A delinquent assessment or unresolved covenant violation gets the board asking the same question a week later: what rights can the association actually suspend, and for how long. The answer lives in F.S. 720.305(4), which sets the two categories, the preconditions, and the procedural limits. Suspensions that skip the preconditions tend to surface in pre-suit mediation demands under F.S. 720.311; suspensions that skip the procedure tend to surface in litigation over selective enforcement.

Two categories, two triggers

F.S. 720.305(4) authorizes two distinct suspension types.

Common-area use rights. The association may suspend a member or tenant from using common-area facilities (pool, clubhouse, tennis courts, gym) for any of three reasons:

1. A monetary obligation that is more than 90 days past due, including unpaid assessments, fines, or any other charge owed to the association.
2. A failure to comply with the governing documents that the association has reasonably determined justifies suspension.
3. A repeated or ongoing violation that the member has refused to cure after notice.

Common-area-use suspension may not deny a member or tenant access to limited common areas that serve the member's parcel (for example, a private driveway), utilities, or emergency or safety services.

Voting rights. The association may suspend a member's voting rights if the member is delinquent in paying a monetary obligation for more than 90 days. Suspension ends when the delinquency is cured.

"What procedure does the statute require?"

Four preconditions for any suspension under F.S. 720.305(4):

1. Board-meeting vote. Suspensions require a majority vote of the board at a properly noticed meeting. Suspension by a single director or by a management-company memo is not authorized.
2. Written notice to the member. The notice must describe the basis for the suspension and the duration or the cure condition that will lift it.
3. No fine-hearing overlap. Suspension under F.S. 720.305(4) is independent of the fine-committee hearing under F.S. 720.305(2). A suspension does not require a hearing; a fine does. Running the two together is a common procedural slip.
4. Proportionality. The suspension must reasonably relate to the violation. A board that suspends pool use for an unpainted mailbox invites a selective-enforcement defense.

"What cannot be suspended?"

Three lines the statute draws hard:

1. Limited common areas serving the parcel. A private driveway, a parcel-specific walkway, or the member's own mail kiosk are outside the suspension power.
2. Utilities, emergency access, and safety services. Water, power, sewer, gated access for emergency vehicles, and any safety-critical common element are not suspendable.
3. Due-process adjacent rights. Access to records under F.S. 720.303(5), the right to submit a pre-suit mediation demand under F.S. 720.311, and the right to run for the board cannot be conditioned on a suspension.

"How long can a suspension last?"

The statute does not set a fixed cap. Two tests apply:

1. Cure condition for money-based suspensions. If the suspension is triggered by delinquency, it must lift when the delinquency is cured, period. A board that refuses to reinstate after payment clears is creating a new violation of the statute.
2. Reasonable duration for covenant-based suspensions. Case law under F.S. 720.305(1) treats "reasonable" as proportionate to the violation. A three-year pool suspension for a one-time guest-pass violation is not reasonable; a 30-day suspension for a repeated after-hours violation is generally defensible.

"What's the CAM workflow for a clean suspension?"

Six-step checklist:

1. Confirm the basis. Money category requires a 90+ day delinquency check against the current ledger. Covenant category requires a documented violation notice in the record.
2. Agenda the suspension vote on a properly noticed board meeting. Not a closed session, not a committee vote.
3. Document the vote in the meeting minutes with the specific basis cited.
4. Send written notice to the member with the statutory basis, the effective date, and the cure condition.
5. For money-based suspensions, set a ledger-cleared alert to auto- lift the suspension when the delinquency clears.
6. For covenant-based suspensions, calendar the review date so the board does not drift past "reasonable duration" territory.

"What happens if the association gets it wrong?"

Three common failure modes and their consequences:

1. Suspension without a board vote. The suspension is void; the association cannot recover gate-access costs, and a selective- enforcement defense gets traction in any downstream covenant- enforcement case.
2. Suspending a limited common area serving the parcel. Creates a counter-claim in any collection suit + potential Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act exposure when utility access is involved.
3. Refusing to reinstate after cure. Converts a defensible statutory suspension into a standalone F.S. 720.305(1) violation the member can bring directly.

Why this post exists

HOAStream surfaces F.S. 720.305(4) alongside the community's delinquency ledger and active-violation register in under 500 milliseconds, so a board can verify whether a proposed suspension falls inside the statute before the vote. Nothing in this post or in the product is legal advice. For a specific dispute where a suspension is being challenged, a retained Florida HOA attorney is the right call.

If you want the full F.S. 720.305(4) workflow alongside your community's ledger + violation register, sign up at /cam or /board.