You got an HOA letter about your driveway. Here is what Florida law actually says.

First: it is not a lawsuit

This guide is for a homeowner who has just opened a violation letter from a Florida homeowners' association about a stained driveway.

The letter is not a judgment. Before a fine can be imposed there is a process the statute defines. Knowing what that process actually requires makes the difference between paying something you did not owe and clearing it.

What your association can and cannot do

Florida Statute §720.305 governs fines and suspensions for homeowners' associations, and it sets limits on both.

§720.305 sets two limits and attaches the same condition to both. A fine may not exceed $100 per violation, and for a continuing violation the board may levy a fine for each day it continues, on a single notice and opportunity for hearing, up to $1,000 in the aggregate — in each case "unless otherwise provided in the governing documents". That clause matters: both figures are the statute's defaults, not universal ceilings. Read your association's governing documents before assuming either one applies to you.

A fine cannot be imposed without notice, and neither can a suspension for a violation. The statute requires at least 14 days' written notice of the parcel owner's right to a hearing. And the hearing must be held within 90 days after that notice is issued — which is the provision worth remembering: once the notice is out, the hearing has a deadline. The statute also says what a cure does: if a violation has been cured before the hearing, or in the manner specified in the written notice of the right to a hearing or in the written notice the committee sends after the hearing, a fine or suspension may not be imposed. Suspensions for being more than 90 days late on money owed to the association are a separate track: for those the statute says these notice and hearing requirements do not apply, and it requires approval at a properly noticed board meeting.

The committee that has to approve a fine

A fine, or a suspension for a violation, cannot be imposed by the board alone. The statute requires a committee of at least three members appointed by the board who are not officers, directors, or employees of the association — and not the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of an officer, director, or employee.

If that committee, by majority vote, does not approve the proposed fine or suspension, it may not be imposed. The committee's role is limited: it confirms or rejects what the board levied. It cannot invent a different penalty.

This is a genuine check, and the statute has another. Under §720.305(2)(e), if a violation has been cured before the hearing, a fine or suspension may not be imposed. Where a violation is not cured, the fine depends on the committee: if the committee, by majority vote, does not approve it, it may not be imposed, and if the committee approves it, paragraph (2)(f) has the committee set the date by which the fine must be paid. This section describes what the statute says; it is not legal advice.

In Polk County and part of Lake County, one more rule sits above the association right now: the water shortage order

There is a second document in play, and your letter may not mention it. The Southwest Florida Water Management District has a Modified Phase III water shortage order in force. By the District's own description it applies to all of Polk County, and after two extensions it runs through 31 March 2027. We last read the District's page on 3 October 2026.

Two of the District's published texts bear on a letter like yours. The District's published restrictions say that no HOA or other entity shall enforce deed restrictions or other community standards requiring an increase in surface water, potable or domestic well water use, and the sentence names pressure washing. The District's question-and-answer sheet then says pressure washing driveways, sidewalks and other impervious surfaces is allowed for necessary maintenance, and gives the examples: maintaining a warranty, or removing mold, mildew and other potentially hazardous material that cannot be removed by mechanical means such as a broom or leaf blower. Its next sentence is the one to underline: compliance with homeowner association or other aesthetic standards does not constitute necessary maintenance.

Put together, the District's published texts draw a line close to the one this article draws further down. Growth on the concrete is one thing; how the concrete looks is another. Removing mildew that cannot be removed by mechanical means is one of the District's examples of necessary maintenance. Meeting a homeowner association or other aesthetic standard, the District says, is not, and the District's HOA sentence names pressure washing among the things an association shall not enforce when its standard requires an increase in water use. None of that is a reason to ignore a letter, and none of it is legal advice. It is a reason to read what the letter actually cites, and to ask the association how it squares the demand with the District's restrictions before the cure period runs out.

Two cautions. The District's own restrictions page words the allowance more narrowly than its question-and-answer sheet does — "Pressure washing in preparation for painting and sealing is allowed" — and Polk County's utilities page words it differently again: "Annual pressure washing or in preparation for painting and sealing is allowed". The county page also encourages customers of other utilities within Polk County to review their own municipality's restrictions, because its watering days or hours may be stricter than the county utility's, and the City of Davenport runs its own water utility. We quote those texts and do not referee them: the utility that bills your water is the one to ask. And a water shortage order can change. This one has been extended twice, so check the District's page for the version in force on the day of the work.

In the part of Lake County inside the St. Johns River Water Management District the document is a different one. There a Phase III order has been in force since 11 May 2026 with no end date, and the District said on 21 September 2026 that it remains in effect. It makes a similar distinction in harder words: washing driveways and sidewalks is allowed for necessary maintenance, such as removing mold and mildew that cannot be removed by mechanical means; compliance with homeowner association or other aesthetic standards does not constitute necessary maintenance; and no homeowners association or property manager shall enforce deed restrictions or community standards that would cause a violation of the order.

What the letter actually wants

Read the notice for the specific condition cited. "Mildew," "algae," "staining," and "unsightly" describe different things and sometimes different surfaces, so check whether the letter means the driveway itself or the walkway, the entry, or the roofline visible from the street.

Note any date the letter gives for correcting the condition, and correct it by then if you can. That is the outcome you want.

Photograph the condition before you clean it. If there is any dispute later about whether the driveway was cleaned or whether the cited condition existed at all, a dated before-and-after is worth more than any amount of correspondence.

Why Davenport driveways stain the way they do

The dark patches are organic growth, not dirt. Humidity, rain and irrigation overspray keep concrete damp long enough for algae and mildew to establish, and light broom-finished concrete shows every bit of it.

Rust is a different problem with a different cause: irrigation water carrying iron, which leaves orange staining that no amount of pressure will remove because it is a chemical stain rather than a growth. Fertilizer with iron content does the same thing along the edges. Treating rust like algae — hitting it harder — does nothing except wear the concrete.

Cleaning it, and keeping the letter from coming back

Concrete driveways handle direct pressure well — this is the one surface where pressure washing is genuinely the right tool, and surface cleaners produce an even finish rather than the striping a wand leaves behind. Pavers and travertine are a different conversation, and stucco or painted surfaces should never be treated the way concrete is.

One adjustment costs nothing: check where your sprinklers are actually landing. A head watering the driveway edge keeps that edge wet, and wet concrete is where the staining comes back.

For rentals and second homes, ask about a standing cleaning interval: the association's timeline does not care whether the owner is in Florida that month.

If you want it handled before the cure period runs out, we give free estimates — in person or by text — and reply within four hours.