A Florida Republican delivers one message to HOA tyrants that sent them into full damage control

Florida homeowners have been getting crushed by power-hungry HOA boards for decades.

One Republican lawmaker finally had enough of the authoritarian madness.

And a Florida Republican delivers one message to HOA tyrants that sent them into full damage control.

A Florida lawmaker declares war on HOA authoritarianism

Republican state Representative Juan Carlos Porras represents District 119, where 90% of his constituents live under some form of HOA governance.

He’s heard the horror stories firsthand – and he’s done pretending these neighborhood dictatorships can be reformed.

Porras announced this week that he’s considering filing legislation next session that would completely abolish homeowners associations for single-family homes across the entire state of Florida.

“I cannot, in good faith, continue to regulate something that I personally believe is a failed experiment,” Porras told Florida’s Voice in a phone interview. “There is no mechanism to hold HOAs accountable, to hold them to any kind of transparency.”

The Miami Republican didn’t mince words about what he’s witnessed in his district and across Florida.

“You saw groups of HOA board members use shell companies and family members to enact organized crime and corruption and fraud like you wouldn’t believe,” Porras stated.

This isn’t some politician grandstanding for headlines – Porras has been working on HOA reform bills for the last two years and has concluded that the entire system is beyond repair.

The evidence against HOAs keeps piling up

The stories coming out of Florida HOA communities sound like something from a banana republic, not the Free State of Florida.

In Riverview, one homeowner spent a week in jail over brown grass violations.

Another homeowner faced thousands in legal fees and a lien on her home over house paint color.

Over in Palm Beach County, residents at Sandalwood Lakes are paying monthly HOA fees hovering around $605, with some units paying nearly $700.

One longtime resident nearly lost her home after fees spiked while she was out of work due to illness.

In Tampa, residents of one of Hillsborough County’s largest HOA communities watched their board blow hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal battles – including a years-long dispute over a single proxy ballot that ultimately failed in court.

Those legal costs got passed along to homeowners in the form of higher dues and drained reserve funds.

“In Miami-Dade County where I live, it’s just a bunch of houses. The HOA doesn’t really maintain anything other than the grass in some areas,” Porras explained. “And yet, you’re being charged $500, $600 plus a month. In reality, you don’t see a lot of that money going back to your community.”

The HOA racket has become a full-blown scam

Here’s what’s really happening with these HOA boards – they’ve become little fiefdoms where petty tyrants can exercise power over their neighbors’ daily lives.

Porras called out the core problem: “We do live in the Free State of Florida. So I would imagine that our state, unlike any other, would know how important it is that we live free of any type of authoritarian board and to dictate our day-to-day lives.”

Think about that for a second. You buy your own home, pay your mortgage, pay your property taxes – and then some unelected board of busybodies gets to tell you what color you can paint your house and how tall your grass can be.

They can put a lien on your home, foreclose on your property, or even have you arrested – all over violations that wouldn’t get you a parking ticket in most places.

The corruption aspect makes it even worse. Board members are forming shell companies, using relatives to push through contracts, and basically running their own little organized crime operations.

And there’s zero accountability because these aren’t government entities subject to public records laws or transparency requirements.

Previous reform attempts failed – time for the nuclear option

Porras acknowledged that previous attempts to rein in HOAs through legislation have failed in Tallahassee.

That’s because you can’t reform a system that’s fundamentally corrupted from the ground up.

“When you’re talking about mowing the lawns, when you’re talking about clubhouses amenities, there are so many better alternatives than what homeowners associations can offer,” Porras said.

He’s suggesting community development districts instead, which are more publicly accountable and typically managed through local governments rather than private boards.

At least with local government, you can vote the bums out. With HOA boards, you’re stuck with whatever power-hungry neighbors want to control your life.

The proposal will definitely face pushback from developers, management companies, and some residents who actually like having their neighbors’ lives micromanaged.

But Porras is already seeking bipartisan support and has begun conversations with Governor Ron DeSantis’s office and other lawmakers.

The numbers show how big this fight will be

Roughly 9.5 million Floridians – nearly half the state’s population – live in HOA-governed communities.

That makes any proposal to abolish them a massive political and legal undertaking.

The HOA industry is going to throw everything they have at stopping this legislation because their entire business model depends on these captive homeowners who have no choice but to pay whatever fees they demand.

Porras acknowledged that condominiums present a more complicated case since they have shared roofs and common areas.

But single-family HOAs? They’ve completely lost their purpose and become nothing more than legal extortion rackets.

The stories have struck such a nerve that more than one million people have watched coverage of Florida HOA abuses online, with thousands leaving comments saying they would rather “live under a bridge than under an HOA.”

That’s not hyperbole – that’s people recognizing that HOAs have become a threat to basic property rights and personal freedom.

Florida has a chance to lead the nation in protecting homeowners from these petty tyrants. Let’s see if the Republican-controlled legislature has the backbone to take on this fight.

¹ Anita Padilla, “State Rep. Porras seeks to abolish HOAs for single-family homes, calls them ‘authoritarian’,” Florida’s Voice, August 21, 2025.

² Forrest Saunders, “Florida lawmaker floats ban on homeowners associations amid growing backlash,” WPTV, August 20, 2025.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.