HOA Manager Licensing Requirements by State

Florida requires any company that manages a condominium association, homeowners association, or cooperative to hold a Community Association Business (CAB) licence issued by the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR). Individual managers must hold a Community Association Manager (CAM) licence.

A CAB licence requires the firm to have at least one licensed CAM on staff, carry errors and omissions insurance, and renew every two years. Operating without a CAB licence is a second-degree misdemeanour under Florida Statute §468.432.

Florida has the most comprehensive HOA management licensing framework in the US, with ongoing continuing-education requirements for individual CAMs and disciplinary authority over both firms and managers.

California requires HOA management companies that collect assessments, maintain trust accounts, or perform financial management functions to hold a Real Estate Broker licence from the California Department of Real Estate (DRE). Corporate firms specifically need a corporate broker licence.

The DRE licence is issued at the individual broker level; firms operate under a licensed designated officer. Enforcement actions (citations, fines, licence revocation) are recorded on the DRE's public database. Note that some management firms operate primarily as consulting or advisory services without collecting funds — these may not be required to hold a DRE licence.

In practice, approximately 57% of firms in our California directory have a confirmed DRE licence on file; the remaining 43% were identified through industry directories (CACM, AllPropertyManagement.com, CAI San Diego) and may provide non-financial services or operate under a parent company's licence.

Texas is the only state among our five that does not require a state licence to manage homeowners associations. Any individual or company can legally offer HOA management services in Texas without registering with or being overseen by a state agency.

Some Texas HOA management firms voluntarily hold a TREC Broker Company licence from the Texas Real Estate Commission — typically because they also handle rental or sales transactions. A TREC licence is not required for HOA management and approximately 87% of firms in our Texas directory do not hold one.

Texas does require HOA management certificates to be filed at hoa.texas.gov under Senate Bill 2150 — these disclose the managing agent's name and contact information, but filing is the association's responsibility, not the management company's, and there is no licensing vetting process.

What this means for homeowners: Without a mandatory licence, there is no state-level vetting of TX management companies' qualifications, insurance, or ethics. Board members should ask for references, proof of insurance, and bonding — and include clear termination clauses in management contracts.

Colorado requires HOA management companies to register with the Colorado Division of Real Estate (DORA) under the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA). Both management firms and individual community association managers must register.

DORA maintains a public registry of all active HOA management registrations, which is updated regularly. The registration process includes background checks and ongoing disclosure obligations. DORA can investigate complaints, impose fines, and revoke registrations.

Colorado introduced this requirement as part of broader consumer-protection reforms for common-interest communities. The registry is published as a public CSV download, which is the data source for our Colorado directory.

Virginia requires HOA management firms to hold a Common Interest Community Manager (CICM) licence issued by the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). Individual managers who perform management duties must also be individually licensed as Community Managers (CMs).

Virginia's Common Interest Community Board (CICB) oversees both management firm licences and the registration of common interest communities (HOAs, condominiums, cooperatives) in the state. As of 2026, DPOR licenses 142 management firms and the CICB has 6,169 registered associations, of which approximately 59% are linked to a licensed management firm.

DPOR publishes current licence data for all active CICM holders, including licence status, expiry dates, and any disciplinary history.