NORTH PALM BEACH — The clock is ticking for condominiums across Florida as the deadline to perform building assessments on older properties is approaching.

Following the Surfside condo collapse in 2021 that killed 98 people, Florida lawmakers passed legislation that mandated inspections of aging condos that are at least 30 years old.

The Dec. 31 deadline is already costing some condo associations thousands — if not millions — of dollars in fees.

"A lot of people are on fixed incomes, they only have Social Security, and they cannot afford this additional assessment," Jean Geiger, a resident of the Governor's Pointe Condominiums in North Palm Beach, said.

According to a structural reserve study done in July, engineers estimated a $1,070,000 cost to make repairs to the building's foundation, plumbing, electrical, roof replacement and more.

The fees result in $30,000 per unit, according to Geiger.

"A know it's a lot of money, but we want to feel confident, and you want to have peace of mind living any place," Geiger said, "but I feel a lot of residents will need financial help."

She said residents were given the option to pay upfront or finance the fee.

In October, WPTV reported that Palm Beach County Commissioner Michael Barnett, who was voted out of office in November, drafted a letter pushing the Florida Legislature to convene an immediate special session to address the special assessments on condos.

State-mandated deadlines are approaching to complete building assessments that often come with huge price tags for required safety repairs. WPTV reporter Joel Lopez is working to find out what can be done to help condo owners facing fees that many say they simply can't afford.

 

Palm Beach County officials confirmed Wednesday that the letter was received by the office of governor, senate president and house speaker requesting a special session to solve the condo insurance issue.

They provided the following statement to WPTV:

"While the Governor has been supportive, neither the Senate President nor the House Speaker have signaled an interest in an immediate consideration of an extension of the funding deadline or a special session. Commissioner Barnett kindly left us his file of petitions of support, numbering over 1,000. The County Legislative Affairs team will present those petitions as soon as the legislature takes up this issue."

"Everybody has to stay and people have to understand, and it's going to cost," Steve Rogers, who lives at the Chalfonte Tower Condominium in Boca Raton, said.

Rogers was the president of his condominium association at the time of the Surfside condo collapse.

"Why would you say these assessments are needed?" asked WPTV reporter Joel Lopez.

"I think it's neglect," Rogers said. "I think that many of these buildings have been neglected (for) many years."

He said he was pushing for condominiums to have a standard maintenance schedule so that condo associations wouldn't have to pay a large lump sum.

He's in favor of the state stepping in to protect the safety of residents but also wants those on condominium association boards to have a background in business or finance to better manage the numbers.

"Everybody's got to stay safe and people have to understand it's going to cost," Rogers said.

He said the state now needs to step in to help residents financially.

"There's many elderly people and people that bought many, many years ago when prices weren't where they are today and taxes aren't where they are today," Rogers said. "Now they're coming to this point where it's costing so much to do and you're going to see people getting pushed out."