How can you tell whether a property is in an HOA?
The strongest public signal is common land. Florida county property appraisers code residential common elements — the pools, greenbelts, entry landscaping and private roads a community shares — with use code 009, and the registered owner of those parcels is the association itself. When association-owned common parcels sit inside the same platted subdivision as the property you are checking, that association almost certainly governs it. CovenantCheck reads those records directly and shows you the evidence rather than a bare yes or no.
Does a Plat Book reference mean there is an HOA?
No, and this is the most common mistake. Nearly every lot in a recorded subdivision has a Plat Book reference, including subdivisions platted decades before mandatory associations became normal. A plat proves the land was subdivided and recorded; it says nothing about whether an association exists today. We show the plat reference as supporting context and never treat it as a conclusion on its own.
Can this tool miss an HOA that really exists?
Yes, in two known cases. A deed-restricted community can bind every owner to covenants without owning any common land at all, so there is no common parcel for us to find. And a county may code an association's parcels under a different use code than 009. That is why a result showing no evidence is reported as no evidence found rather than no HOA, and why the seller's statutory disclosure package remains the authority.
Which states does CovenantCheck cover?
Florida, statewide — all 67 counties, drawn from the Department of Revenue's cadastral roll covering roughly 10.8 million parcels. Florida was chosen first because it publishes uniform statewide parcel data with use codes, which is exactly what this method needs. Other states are added only when equivalent public data exists and has been verified.
Do you store the address I type?
No. The lookup runs in your browser and queries Florida's public cadastral service directly. The address never reaches our servers and appears in no log of ours. Our servers only handle sign-in and payment for the paid dossier.
Is this a title search or legal advice?
Neither. It is a reading of public assessment records, presented with its evidence and its uncertainty. It does not examine title, does not interpret covenants for your situation, and does not replace the association document package a seller must deliver under Florida law or the review of a licensed attorney.