How to Find a Miami Condo Association's Legal Name, Manager and Records

To identify a Miami condo association, start with the recorded declaration of condominium, which Florida law requires to state the association's name. Confirm that exact name, its status, registered agent and officers on Sunbiz, then find it on DBPR's license search. Owners request records in writing, and associations with 25 or more units must post key records online.

Why the building name is rarely the legal name

The name on the lobby wall is usually a marketing name. Section 718.104(4) of the Florida Statutes requires every declaration to state the name of the condominium, which must include the word "condominium" or be followed by "a condominium," and, separately, the name of the association. Neither has to match the sign out front.

Section 718.111(1)(a) adds two wrinkles. The association must be a Florida corporation for profit or not for profit, but one that existed on January 1, 1977 need not be incorporated. And one association may operate more than one condominium. That can matter where a Miami tower shares a site with a hotel or a later phase.

A legal name often follows a pattern such as "<Building> Condominium Association, Inc.," but that is a convention, not a rule. Some associations use a street address or an older project name. Treat any name you have heard as a lead until it matches a public record.

Start with the county's recorded documents

Under Section 718.104(2), a condominium is created by recording a declaration in the public records of the county where the land is located. In Miami-Dade, the Clerk of the Court and Comptroller is the official recorder, with an online official records search. The declaration names the association, its bylaws must be attached as an exhibit, and the document creating the association may be.

If you do not know what to search for, begin at the Property Appraiser of Miami-Dade County, whose property search works by address, owner name, folio or subdivision name. A unit's legal description typically refers to the condominium by name, which gives you a term for the Clerk's index.

The recorded survey and plot plan exhibits, which may take the form of floor plans, identify each unit. Reviewed marketing plans for some buildings are at /condo-floor-plans; the recorded exhibit governs.

Confirm the entity on Sunbiz

The Florida Department of State's Division of Corporations, known as Sunbiz, calls itself the state's official business entity index. Its search accepts an entity name, an officer or registered agent name, an FEI/EIN number, a document number, a zip code or a street address. Its guide says partial names are acceptable, so searching the building's most distinctive word often beats typing a full guess.

Each detail page shows the document number, filing date, status, registered agent name and address, current officers and directors, and the filing dates of the last three annual reports, with filed documents available as PDFs. Check that the status is active, that the addresses fit the building and that the articles match the name in the declaration. The registered agent is not necessarily the manager.

Cross-check the managing entity at DBPR

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation's Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes keeps its own record. On the department's Verify a Licensee search, a DBPR guide explains, associations are labeled "Managing Entity" with numbers beginning "MA," and buildings are labeled "Project" with numbers beginning "PR." Confirm that the address under the name matches the building.

The division also publishes downloadable condominium files by county, including one for Dade and Monroe counties, whose columns include the condominium name, address, unit count, recorded date and the managing entity's name and address. The unit count matters for the website rule below.

Find the manager, then check the license

A current copy of any management agreement is an official record under Section 718.111(12)(a), and an association subject to the website rule must post a list of its executory contracts. Owners can read both. Buyers can ask the listing agent or building staff.

Section 718.111(3)(g) says a community association manager or management firm under contract must hold the licenses required by Part VIII of Chapter 468, and board members must ensure that before signing. DBPR says a manager's license is required for paid management where the associations served contain more than 10 units or have annual budgets above $100,000, and it licenses managers and management firms separately. Search both names on the same portal and confirm the license is current.

What owners, renters and buyers can get

Section 718.111(12)(c) opens the official records to any member or authorized representative without a stated reason. Failing to provide records within 10 working days after a written request creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply, and the association must hand over a checklist of what it made available and what it withheld. Owners may copy records with a phone or scanner at no charge for the device. Some items stay closed, including information gathered to approve a sale or lease and personnel records.

Renters may inspect and copy only the declaration, bylaws, rules and the milestone and turnover inspection reports. Buyers are not members, and Section 718.111(12)(e) says the association need not give a prospective purchaser more than the chapter requires. The chapter does require copies of the declaration, articles, bylaws, rules, question and answer sheet and latest annual financial statement and budget to be kept on the condominium property for owners and prospective purchasers, at actual cost. Once under contract, Section 718.503(2) entitles you at the seller's expense to the governing documents, budget and financial statement, any applicable milestone inspection summary, the latest structural integrity reserve study or a statement that none exists, and the question and answer sheet. Track them with /research/condo-document-checklist.

The website rule and its 25-unit threshold

Section 718.111(12)(g), as it reads in the 2026 Florida Statutes on the Legislature's site, applies to an association managing a condominium with 25 or more units that does not contain timeshare units. It must post the listed documents on a website or mobile app within 30 days after receiving or creating them, include a section open only to owners and association employees, and give an owner a username and password on written request. The list includes the governing documents, articles as filed with the Department of State, approved board minutes from the preceding 12 months, the budget and financial report, contracts and bids, meeting notices, inspection reports, the latest reserve study and building permits.

The section's history note lists amendments in 2024, 2025 and 2026, and DBPR credits HB 1021 and HB 913 with expanding transparency and owners' access to records, so read the current text rather than an older summary.

Questions Miami owners and buyers ask about condo association records

Where our directory fits

Our directory at /condo-associations lists Miami condo buildings and links each to its profile in /buildings. It does not publish management contacts we have not confirmed, because managers change. For reading the documents, see /blog/miami-condo-hoa-health-checklist, /blog/how-to-read-condo-association-financials-miami and /blog/miami-condo-milestone-inspection-sirs; approval is covered at /blog/miami-condo-board-approval-process. Miami Condo HQ has no live Miami MLS feed and quotes no listing prices here.