TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida lawmakers passed a bill late Wednesday that looks to fix the higher cost of owning a condo.
House legislators unanimously approved an amended version of HB 913 after the Senate made changes and sent it back to the House.
The latest proposal blends key elements from both the Senate and House bills, aiming to balance safety requirements with financial flexibility for condo associations. The Senate previously had its own version, SB 1742, but moved forward by making adjustments to the House’s bill.
Earlier this week, Fleming Island State Senator Jennifer Bradley told News4JAX that she would be sending the Senate version of her bill to the House.
“I’m hopeful that the House will give it all the consideration and hopefully pass it. But under the Senate bill, we extend the timeline for the date for which associations have to comply with that reserve study,” Bradley said.
The bill would allow associations to use lines of credit or loans to satisfy reserve obligations, if a majority of owners approve. It would also allow associations to invest their reserve funds, without a vote of unit owners, and also makes online voting possible for associations.
The measure addresses condo-safety laws passed after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside that killed 98 people.
The laws, passed in 2022 and tweaked in 2023, included requiring “milestone inspections” of older buildings and “structural integrity reserve studies” to determine how much money should be set aside for future major repairs.
Milestone inspections were supposed to be completed by Dec. 31 for certain older buildings that are three stories or higher. Some condo associations hit owners with large assessments in the race to comply with the deadline. Assessments are in addition to homeowners’ regular association fees.
The new measure would extend by one year the deadline for structural-integrity studies, which currently must be completed by Dec. 31 and which Bradley said many condo associations are “struggling to meet.”
The bill also says the milestone inspections and structural-reserve studies apply to buildings that have three or more habitable stories. Current law requires the buildings to have three stories or more.
The proposal also would allow for a temporary pause in reserve funding for two years immediately following a milestone inspection and give condo associations “critical flexibility” on meeting reserve requirements, Bradley said.
The measure also addresses a variety of other issues, including condominium-association managers and management companies.
In addition, the plan would give local officials until Oct. 1 to report to the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation certain information about milestone inspections, including the number of buildings that were inspected and a list of buildings that have been deemed unsafe or uninhabitable.
The bill also would require design professionals, such as architects and engineers, as well as contractors who bid on milestone inspections and structural-integrity studies to disclose if they intend to bid on related maintenance, repair or replacement work.
Under current law, the structural-reserve studies target features that affect buildings’ structural integrity or safety, including roofs, plumbing, electrical systems, windows and exterior doors. The studies also include other items that have deferred-maintenance expenses of more than $10,000, which the bill would raise to $25,000.
Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach, said he has hundreds of condo associations in his Pinellas County district.
“This is probably one of the most important pieces of legislation that this body is going to vote on,” DiCeglie said. “Folks are hurting financially. They are up against making decisions of whether or not they are going to leave the dream called Florida. Many of them are on our coastlines, where it is paradise. Safety is also at the forefront of this issue. It is so incredibly difficult to balance that.”
Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, said the laws passed after the Surfside building collapse have worked and praised Bradley’s efforts.
“We had two condos in my district that were on the verge of falling down,” Harrell said. “You have really saved lives along the way, but you’ve also listened. And this bill now is the evolution of where we started. And there was a lot of pushback, there were a lot of problems but you came to address it.”
Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami Republican who has been dubbed the “condo queen” by her House colleagues because of her sponsorship of condo-safety measures, said the “incredible bill” approved Wednesday provides “financial relief” to condo owners and associations.
“We have tried to reach that delicate balance between the safety of our constituents as well as understanding the incredible financial impact that sometimes these particular bills that we passed have,” Lopez said.
The bill also includes changes that would allow condo owners to cast votes electronically in condo-association elections. Lopez said that many condo owners who do not live in their units “have been disenfranchised” under current law, which requires in-person voting. The proposal would allow electronic voting if at least 25 percent of owners request it.
The bill also would prohibit companies or people that perform structural reserve studies from conducting repairs, to avoid what Lopez called “a clear conflict of interest.” The Senate version of the bill would require any contractor or “design professional” who bids to perform a structural reserve study to disclose in writing that they intend to bid on the repairs.
The plans would require the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees condo boards, to create a standard form for structural integrity reserve studies.
Under current law, the studies target features that affect buildings’ structural integrity or safety, including roofs; plumbing; structures such as load-bearing walls; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; and windows and exterior doors. The studies also include other items that have deferred-maintenance expenses of more than $10,000, which the House and Senate proposals would raise to $25,000. Lopez said the proposed change would “provide flexibility to exclude certain low-cost repairs or replacements from the studies.”
The legislation is now headed to Governor Ron DeSantis’ desk for his signature.