Regulatory Council of Community Association Managers

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Licensing requirement for Community Association Management Firms

Effective Jan. 1, 2009, all Community Association Management (CAM) Firms must be licensed by the department. Florida Statutes define the term "Community association management" to mean management of community associations for compensation when the association or associations served contain more than 10 units or have an annual budget or budgets in excess of $100,000. Florida Statutes define the term "community association management firm" to mean a business that engages in the business of community association management as defined above.

Although the law became effective at the first of the year, as of November we are seeing that many CAM Firms have not yet applied for licensure. Applications are available on the Web site.

The new CAM firm licenses will be renewed on Sept. 30 of odd-numbered years. Management firms that were previously registered with the department must be licensed if they are currently providing CAM services.

A CAM Firm that is operating without a license will be considered to be conducting unlicensed activity and the department will take appropriate regulatory action. The penalty range is a minimum of $1,000 to a maximum of $5,000. Additionally, each management firm seeking licensure with the department must designate at least one Community Association Manager (CAM) who will respond to inquiries from and investigations by the department. If the management firm does not employ at least one licensed CAM, the management firm’s license will be invalid during that time period. The consequence for operating an unlicensed CAM firm can result in a monetary fine, reprimand, or revocation of the license. You may review frequently asked questions relative to the licensing of management firms at the following link: http://www.myflorida.com/dbpr/pro/cam/faq.html.

Licensing requirement change for Community Association Managers

Florida Statutes define the term "Community association management" to mean management of community associations for compensation when the association or associations served contain more than 10 units or have an annual budget or budgets in excess of $100,000. If you provide this service, a Community Association Manager license is required. The threshold from 50 units to 10 units is a recent change that became effective October 1, 2008 when House Bill 995, which sets forth this requirement, was signed into law. You may review CAM FAQs at:

http://www.myflorida.com/dbpr/pro/cam/documents/cam_faq.pdf.