What should our HOA board do when mold shows up in a common area?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 28, 2026

How an HOA board handles mold in common areas: stop the water, measure the growth, hire licensed help in TX and FL, notify residents, and keep the records.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Mold on a hallway ceiling, a clubhouse wall or a crawlspace joist is a water problem first. Find the moisture and stop it, then measure how much surface the growth covers. That number decides who is allowed to clean it. In Texas, remediation of 25 contiguous square feet or more needs a licensed company. Florida's licensing law covers mold jobs larger than 10 square feet. EPA's guidance treats about 10 square feet as the most a nonprofessional should take on. Tell the residents who use the space, keep every report, and treat the leak repair and the mold cleanup as two separate jobs with two invoices. This guide covers areas the association maintains: common elements in a condominium, and shared buildings such as a clubhouse or pool house in a homeowners association. Mold inside a unit raises a different cost question, which our guide on who pays for mold remediation in an HOA covers. Rules vary by state and by your declaration, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

Why the association owns this problem

Texas Property Code 82.107(a), Florida Statutes 718.113(1) and Colorado's section 38-33.3-307(1) each make the association responsible for maintaining, repairing and replacing the common elements unless the declaration says otherwise. Growth on a common wall or in a shared attic falls under that duty, and so does the leak feeding it. The source is often inside a unit: a slow drain under a sink that wets the corridor wall, or a bathroom fan venting into the attic. The Texas and Colorado sections require each owner to give the association access through the unit when reasonably necessary for maintenance. Florida's 718.111(5)(a) gives the association an irrevocable right of access during reasonable hours to repair common elements or prevent damage to them or to a unit. Florida also covers the vacant unit that keeps feeding a problem. Under 718.111(5)(b), the board may enter a unit presumed abandoned and repair it if mold or deterioration is present. Except in an emergency, the association must first mail or hand-deliver notice and wait 2 days. The cost can be charged to that owner and collected like an assessment. A unit counts as presumed abandoned only on the statute's tests, such as 2 consecutive months with no apparent occupant and no way to reach the owner after reasonable inquiry, so document how you tried.

The first 72 hours

Start with the water, not the stain. Call the plumber, roofer or HVAC company whose system is the likely cause, and ask them to write down what failed. Common culprits in shared buildings are roof flashing, a clogged condensate line, a leaking supply line in a chase wall, a crawlspace with no vapor barrier, and a clubhouse where someone shut off the air conditioning for the winter. Dry what got wet. EPA says wet materials dried within 24 to 48 hours usually will not grow mold, and it recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60 percent, ideally between 30 and 50. A rented or bought dehumidifier running in a closed clubhouse costs far less than a remediation contract. Then measure. Put a tape measure in every photo, add up the visible growth, and write down the total in square feet and whether it forms one patch. Close the room or hallway section if you can and post a sign. Do not let a volunteer spray bleach and paint over it. EPA notes that porous materials such as ceiling tile and carpet may have to be thrown away once they are moldy. A painted-over wall also hides the evidence an insurer or assessor will want to see.

Who may do the work in Texas and Florida

Texas licenses mold work under Occupations Code chapter 1958, run by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Section 1958.101 requires a license for mold assessment and a separate one for remediation. Section 1958.102(c) lets anyone remediate an area where the contamination covers less than 25 contiguous square feet. Section 1958.102(a) lets an owner or its employee assess or remediate the owner's own property without a license, but the exemption ends once the contamination covers 25 contiguous square feet or more. S.B. 1255, effective September 1, 2025, amended this section, and subsection (e) now exempts an owner of residential property with fewer than 10 dwelling units. Whether that reaches an association's common areas depends on your facts, so ask TDLR or the association's attorney before relying on it. Two more Texas rules matter to boards. Section 1958.155 bars one license holder from doing both the assessment and the remediation on the same project, and bars anyone from owning both companies. Section 1958.154 requires the remediator to deliver a certificate of mold remediation within 10 days of finishing, signed off by the assessor, and the certificate notes whether the underlying cause was fixed. If the association ever sells the property, it must give the buyer copies of every certificate from the prior 5 years. Section 1958.156 also requires the remediator to give the owner its before and after photographs within 10 days. Florida licenses mold assessors and remediators through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation under Part XVI of chapter 468. Section 468.8411 defines both jobs as work on growth greater than 10 square feet. Under 468.8419, an assessor may not remediate a structure it assessed within the prior 12 months, a remediator may not assess one it remediated in that window, and an assessor's fee may not depend on what the assessment concludes. Section 468.8421 requires each to carry at least $1 million in general liability coverage, and 468.8422 requires a written, signed contract. In Colorado and other states, ask the state licensing agency whether mold work needs a license. Where none applies, EPA's guidance and your contract set the standard.

Hiring the assessor and the remediator

Hire the assessor yourself, before any remediator walks the site. An assessor the remediator brings along has a reason to find more work. Ask for a written protocol that lists each affected area, the quantity of material to remove, the method, and the clearance criteria the job must meet. Texas section 1958.151(b) requires those items in the work analysis for a licensed project, and they make a good checklist anywhere. Skip the lab panel when the growth is visible. EPA says that in most cases, if visible mold is present, sampling is unnecessary, because there are no federal limits to compare results against. Air or surface samples earn their cost at clearance, or when the source is hidden or a dispute is likely. Send the protocol to at least two remediation companies so every bid prices the same scope. Our guide on how to write an HOA request for proposal shows how to set that up. Make the scope say who rebuilds the drywall and ceiling afterward, since many remediators stop at removal. EPA's commercial building guidance calls for full containment on areas larger than 100 square feet. Check each license on the TDLR or DBPR lookup and get a certificate of insurance before work starts. Report the water loss to the master policy carrier promptly and read the policy's mold section. Many property policies exclude mold or cap it with a sublimit, but the water damage that caused it may still be covered, and a late report can cost you both.

What to tell residents

EPA's commercial guidance tells building managers to communicate with occupants when mold problems are found. Silence breeds rumors, and a closed hallway with plastic sheeting gets noticed. Post the notice where the work is and send it by email. Wording you can adapt: 'On [date], the association found mold on the drywall behind the [clubhouse kitchen sink]. A [leaking supply line] caused it and was repaired on [date]. The [room] will stay closed while a licensed assessor inspects it and a separate licensed company removes the affected material, expected [dates]. Residents who are sensitive to mold may prefer to avoid the building until the work passes clearance. The board will post the clearance result when it arrives. Questions go to [director and contact].' State what happened and what comes next. Do not tell residents the mold is harmless, and do not guess at health effects. Neither is the board's call to make.

A sample timeline and motion

Day 0: report received, photos taken with a tape measure, area closed. Days 0 to 2: source repaired, drying equipment running, carrier notified. Day 3: board decides from the measurement. Under about 10 square feet, maintenance can clean it following EPA's small-area guidance, with an N-95 respirator, gloves and goggles at minimum. Anything larger, or anything over your state's licensing line, goes to an assessor, even in Texas, where staff may legally clean patches under 25 contiguous square feet. Weeks 1 to 2: assessment and written protocol. Weeks 2 to 4: remediation bids and contract. Weeks 3 to 6: remediation, then clearance by the assessor. After clearance: rebuild, resident notice, and the certificate and photos filed in the association's permanent records. A motion to adapt: 'The board authorizes the president to engage [company], a licensed mold assessment company with no ownership ties to any remediation bidder, for up to $[amount] to assess mold in [area], and to keep [area] closed until the assessor issues a written clearance.'

Mistakes boards make with mold

Cleaning the growth before fixing the leak, then paying for the same wall twice. Painting over it. Letting the remediation company do its own assessment, which Texas forbids and Florida limits. Buying air tests to prove what everyone can already see. Throwing out the remediation certificate, which a Texas association needs if it ever sells the property. Promising residents there is no health risk. And closing the file without asking why the moisture got there. If the same roof valley or condensate line keeps leaking, ask whether the reserve study funds replacing it.

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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