How does a Florida HOA board keep its covenants from lapsing under the Marketable Record Title Act?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 8, 2026

How a Florida HOA board finds its 30-year MRTA date, records a notice under section 720.3032, tells members, and what to do if covenants have already lapsed.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

Vote at your next board meeting to record a preservation notice in the county official records, then record it. Florida's Marketable Record Title Act, chapter 712, can wipe out recorded covenants about 30 years after a lot's root of title, and nobody sends a warning. That includes the clause that lets you charge assessments. Section 720.3032 gives associations a one-form notice. An officer signs it, a notary acknowledges it, the clerk records it, and a copy goes out with the next member mailing. It preserves the covenants for at least another 30 years. For most boards this is one agenda item and a small recording charge, and it is far cheaper than reviving covenants after they lapse. This guide covers Florida only. Other states use different clocks, which our guide on whether CC&Rs expire compares. It is education, not legal advice. Have a Florida community association attorney check the notice, especially if your declaration is near or past 30 years old.

Why the clock is hard to see

Section 712.02 gives a person marketable title once the record shows a title transaction at least 30 years old. Section 712.04 then says that title is free of covenants and restrictions that depend on anything before the root of title. Section 712.01(6) defines the root as the last title transaction recorded at least 30 years before the date marketability is being determined. Nothing in chapter 712 exempts a declaration just because it says it runs forever, and section 712.05(3) says lack of knowledge does not suspend the period. The root is figured lot by lot, so different lots can reach the line at different times. Here is an example. A declaration is recorded in May 1998. The builder deeds Lot 12 to its first buyer in June 1998, and the deed says only "subject to restrictions of record." In June 2028, that deed can become Lot 12's root of title, and the declaration came before it. Section 712.03 lists the ways a covenant survives. The two a board should check: - A deed from the root forward that preserves the covenant by specific reference, such as official records book and page, instrument number or plat name in the legal description. "Restrictions of record" is the kind of general wording that may not do it. - A proper notice recorded under chapter 712. This is the one the board controls. Do not spend money tracing 100 chains of title to find out which lots are safe. Record the notice.

Work out your date

Pull the declaration and every amendment and supplement from the county clerk's official records search. Write down the recording date of the original declaration, plus the book and page or instrument number of each document. Then use the 30th anniversary of the declaration's recording as your working deadline, since a deed recorded right after it could become a root that soon. - Recorded in the last 25 years or so: preserve now anyway. It is cheap, and the people who would remember in 2050 are not on your board. - Within about 5 years of the 30th anniversary: make it this year's job. - Past the 30th anniversary, with no notice on record: search the official records for an earlier notice or an amendment naming the original recording. If you find neither, call the attorney before the next assessment bill and before any lien. An amendment can count. Section 712.05(2)(b) accepts an amendment indexed under the association's legal name that references the recording information of the covenant being preserved. Many older amendments don't do both, so check rather than assume.

Put it on the right agenda

Section 720.303(2)(e) already requires this discussion. At the first board meeting after the annual meeting, not counting the organizational meeting, the board must consider whether to file notices to preserve covenants, and to authorize and direct the appropriate officer to file under section 720.3032. Boards miss this every year because it sits in the middle of the board meeting statute. You don't have to wait for that meeting if your date is close. Any properly noticed board meeting works. Sample motion: "I move that the board authorize and direct the president to sign and record, in the official records of [county] County, a notice under section 720.3032, Florida Statutes, to preserve the declaration recorded at Official Records Book [ ], Page [ ], with all amendments and supplements, from extinguishment under chapter 712, and to include a copy of the recorded notice in the next notice of meeting or mailing to all members." Record the vote of each director in the minutes, as section 720.303(3) requires.

Choose the notice and fill it out

Section 712.05(2) gives three routes: a full written notice under 712.06, the summary notice in 720.3032(2), or an amendment as described above. Use the summary notice unless your attorney has a reason not to. The full notice adds the owner's name and address, or an affidavit that a Statement of Marketable Title Action went to members, and you get no extra benefit for that work. Copy the form from section 720.3032(2) closely. It asks for: 1. The association's legal name. Match the Division of Corporations record exactly. If the corporation shows as dissolved, fix that first, using our guide on reinstating a dissolved HOA corporation. 2. Mailing and physical addresses. 3. Names of the subdivision plats, or the common name of the community if there are none. 4. Name, address and phone number of any management company. 5. A statement that the notice does constitute a notice to preserve covenants under chapter 712. 6. Each covenant being preserved, with its book and page. 7. The legal description, which can be a reference to a recorded plat. Then the association's name, the date, the officer's name and title, and a notary acknowledgment. The form also tells the recorder to index both the association's legal name and the names in item 3. Item 6 is where boards slip. List the original declaration, every amendment, and any supplement that added a phase. In item 7, list every plat. A phase left out is a phase left exposed.

Record it and tell the members

Under section 720.3032(4), the original signed notice goes to the clerk of the circuit court or other county recorder. Subsection (1) calls for recording in each county where the community sits, so a community across a county line records twice. Ask the clerk's office for the current charge. The notice is short, so the cost is small. Under 720.3032(3), a copy of the notice as filed must go out with the next notice of meeting or other mailing to all members. Section 712.05 spares the association and the clerk the separate mailing or publication other chapter 712 claimants must arrange, and failure to index a summary notice to current owners doesn't undo it. Once recorded: - Search the clerk's index by the association's name and confirm it appears. - Put the recorded copy in the official records with the declaration. - Mail the copy and keep proof of the mailing. - Add a date to the board calendar 25 years out. Section 712.05(3) preserves the covenants for not less than 30 years after filing, and a future board has to file again.

If some lots may have already lapsed

A late notice does not appear to bring back a lot whose covenants already lapsed, since section 712.05 ties the notice to the 30-year period. As we read it, it can still protect lots whose clock is running, so record it while you talk to counsel. For lapsed lots, sections 720.403 through 720.407 allow a revival: - An organizing committee of at least three parcel owners prepares the revived declaration, articles and bylaws. Under 720.404(3), the covenants generally can't be more restrictive than the old ones. - The full text and a depiction of the property go to all affected owners at least 14 days before consent is sought (720.405(5)). - A majority of affected owners must agree in writing or vote at a noticed meeting, with proof certified by a court reporter or attorney (720.405(6)). - The committee submits the package to the Florida Department of Commerce within 60 days, and the department has 60 days to decide (720.406). - Approved articles are filed within 30 days if not already on file, and the president and secretary record the documents within 30 days after that. A full copy then goes to every affected owner (720.407). Once recorded, a revived declaration binds every affected parcel, including owners who voted no. For parcels that had already lapsed, it isn't retroactive and takes priority only from the recording date, under 720.407(4). Plan on months and legal fees, and get the attorney in before you bill or lien a lot with an open title question.

Mistakes that undo the work

- Assuming "perpetual" or "automatically renews" in the declaration handles it. - Listing the original declaration and leaving out later phases and amendments. - Using a trade name in place of the corporation's legal name. - Skipping the notary. Section 720.3032(1)(h) requires an acknowledged officer signature. - Recording in one county when the plats sit in two. - Letting each new board assume the last one took care of it. Put a line in the annual calendar for the first meeting after the annual meeting: "720.303(2)(e): notice recorded on [date], book and page [ ], next review [year]." If you are also amending the declaration soon, don't delay the notice waiting for the vote.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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