Legislature to address condo reform in January special session

Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling the Legislature in for a special session later in January to address, among other issues, condominium reform.

In a proclamation issued Tuesday afternoon, the governor says that the session is meant to address “challenges to ensure that Florida residents can continue to afford to live in their homes.”

Other topics that will be covered: agriculture relief in response to recent hurricanes, the My Safe Florida program, “citizens’ initiative petition process” and illegal immigration.

The session is scheduled for Jan. 27, just weeks ahead of the start of the regular legislative session March 4.

The condominium reform piece of the special session is meant to address issues that have popped up since condo safety rules were passed in 2022 and 2023.

Because of these rules, DeSantis says in the proclamation, condo owners continue “to face challenges including soaring costs related to assessments, repairs, and inspections.”

The rules were originally passed in response to the collapse of the 12-story Champlain Tower South in Surfside June 24, 2021 which killed 98 people.

They called for a building to be inspected once it reaches its 30th birthday — based on when it received its certificate of occupancy. For buildings within three miles of the coast, the inspection needs to be done at the 25th birthday.

The deadline for the inspections was Dec. 31, 2024. From then on, inspections have to occur every 10 years.

While safety was, and officials say remains, the goal by making sure older building are shored up and to prevent condominium associations from deferring repairs, there have been some unintended consequences. Chief among these are harsh special assessments and rising association fees needed to make sure building meet needed safety requirements.

Particularly hard hit have been people living on fixed incomes who own condos in older buildings. They are often left with fees and assessments they are unable to pay.

While in times gone past selling may have been an option, in order to sell now they often have to offer huge discounts to adjust for the assessments and fees, eating in whatever equity there was.

This, in turn, has led to a significant downturn in the condominium resale market.

While there are no immediate bills tied to the special session, industry insiders say some corrections that may be considered during the 20-day session include:

• Clarification of the language used in the law to better explain the Structural Integrity Reserve Study requirements.
• Clearer definitions to better meet the Legislature’s intent.
• Creating incentives for no interest or low-interest private loans for unit owners and associations to meet repair needs.
• Streamlining process to allow associations to access lines of credit.
• Cleaning up loopholes that currently seem to insinuate developers of mixed-use buildings don’t have to comply.