WEST PALM BEACH — December is here and at the end of this month, an important deadline hits: Florida condominiums built before 1992 will be out of time to complete a milestone inspection of their structural integrity.

They also need to provide a complete accounting of their cash reserves.

All of this comes in response to the tragedy in Surfside that claimed 98 lives back in 2021. The state is telling condo boards to be smarter with their money and don’t keep putting off necessary repairs, even if they’re going to be expensive. But if legislators impose fines on buildings that don’t comply – they’d have even less money to fix any problems. That’s not much of a solution. And now, pressure from regulators and owners is making serving on condo association boards, less and less attractive. Back in June, Gov. Desantis signed a bill giving the state more power over condo management.

 

Becker condo lawyer Donna Dimaggio Berger hosts a podcast called, “Take it to the Board” and she tells the I-team, all these new laws are creating a lot of uncertainty.

"It is scary, but I don’t think we need to see a mass exodus from these boards of directors, although I will tell you, we’ve seen board members resigning."

And filling those empty board seats is tough, because condo management can be held individually responsible for failing to follow all the new rules.

For instance, if a board doesn’t comply with the law, an owner can sue a board member for not fulfilling their fiduciary duty.

On top of that, the state now has the power to remove an entire board if they’re not falling in line.

"I would say anything is on the table," Dimaggio-Berger said, "Including removing a bad board and installing a state paid receiver."

This week, there’s a state Condo Summit in Davie. The I-Team will go there to ask questions of leading lawmakers, owners and attorneys about what changes they think need to be made and if there’s any help on the horizon.

Look for a report from "the summit" on Wednesday.