United States | Self-Managed
Self-Managed HOA: Running a Small Association Without a Management Company
A small HOA or condo association can run itself with a volunteer board. The board then does the work a management company would do, on the deadlines state law sets. Below are the license rules and those deadlines for Florida and Texas, where we read the statutes in full.
The short answer
- A self-managed HOA is run by its own volunteer board, with no management company. The Foundation for Community Association Research estimates 30 to 40 percent of US associations run this way.
- In Florida, a license is needed only to manage for pay an association of more than 10 units or with a budget over $100,000. Texas Chapters 82, 207 and 209 have no manager license rule.
- The board still carries every legal duty: the budget, notices, open meetings, records, resale paperwork, insurance where the law requires it, and fair enforcement.
- Several of those duties have short deadlines, such as 10 business days for a records request in Florida and Texas.
Can an HOA be self-managed?
Yes. State law gives duties to the association and its board, and the board may hire help. The California Department of Real Estate puts it this way: the board may contract with a management company, but "it is the board that is responsible for the oversight of the homeowner association."
The Foundation for Community Association Research, an industry research body, estimates that 30 to 40 percent of US community associations are self-managed, "meaning they may use professional assistance for specific projects, activities, and services, but do not employ a professional manager or management company." Those are its own estimates for 2025.
Do you need a license?
Florida. "Community association management" means tasks such as handling the money, preparing budgets, sending meeting notices and issuing estoppel certificates "when done for remuneration and when the association or associations served contain more than 10 units or have an annual budget or budgets in excess of $100,000" (s. 468.431(2)). Only that work needs a manager's license (s. 468.432). Read together, an unpaid owner board, or a paid manager of an association of 10 or fewer units and a budget of $100,000 or less, is outside the definition. That is our reading of the two sections; ask an attorney before anyone on the board is paid.
Texas. Chapter 209 defines a management company but none of the sections in Chapters 82, 207 or 209 deals with licensing one. Every HOA must record a management certificate naming the person who manages it or its designated representative, and file it with the Texas Real Estate Commission within 7 days (209.004). From September 1, 2025, condo associations file with the Commission too (S.B. 711).
California. We could not open the state's code site to check any manager rule. See the HOA overview for what we could confirm.
What a self-managed board must do
The duties below apply whether or not the association hires a manager. Scroll the table sideways on a phone.
| Duty | Florida | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Annual meeting | Required for HOAs (s. 720.306(2)); 14 days' notice if the bylaws are silent; quorum 30% of voting interests unless the bylaws set less. Condo quorum: a majority unless the bylaws set less. | Required for HOAs, whatever the documents say (209.014). Condos meet at least once a year; owner quorum 20% unless the bylaws differ, never below 10% (82.108, 82.109). |
| Board meetings | Open to members. HOA notice posted 48 hours before, or mailed 7 days before; 14 days for special assessments. Directors cannot vote by email or proxy. | Open to owners, with listed closed sessions. HOA notice mailed 10 to 60 days before, or posted and emailed 144 hours before a regular meeting (72 for a special one). Phone or video meetings allowed. |
| Budget | HOA annual budget with a copy or notice to each member (s. 720.303(6)). Condo budget adopted at least 14 days before the fiscal year starts. | Condo assessments based on a budget adopted at least once a year (82.112). An HOA board must approve the budget in an open meeting (209.0051(h)). |
| Financial report | Within 90 days of year end (HOA); under $150,000 of revenue, a report of cash receipts and spending. | Budget and balance sheet go on the HOA resale certificate (207.003). |
| Records | Open within 10 business days of a written request (HOA); most kept at least 7 years. | Answer within 10 business days, or name a date by the 15th business day; records policy must be recorded before charging copy costs. |
| Paperwork for a sale | Estoppel certificate within 10 business days; fee caps in s. 720.30851. | Resale certificate within 10 business days; fee no more than $375. |
| Money handlers | Insurance or a fidelity bond for everyone who controls or pays out funds, unless members waive it each year (s. 720.3033(5)). | Not set in the chapters we read. |
| State filing | Each director files an education certificate within 90 days of election, then yearly continuing education (s. 720.3033). | Management certificate recorded, then filed with the Texas Real Estate Commission within 7 days (209.004). |
Florida: Chapters 720 and 718 of the 2026 Florida Statutes. Texas: Property Code Chapters 82, 207 and 209, with the amendments effective September 1, 2025.
Rules that change for small associations
- Florida's manager license applies to paid management above 10 units or a $100,000 budget (s. 468.431).
- Florida's structural integrity reserve study and milestone inspection do not apply to "single-family, two-family, three-family, or four-family" dwellings of three or fewer habitable stories (s. 718.112(2)(g); s. 553.899).
- A Florida condo with five or fewer units that is a not-for-profit corporation has a board of not fewer than three if the bylaws are silent (s. 718.112(2)(a)).
- Florida HOAs must post documents on a website only at 100 or more parcels; condos at 25 or more units.
- In Texas, two board members from the same home are allowed in an HOA of fewer than 10 residences (209.00591).
- Texas HOAs must adopt payment plan guidelines only above 14 lots, and follow the records retention schedule only above 14 lots (209.0062, 209.005(m)).
- Texas HOAs and condos must post their governing documents online only at 60 or more lots or units, or when they use a management company (207.006, 82.1142).
Enforcing the rules fairly
A volunteer board has to follow the same steps as a professional one. In Texas, before a fine, a suspension of common area use or a lawsuit other than for assessments, the association must send notice by verified mail that describes the violation, gives a cure period where it can be cured, and tells the owner they may ask for a hearing within 30 days. The hearing is held within 30 days of the request (209.006, 209.007).
In Florida, most disputes over the use of a home or the common areas, covenant enforcement, meetings and records must go to presuit mediation before court; election and recall disputes go to state arbitration or court (s. 720.311). For condos, a party must ask the state for nonbinding arbitration or start presuit mediation before going to court (s. 718.1255).
Best For
- ✓ A duplex, triplex or small condo where one or two owners will keep the books and the calendar, and the others read the reports.
- ✓ An association under Florida's license threshold of 10 units and a $100,000 budget, where volunteers can do the work themselves.
- ✓ Owners who want to keep the management fee out of the budget.
Usually Fails When
- ✕ Nobody tracks the deadlines: notice periods, records requests and resale paperwork.
- ✕ One person holds the bank account and nobody else sees a statement.
- ✕ The board enforces rules without the notice and hearing the state requires.
What To Verify Before Spending Money
- → Your declaration, bylaws and rules, which set board size, terms and many procedures.
- → Your state's current statutes; this page covers Florida and Texas in detail.
- → Whether your association is an HOA or a condominium under state law, because the rules differ.
Common questions
What is a self-managed HOA? +
An HOA or condo association run by its own elected volunteer board, with no management company. The Foundation for Community Association Research describes self-managed associations as ones that "may use professional assistance for specific projects, activities, and services, but do not employ a professional manager or management company."
Can an HOA be self-managed? +
Yes. The California Department of Real Estate says contracting with a management company is something the board may do, and that "it is the board that is responsible for the oversight of the homeowner association." Florida and Texas law set duties for the association and its board, and neither requires a management company.
Do you need a license to manage your own HOA in Florida? +
Florida's license covers community association management "when done for remuneration" for associations of more than 10 units or with a budget over $100,000 (s. 468.431(2)). Reading that definition, an unpaid volunteer board falls outside it. Confirm with an attorney if anyone on your board will be paid.
How do you self-manage an HOA? +
Split the jobs on the board: a treasurer for the bank account, budget and assessments, a secretary for notices, minutes and records. Put every deadline on one calendar: the annual meeting, notice periods, the budget, the financial report, records requests and resale paperwork. Keep the governing documents and the state statute at hand, and follow the notice and hearing steps before any fine.
How many people must be on an HOA board? +
In Florida, "one or more individuals" as the articles or bylaws set (s. 617.0803). A Florida condo board has five members if the bylaws are silent, and not fewer than three in a condo of five or fewer units that is a not-for-profit corporation. A Texas condo board has at least three members after declarant control ends (82.103).
Can two people from the same house sit on a Texas HOA board? +
Not in most HOAs: a person may not serve if they live in the same main home as another board member. This rule "does not apply to an association with fewer than 10 residences" (209.00591(a-3)).
Do self-managed HOA board members need training? +
In Florida, yes. Each HOA director must file a certificate of approved education within 90 days of being elected or appointed, and complete at least 4 hours of continuing education each year in an association of fewer than 2,500 parcels (s. 720.3033). Condo directors take a course of at least 4 hours and then at least 1 hour a year.
Can an HOA board meet by video? +
In Texas, yes, if every board member can hear and be heard, owners can listen, and the notice says how to join (209.0051(c-2)). From September 1, 2025, Texas also lets HOA owner meetings and condo meetings be held by electronic or telephone means (S.B. 2629).
How fast must a self-managed HOA answer a records request? +
Florida HOA: within 10 business days of a written request, with minimum damages of $50 a day for up to 10 days for a willful failure. Texas HOA: on or before the 10th business day, or with notice of a date no later than the 15th business day.
Does a small HOA need reserves? +
In Florida an HOA budget "may include reserve accounts", and reserves become required once a majority of all voting interests approves them (s. 720.303(6)). A Florida condo budget must include reserves. Florida's structural integrity reserve study does not apply to two to four family dwellings of three or fewer stories.
When should a small HOA hire a manager? +
When no owner has the time to meet the deadlines, or owners do not trust one another with the money. In Florida, a paid manager for an association above 10 units or a $100,000 budget must be licensed. In Texas, the management certificate names whoever manages the association.
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