by the last audit, if an audit has been performed for each fiscal year since incorporation, by an independent certified public accountant.
  • Fla. Stat. s. 718.302(1)
    shall be fair and reasonable, and such grant, reservation, or contract may be canceled by unit owners other than the developer:
  • Fla. Stat. s. 718.302(1)(a)
    If the association operates only one condominium and the unit owners other than the developer have assumed control of the association, or if unit owners other than the developer own at least 75 percent of the voting interests in the condominium or own at least 90 percent of the voting interests if the condominium is a nonresidential condominium consisting of 10 or fewer units, the cancellation must be by concurrence of the owners of at least 75 percent of the voting interests other than the voting interests owned by the developer.
  • Fla. Stat. s. 718.302(1)(b)
    If the association operates more than one condominium and the unit owners other than the developer have not assumed control of the association,
  • Fla. Stat. s. 468.432(1)
    A person shall not manage or hold herself or himself out to the public as being able to manage a community association in this state unless she or he is licensed by the department in accordance with the provisions of this part.
  • Fla. Stat. s. 468.432(2)
    A community association management firm or other similar organization responsible for the management of more than 10 units or a budget of $100,000 or greater shall not engage or hold itself out to the public as being able to engage in the business of community association management in this state unless it is licensed by the department as a community association management firm in accordance with the provisions of this part.

Checked against the primary texts on 22 October 2026.

This is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and your contract and governing documents matter: have a lawyer or notary check anything you act on.

Developer turnover: questions

Can the developer choose the first management company?

Until the owners take control the board is developer-controlled and signs the contracts. A contract made in that period is open to cancellation by the owners under s. 718.302, so choose a manager they will want to keep.

What must the developer deliver at turnover?

All property of the owners and of the association that the developer holds or controls, at the developer’s expense: among other items the declaration, bylaws, minute books, financial records audited by an independent CPA, funds, plans, warranties, insurance, permits, owner roster, leases, service contracts and turnover inspection reports (s. 718.301(4)).

Who pays for the turnover audit?

The statute puts the delivery on the developer at the developer’s expense and requires the financial records to be audited for the period from incorporation by an independent CPA (s. 718.301(4)(c)). Have your attorney confirm how it applies to your project.

Does the tender favor a particular software?

No. The digital questions describe what owners can see, never a product, and they start switched off in the scorecard.

Does this cover homeowners’ associations?

The tender and the checklist can be adapted. The legal rules cited here are the Florida condominium rules (Chapter 718); Florida homeowners’ associations fall under Chapter 720.

Keep reading

Give the building you hand over a portal the owners will keep

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