Mandatory disclosures: energy efficiency, HOA, property tax, building code, and community development district

Florida disclosures: match the subject to the deadline

Florida buyers need information about future costs and property conditions before becoming bound. Match each disclosure to its trigger, timing, and form; these requirements are not interchangeable.

Energy efficiency: For real property with a building for occupancy, information about the option for an energy-efficiency rating must be provided at or before the purchaser executes the sale contract. Section 553.996 requires information about interpreting ratings, comparisons with statewide averages for the building class, improvement methods, and possible energy-efficient mortgages for residential purchasers. It requires information about an option, not completion of a rating.

Mandatory homeowners' association: Under section 720.401, the prospective parcel owner receives the summary before signing. The developer supplies it, or the selling parcel owner does in a nondeveloper sale. The contract incorporates the summary and prominently warns the buyer to read it before signing. The summary addresses mandatory membership, covenants, assessments, potential liens, possible facility fees, and governing documents. If timely delivery is missed, the buyer may cancel by written notice to the seller or the seller's agent or representative within three days after receipt or before closing, whichever comes first. The right cannot be waived and ends at closing. This section does not govern associations regulated under the listed condominium, cooperative, timeshare, or mobile-home chapters.

Property taxes: Section 689.261 requires the residential property tax summary at or before contract execution. Unless included in substantially similar form in the contract, the seller supplies an attached summary that the contract incorporates with a prominent read-before-signing statement. The seller's tax bill is not a reliable prediction of the buyer's next-year taxes: ownership changes or improvements can trigger reassessment and higher taxes. Direct valuation questions to the county property appraiser.

Community development district: Section 190.048 covers initial parcel and residential-unit sale contracts after the district is established. Its prescribed notice goes immediately before the buyer's signature space, in bold, conspicuous type larger than the remaining contract text. District taxes or assessments fund public facilities and services, are set annually, and are additional to other taxes and assessments.

Building code: Section 553.73 places code enforcement, interpretation, and regulation with the specified local board or agency. It covers construction systems and standards; it does not supply a universal sale-contract disclosure form. Under Florida's residential disclosure duty, disclose known facts materially affecting residential property value that are not readily observable and are unknown to the buyer, including qualifying code problems. Investigate permit or compliance concerns through the local building authority.

These are lesson summaries, not substitutes for statutory disclosure wording. Listing-related provisions of section 689.261 take effect February 1, 2027.