HOA Fine Limits by State

"What's the max fine an HOA can charge?" doesn't have one answer — it depends entirely on the state, and the three states covered here land in meaningfully different places. Texas sets no dollar ceiling at all. North Carolina caps a single fine at $100 with no statutory limit on how high a daily fine can add up. Florida caps both the single fine and the total, and requires an independent committee to approve every fine before it can be imposed.

Texas — Property Code §§ 209.006, 209.0061, 209.007

Texas sets no statewide dollar ceiling on HOA fines, either per violation or in aggregate for a continuing violation. What the statute does require is process: §209.0061 requires an association authorized to fine to adopt a written enforcement policy with categories of violations and a fine schedule — but it does not prescribe a maximum amount. §209.006 requires notice of the violation and, for a curable violation, a reasonable opportunity to cure before a fine. §209.007 gives the homeowner a right to a hearing, held before the board itself — Texas does not require an independent panel.

Because state law supplies no dollar ceiling, the association's own written fine schedule effectively becomes the operative limit in Texas. This makes having one, and applying it consistently, especially important — there is no statutory backstop if a board sets an unreasonable amount.

North Carolina — G.S. § 47F-3-107.1

Under the current statute, a single fine is capped at $100. If the violation continues, the association may add up to $100 for each day it persists beyond five days after the decision — without holding another hearing for each additional day. Notably, the statute does not currently cap how high that daily total can climb; there is no built-in aggregate ceiling like Florida's.

The hearing may be held before the executive board itself, or before an adjudicatory panel the board appoints — if a panel is used, its members must be association members who are not officers or board members. Using a panel is an option under North Carolina law, not a requirement triggered by the fine amount.

Worth watching: legislation considered in the 2025–26 session would add a $2,500 aggregate cap to §47F-3-107.1's daily-fine mechanism. As of this writing, that change had not been enacted — the $100/day-with-no-aggregate-cap structure described above reflects the statute currently in force. Confirm current status before relying on either figure.

Florida — Fla. Stat. § 720.305(2)

Florida is the most prescriptive of the three. The statutory default caps a single fine at $100, and a continuing violation may be fined per day but the total may not exceed $1,000 in the aggregate — unless the governing documents provide otherwise, which the statute expressly permits.

Florida also has the strongest independent-review requirement here. Before a board-imposed fine takes effect, the homeowner must receive at least 14 days' written notice of the right to a hearing, and that hearing must be held before a committee of at least three members appointed by the board who are not officers, directors, employees, or certain relatives of those people. The committee has genuine veto power — if it does not approve the fine by majority vote, the fine cannot be imposed. This applies to every fine, not just ones above a particular dollar threshold.

The same $100 / $1,000 / committee-approval structure also applies to Florida condominiums (Fla. Stat. §718.303(3)) and cooperatives (Fla. Stat. §719.303(3)), so the figures above generalize across Florida's common-interest community types, not just HOAs.

What this means if you're building a fine schedule

The most important distinction to get right: North Carolina's $100/day rule and Florida's $1,000 aggregate cap are not equivalent, even though both start from a $100 figure. North Carolina currently allows the daily fine to keep accumulating with no statutory ceiling. Florida expressly stops the statutory total at $1,000 unless the governing documents say otherwise. A fine schedule copied from one state to another without checking this distinction could either under-fine (Texas, where no statute limits you) or, more seriously, exceed a legal cap (Florida, North Carolina).

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This article summarizes general statutory provisions as of this writing and is not legal advice. Statutes change, governing documents can alter statutory defaults where the law permits it, and other states not covered here have their own rules entirely. Confirm current law and your governing documents with an attorney before finalizing a fine schedule.

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