Composing a valid fine-hearing committee is one of the easiest places for a board to trip, and one of the quickest ways for a contested fine to get rolled back later. The statute is unusually specific, not specific about how you run the hearing, but specific about who is allowed in the room rendering the decision.
Visual walkthrough: view the fine-hearing-committee infographic for the 3-member minimum, 7 disqualification categories, and 14-day notice clock at a glance.
What the statute says
The governing text is F.S. 720.305(2)(b):
A fine or suspension may not be imposed by the board of administration without at least 14 days' notice to the parcel owner, and an opportunity for a hearing before a committee of at least 3 members appointed by the board who are not officers, directors, or employees of the association, or the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of an officer, director, or employee.
Unpacking the composition rule
Every one of the following disqualifies someone from the committee:
- Sitting officer or director of the association
- Current employee of the association
- Spouse of any officer, director, or employee
- Parent of any officer, director, or employee
- Child of any officer, director, or employee
- Brother or sister of any officer, director, or employee
And the minimum size is 3 members, two is not a committee, it's a duo that will not survive appellate review.
Why this matters operationally
A fine-hearing committee is the association's procedural defense against a challenge that the fine was levied without due process. If the composition is wrong, the entire fine can be unwound even if the underlying covenant violation was real. That's why retained attorneys insist on a written confirmation of committee composition before the hearing.
Three common failure modes:
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"The board is short-staffed, can we just use two?" No. The statute says "at least 3", there's no waiver for small associations.
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"Can the manager's spouse serve?" No. "Employee of the association" covers the management company's on-site staff in most court readings.
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"Does everyone on the committee have to vote?" The statute doesn't say, but if you want the committee decision to survive review, structure it so a majority vote of the committee, not a single dissenting voice, issues the finding.
Pairing 720.305 with 720.303(5)(a)
The fine-hearing process creates records. Those records are subject to the
10-business-day inspection clock from F.S. 720.303(5)(a). Keep the
hearing agenda, notice letter, committee-composition confirmation, and
decision memo in a single folder, a contested fine will generate a
records-inspection request within 30 days, and you want the response
window to be a non-event.
Why this post exists
This is the kind of question HOAStream answers with the statute quote plus your governing documents quoted side-by-side. Not legal advice, just the text, so the CAM team and the board can act from the page rather than from memory. If you want the tool that does this on your community's declaration, the CAM walkthrough is at /cam and the board walkthrough is at /board.