Can a Condo Association Force You to Sell?

In Florida, effectively yes. Under s. 718.117 a plan of termination approved by 80 percent of the total voting interests ends the condominium and converts every unit into a share of the sale proceeds - but 5 percent of the voting interests can stop it, and homestead owners have a statutory price floor.

Published August 28, 2026

In Florida the answer is effectively yes, and the mechanism is not a forced sale of your unit — it is the termination of the condominium itself. Under s. 718.117, Florida Statutes, a plan of termination approved by at least 80 percent of the total voting interests winds up the condominium form of ownership and converts every unit into a share of the proceeds. But 5 percent or more of the total voting interests can defeat it, and an owner with homestead status has a statutory price floor.

This is worth understanding before you buy, not after a plan lands in your mailbox. It is the one condominium risk that is not about maintenance, reserves or assessments — and unlike those, no inspection will surface it.

The mechanism, plainly

A condominium is a legal structure laid over a parcel of land. Termination dissolves that structure. The land and improvements are then dealt with as a whole — typically sold to a single buyer — and the proceeds are allocated among the former unit owners.

You are not being asked to sell your unit to your neighbors. You are being told the thing you own an interest in is ceasing to exist in its current legal form. The distinction matters because it explains why an 80 percent threshold can bind the other 20 percent at all.

The two numbers that decide it

80 percent approves. Section 718.117(3) requires approval by at least 80 percent of the total voting interests of the condominium for an optional termination.

5 percent can stop it. The same subsection provides that if 5 percent or more of the total voting interests have rejected the plan by negative vote or by providing written objections, the plan may not proceed.

Read those together and the practical threshold is tighter than “80 percent wins”. A plan needs 80 percent affirmative and fewer than 5 percent objecting. In a 300-unit tower, fifteen owners who file written objections are enough. That is a meaningfully low bar, and it is the single most useful fact in this article for an owner who does not want to sell: the objection has to be made, in writing, and counted. Silence is not a vote against.

What happens if it fails

The statute imposes cooling-off periods rather than allowing an indefinite grind. Under s. 718.117(3)(a)2., after a rejection a subsequent plan under that subsection may not be considered for 24 months from the date of rejection. Section 718.117(9) provides that where a plan fails to receive the required approval, a new attempt may not be proposed at a meeting or by solicitation for joinder and consent for 18 months after that date.

So a defeated plan buys real time. It does not settle the question permanently, and if the economics that motivated it are structural — land value materially exceeding the value of the building standing on it — it will return.

The bulk owner scenario, which is the one to actually worry about

The harder case is not neighbors voting together. It is a single party accumulating units until it holds the threshold itself. Section 718.117(3)(c) applies heightened requirements where at least 80 percent of the total voting interests are owned by a bulk owner, and those requirements are the real protections in this statute:

• You can stay for a year. A former unit owner occupying the unit may lease it back and remain in possession for 12 months after termination, on terms equivalent to the prior arrangement.
• Homestead owners have a price floor. A former unit owner whose unit was granted homestead exemption status receives at least the original purchase price paid for the unit.
• Plus a relocation payment. That homestead owner is also paid a relocation payment equal to 1 percent of the termination proceeds allocated to their former unit.
• Your mortgage gets paid. The plan must provide for payment of a first mortgage encumbering a unit to the extent necessary to satisfy the lien.

Note what the homestead floor is and is not. It is your original purchase price — not today's value, not what the unit next door sold for last year, and not what you have spent on it since. For an owner who bought recently that is close to whole. For an owner who bought a long time ago it can be well below current market. And the protection attaches to homestead status, so an investor-owned unit does not have it at all.

That is the honest downside case, and it does not appear on any listing: in a building where a single party is buying up units, a long-held homestead unit and a recently purchased investment unit sit in materially different positions if a termination is proposed, and neither owner is usually told so at the time they buy.

How you would spot this before you buy

There is no register of buildings at risk of termination, and I would distrust anyone who claims to have one. What there is:

1. Board minutes. Twelve months of them are posted records for any association of 25 or more units, and any official record must be produced within 10 working days of a written request under s. 718.111(12). Approaches from bulk purchasers surface here first. Reading minutes properly is a skill in itself — see the 2026 Florida condo law guide for what else they give away.
2. Ownership concentration. County records show who owns what. A single entity holding a growing share of a building is a fact, not an inference.
3. The gap between land and building. Termination economics are driven by an older, lower-density building sitting on land that would support considerably more. A newer tower that has already built out its density is a poor candidate; a low-rise on a large waterfront parcel is the classic one.
4. Deferred capital cost. A building facing large structural repair is easier to persuade. This is where termination risk and the reserve study and milestone inspection picture stop being separate questions.

My view

I think this is under-discussed relative to how much money turns on it, and over-dramatized when it is discussed. The 5 percent objection right is genuinely strong and genuinely underused, because most owners do not know it exists and assume a supermajority has already settled matters. If you own in a building where this comes up, the operative advice is short: object in writing, on time, and keep proof.

For a buyer, the useful move is not to avoid every building where a termination is conceivable — that would rule out a lot of well-located property. It is to know which side of the homestead line you will be on, and to read the minutes before you write the offer rather than after.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage is needed to terminate a condominium in Florida?

At least 80 percent of the total voting interests must approve the plan of termination under s. 718.117(3), and the plan cannot proceed if 5 percent or more of the total voting interests reject it by negative vote or written objection.

Can I refuse to sell my condo if the building votes to terminate?

Not individually. Termination dissolves the condominium and converts unit ownership into a share of the proceeds. Your leverage is exercised through the objection right, which is why it must be in writing and on the record.

Will I get market value for my unit?

Allocation of proceeds is governed by the plan. Where a bulk owner holds at least 80 percent, a former owner whose unit had homestead exemption status must receive at least the original purchase price paid for the unit, plus a relocation payment of 1 percent of the proceeds allocated to that unit. A unit without homestead status does not carry that floor.

What happens to my mortgage?

In the bulk owner scenario the plan must provide for payment of a first mortgage encumbering a unit to the extent necessary to satisfy the lien.

How long do I have to move out?

Where at least 80 percent is held by a bulk owner, an occupying former unit owner may lease the former unit and remain in possession for 12 months following termination on equivalent terms.

If a termination attempt fails, can they try again immediately?

No. Section 718.117(3)(a)2. bars a subsequent plan under that subsection for 24 months after a rejection, and s. 718.117(9) bars a new attempt by meeting or solicitation for 18 months where a plan failed to obtain the required approval.

Is this legal advice?

No. I am a licensed real estate sales associate, not an attorney. Section 718.117 is detailed, was amended as recently as ch. 2025-175, Laws of Florida, and its application turns on your building's declaration and the specific plan proposed. If a termination is live in your building, retain a Florida community association attorney immediately — the objection deadlines are not forgiving.

Work with Stefania

Want to know whether a building you are considering has this sitting under it? I will pull twelve months of board minutes and the association's correspondence records, check county ownership records for concentration in a single entity, read the reserve study and milestone position against the building's density and land area, and put the question of any bulk-purchase approach to the association in writing so the answer is on the record before your inspection period closes.

Termination is the far end of a spectrum that begins with the documents. The reserve study and the board minutes that would have warned you are items five and seven of the twelve documents to read before you close.

Stefania Riverin · NB Elite Realty · (786) 828-0091 · WhatsApp · Call

Stefania Riverin, Licensed Real Estate Sales Associate · FL SL3620067 · Brokered by NB Elite Realty · 1101 Brickell Ave, Miami, FL 33131 · Equal Housing Opportunity