Florida Condo Resale: The Documents and the 7-Day Clock

By Nelson Cruz, P.A. | November 3, 2026

When you buy a resale condo in Florida, the seller owes you eight specific records at the seller’s expense, and your contract must carry one of two conspicuous clauses about them. One says you already received the documents more than seven working days before signing. The other gives you seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, to cancel in writing. Which clause your contract uses decides whether you still have an exit. If the association also has to approve the sale, the fee it can charge is capped, and the published cap is no longer the $150 the statute text shows.

Eight records the seller pays for

Section 718.503(2)(a), Florida Statutes, puts the duty on the seller. Every unit owner who is not the developer must comply before selling, and a buyer who has signed a purchase contract is entitled, at the seller’s expense, to a current copy of each of the following:

• The declaration of condominium.
• Articles of incorporation of the association.
• Bylaws and rules of the association.
• An annual financial statement and annual budget of the association.
• The inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report described in s. 553.899, if applicable.
• The association’s most recent structural integrity reserve study, or a statement that the association has not completed one.
• The turnover inspection report described in s. 718.301(4)(p) and (q), for a turnover inspection performed on or after July 1, 2023.
• The “Frequently Asked Questions and Answers” document required by s. 718.504.

Section 718.503(2)(b) adds a governance form from the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes. Two items on the list are the ones that move money: a reserve study, or a statement that none exists, shows whether the building has priced its own long-term repairs, and the milestone summary shows what an inspector found in the structure. Our write-up on Florida’s condo structural integrity requirements covers what those two records do and do not settle.

A written request is what protects the clock

Section 718.503(2)(d) requires every contract entered into after July 1, 1992 for the resale of a residential unit to contain, in conspicuous type, one of two clauses. The difference between them is your exit.

The first is an acknowledgment that you received the declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, the most recent annual financial statement and annual budget, and the FAQ document more than seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, before you signed. Signing that version means the window closed before the contract existed.

The second makes the agreement voidable if you deliver written notice of your intention to cancel within seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after both the date you executed the agreement and your receipt of those documents, as the clause puts it, “if so requested in writing.” That phrase carries the practical lesson, because it ties your window to documents you asked for in writing. Put the request in writing on the day you sign and keep the timestamp.

Three further rules sit in the same paragraph. A purported waiver of these voidability rights has no effect. You may extend the time for closing by up to seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after you receive the documents if you requested them in writing. Your right to void terminates at closing. If the contract contains neither required clause, the statute makes it voidable at your option before closing.

Counting seven days when holidays land in the middle

Because Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays come out of the count, the calendar span always runs longer than seven days, and it stretches further in late November and December. Florida’s paid state holidays under s. 110.117(1) include Veterans’ Day on November 11, Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after.

Take a contract executed by the buyer on Monday, November 23, 2026, with the documents already in hand. Skipping weekends, Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27, the seventh countable day is Friday, December 4, which is 11 calendar days after signing.

What the association can charge when it approves the sale

Section 718.112(2)(k) bars an association from charging any fee in connection with a sale, mortgage, lease, sublease or other transfer of a unit unless two things are both true: the association is required to approve the transfer, and a fee for that approval is provided for in the declaration, articles or bylaws. The declaration is the record that answers whether either exists for your unit.

Where a fee is authorized, the statute allows it to be preset and caps it per applicant. The statute text shows $150, and that figure is out of date on its face, because the same paragraph requires the cap to be adjusted every five years by the total of the annual increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City Average, All Items, with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation calculating and publishing the result. DBPR’s published notice puts the current ceiling for condominium associations at $184 per applicant, with the next update due by July 1, 2031. That is $34, or about 22.7 percent, above the printed figure.

How “per applicant” is counted matters more than the rate. Spouses, or a parent or parents together with any dependent children, are treated as one applicant. Two buyers who are not married and not parent and child are two applicants, so the same authorized fee reaches $368. The paragraph also bars any charge for the renewal of a lease or sublease with the same lessee or sublessee.

A cooperative is a different animal. Section 719.106(1)(i) caps the charge at $100 per applicant, and DBPR states that amount is not subject to its adjustment.

A homeowners’ association runs on a different statute

Do not carry the condominium rules across to a single-family home in a homeowners’ association. Section 720.401(2) states expressly that the section does not apply to an association regulated under chapter 718, 719, 721 or 723, so the two regimes do not overlap. On the chapter 720 side a disclosure summary is owed before the contract is executed, and if it was not provided, s. 720.401(1)(c) lets the purchaser cancel in writing within three days after receipt of the summary or prior to closing, whichever occurs first. Three days after receipt is a different trigger and a different length from the condominium window, which is why our guide to Florida HOA disclosure, governing documents and estoppel treats them apart.

Before you sign a condo contract

1. Confirm which chapter governs: 718 for a condominium, 719 for a cooperative, 720 for a homeowners’ association. The fee ceiling and the cancellation window both change with the answer.
2. Read which of the two clauses in s. 718.503(2)(d) your contract contains. The acknowledgment version means the window already closed.
3. Request the documents in writing on the day you sign, keep proof of the date, then count the seven days and write the deadline down.
4. Check the declaration, articles and bylaws for an approval requirement, an authorized transfer fee and what happens if approval is withheld. Without the first two, s. 718.112(2)(k) bars the charge, and count applicants the way the statute does before accepting a quoted total.
5. For a contract entered into after December 31, 2024, read the statement required by s. 718.503(2)(e) on whether a milestone inspection, turnover report or reserve study is required and whether it is complete.

Frequently asked questions

Does the seven-day cancellation window start when I sign?

Not by itself. The clause in s. 718.503(2)(d)2 runs the seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, from the date you executed the agreement and your receipt of the listed documents, which the clause describes as requested in writing. Signing with no written request on file leaves the receipt half of that trigger unsettled. The right ends at closing either way.

Can a Florida condo association charge whatever it wants to process my purchase?

No. Under s. 718.112(2)(k) an association may not charge any transfer fee unless it is required to approve the transfer and the fee is provided for in the declaration, articles or bylaws. Where a fee is authorized, DBPR’s published ceiling is $184 per applicant, with spouses, or a parent or parents and any dependent children, counted as one applicant. A cooperative falls under s. 719.106(1)(i), which caps the charge at $100 per applicant.

What if my contract has neither of the required clauses?

Section 718.503(2)(d) makes a contract that does not conform to the paragraph voidable at the option of the purchaser before closing. The same paragraph provides that any purported waiver has no effect and that the right to void terminates at closing, so an omission found after closing is a harder conversation.

Where to go from here

A condo purchase gives you a document package, a counted deadline and a capped fee, all three settled by paperwork that exists before you sign. If you are weighing a resale condo anywhere across our Central Florida service area, book a strategy session with our team at mvphomegroup.com/nelsoncruz. We read the two clauses, the declaration’s approval language and the reserve records first. This is general information about Florida statutes, not legal advice.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration of a mid-rise residential condominium building exterior with stacked balconies, railings and a landscaped entry walk under clear morning light. No readable text or signage. Not a particular property or association.