A new condo safety bill looks to shore up safety, but it comes at a cost.
A Florida House panel has advanced legislation that allows condo boards to borrow money without member consent.
CBS News Miami reviewed the bill and spoke to condo owners dealing with the fallout from state reforms since the Surfside collapse.
“Assessments have been tough to handle,” shared Brickell condo owner Julian Donado.
Donado told CBS News Miami he never imagined paying so much to live in Brickell by the Bay when he purchased his condo in 2019.
“I did the math at the time,” explained Donado. “My mortgage was actually going to be cheaper. Now, not by a long shot, a lot more expensive.”
And now, a new financial cliff could await him and others.
House Bill 913, approved unanimously by a panel Tuesday in Tallahassee, allows condo boards to get loans without the approval of their wider association membership. The bill specifies that boards can “levy special assessments to obtain a loan for necessary maintenance, repair… as required by the milestone inspection report” and structural reserve requirements. It allows associations a new path to meet state mandates put in place after the Champlain Towers South collapsed in 2021.
A recent study by the Miami Association of Realtors found that only 44% of condo buildings in Miami-Dade County and 41% in Broward County have completed their required reserve studies, which had to be done by the beginning of this year.
Miami State Rep. Vicki Lopez sponsored the bill and had this to say on Tuesday.
“It won’t be the last,” shared Lopez on Tuesday. “I did not come to the Florida House to be affectionately known as the ‘Condo Queen,’ but I’m here, and I’m committed to doing the work.”
Condo owners told CBS News Miami they’re trying to keep up with the changing laws and the cost that comes with it.
“It’s just a lot of money to keep up with all the repairs to meet the state requirements, really just trying to get ahead,” said a Brickell condo owner who goes by Kurd.
“I just wish that it happened a little bit sooner, probably before I bought in and I had a little bit more of an idea of what I was buying into,” added Donado.
CBS News Miami did ask to speak with State Rep Lopez today, and we are still waiting to hear back.
Other items in the bill call for additional condo board transparency measures and insurance requirements.
