A condo crisis is brewing in Florida. Lawmakers won’t take action soon

Florida lawmakers likely won’t take action soon to relieve a brewing condominium crisis that could see thousands of owners priced out of their homes.

In a letter to state senators on Friday, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, rejected calls to reconvene the Legislature before March to amend new condo safety laws passed in the wake of the Champlain Towers collapse that killed 98 people.

Condominium associations across Florida are facing a Jan. 1 deadline to have an engineer inspect their buildings for safety and figure out how much they need to set aside for repairs.

The repairs could cost the associations millions of dollars. Unit owners would be forced to shoulder the burden with hefty special assessments and higher monthly fees.

Passidomo wrote that she understood owners’ frustration, but that the issue has been “ripe with misconceptions and inaccuracies” about the new laws, which were passed two years ago.

Lawmakers can wait until after the November election to take up the issue, she told senators.

“I have no intention at the present time of utilizing my authority as Senate President to convene a special session,” she wrote.

In the early morning hours of June 24, 2021, the 12-story Champlain Towers South suddenly folded in on itself, wiping out half the building and resulting in one of the deadliest structural engineering failure’s in the nation’s history.

To prevent another disaster, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature prohibited condo boards from underfunding reserves or postponing major repairs, two of the issues blamed for the Surfside building collapse.

Condo associations with buildings three stories and higher must now review their reserves and figure out how much to set aside for maintenance. If those buildings are 30 years or older, they’ll have to undergo a structural inspection, too.

If buildings haven’t been kept in good shape, associations could be forced to pay millions to bring them up to standard. And unlike before, the boards of those associations can no longer waive or underfund reserves for critical repairs.

Rising fees and insurance costs have already increased monthly bills for some condo owners who fear they can no longer afford to stay in their homes. The situation is cited as one of the reasons why condo prices keep falling in South Florida, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

Across the state, the number of condos and townhomes on the market has shot up 92% since last year, according to the most recent data from Florida Realtors. Meanwhile, sales fell 20%.

“The Florida Legislature has created a catastrophic situation and must urgently hold a special session,” former state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, wrote on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter.

DeSantis could call the Legislature into a special session before it’s scheduled to meet again in March, but last month, he said he was deferring to legislators about whether it was needed.

Current lawmakers are questioning whether their solution was passed too hastily.

“We really didn’t think of what the financing mechanism would be to help these people.,” said state Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami. “Making them homeless is not going to make them safer.”

Confusion about the new rules and a limited supply of engineers capable of doing the work will cause some condos to fall out of compliance, though it’s unclear how many will be impacted said Rep. Vicki Lopez, R-Miami.

“There’s a lot of anxiety this year, but we don’t yet have the facts to back it up,” she said.

A ‘necessary evil’

How many owners are facing a crunch — and how much they could owe — is not clear. But data shows the problems could be widespread.

Across the nation, 82% of homeowners associations don’t set aside enough money for reserves each year, said Matt Kuisle, the southeast region executive director for Reserve Advisors. The company helps associations estimate their reserves and create funding plans.

In Florida, a recent Reserve Advisors survey of about 200 associations found that many could be facing sharp increases.

Unit owners in the survey were spending about $143 per month toward reserves last year, Kuisle said. This year, their average recommended reserves was about $200 per unit owner to fund mandatory structural repairs — or about $300 per month to reserve for everything.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’ve always heard people say ‘We don’t have enough money for reserves,’” Kuisle said.

But reserves are a “necessary evil” for inevitable repairs and maintenance, he said.

“The roof doesn’t care if you have reserves. If it has a leak, you have to replace it,” he said. “It’s Father Time and Mother Nature, and they’re undefeated.”

The bill may not be due until 2026, Lopez explained. Many condos pass their budgets for the following year in November or December. So the first budget passed under the new reserve requirements won’t go into effect until January 2026.

For associations that still haven’t commissioned a reserve study or inspection, now is the time. Even if the work isn’t completed by 2025, Lopez said boards can show they are doing their due diligence by entering a contract with a qualified professional.

If a board does nothing, then it could be subject to penalties from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

But Garcia questioned whether that agency is prepared to take on the responsibility. She said the Department of Business and Professional Regulation has already dropped the ball in enforcing another new condo law aimed at cracking down on corrupt board members by refusing to investigate complaints against board members from before the law went into effect.

“Fraud is fraud,” she said. “It’s just another excuse for them not to engage and not to help.”

The department did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday and Friday.

Garcia’s chief concern is for seniors and low-income residents who may not be able to afford assessments and could be forced to sell for below market value.

Miami Dade County offers loans of up to $50,000 to condo owners who need help paying for special assessments. It is the only program of its kind in Florida. Garcia said the state should consider offering something similar.

In her memo, Passidomo acknowledged that there is “often room for improvement” with new legislation, and she attached a list of frequently asked questions and answers about it.

Confusion over the new state law has made the problem worse, said Travis Moore, a lobbyist for the Community Associations Institute, which represents homeowners associations.

“The misinformation is rampant,” he said.

Some of the confusion is coming from new companies performing reserve studies that have sprung up in Florida since the law passed, he said.

There used to be about six companies in the state that did reserve studies, and now there are about 49, Moore said. The new companies are inexperienced, and their studies will sometimes recommend work that isn’t needed.

“I’ve looked at some of them, and they’re not correct,” Moore said.

Times/Herald staff writer Alexandra Glorioso contributed to this report.