BOYNTON BEACH — This is an update in the on-going I-Team series of reports about Florida condo safety.

Many Florida condo-owners say they’re at a breaking point.

The unexpected repair assessments that started happening because of post-Surfside laws are causing a mass exodus from older high rises. And seniors on fixed incomes are suddenly in deep financial trouble. There is an example of the problem in Boynton Beach. A major concrete restoration project is happening at the Seagate of Gulfstream. The association says the work is absolutely necessary or the buildings won’t pass state required inspections, but owners do not agree about how the job started or the price-tag. Things have gotten so bad, some people have already moved out and dozen of the disgruntled owners banded together and filed a lawsuit. "It looks like a warzone, it’s a just a disgrace," said Elizabeth Mifsud, who used to live here in the complex. But all of the heavy-duty work was driving Liz nuts and so was the cost. More than $22,000 per owner.

A prime location on the intracoastal has become a hard hat area and residents and the association are feuding, set to the backdrop of FL's condo law debacle

Liz sold her unit and moved to a mobile home community.

She says she’ll never go back to condo life.

"There's no checks and balances, nobody is watching over this, and even these laws, it doesn’t make any sense, I’m sorry, you can’t compare one building to Surfside," Mifsud told the I-Team.

Liz says after the deadly collapse in 2021, the association at Seagate started talking about concerns over concrete integrity.

At around that time, politicians in Tallahassee were introducing bills for new requirements for condos.

Milestone inspections. Mandates for maintaining cash reserves.

Those would become law.

Liz and her neighbors were told the association was going to hire a local company to bolster everything in the complex. Concrete, stairwells, lanais.

There are 360 condo units at Seagate. Allan Andrews says there was no discussion about getting a second firm’s quote.

"You always entertain multiple opinions, especially from the quote unquote professionals, professionals can disagree by a large percentage looking at the same project. We need two or three professionals to come in and give their unbiased opinion, never just one, never," Andrews said.

And so the conflict began.

The association saying the work was absolutely critical.

Some owners saying the buildings were in good condition and $8 million in repairs was overkill.

And the timeline became a point of contention: When would the workers be gone?

"This project that was scheduled for 18 months is now on its 26th month and we might be 70% done, so we have a long way to go," Andrews said.

Because of the uncertainty about the date of completion, selling a condo at the complex is tricky.

"I got 20 thousand less than asking price because of the construction. People come and see your apartment and they see this mess everywhere and they ask you ‘when will it be finished, when will this end' and you can't give them an answer," Mifsud said.

Allan Andrews tells the I-Team, to keep up with the assessments, he’s thinking about selling his car.

He’s a golf instructor, so he could try to double his client list.

But what about the seniors who can’t work anymore, what will they do?

"Most of the people living in these condos are seniors," Mifsud said.

Governor Desantis has been trying to nudge lawmakers to amend condo laws.

"There's a lot of people who are facing debilitating assessments, and we can sit here and say, the condos have been mismanaged for decades, and yes I understand that, but this is a legislative mandate that was put forth from Tallahassee that is causing the strain, so can we give those seniors in condos peace of mind and reform this in a way that’s not going to have those unintended consequences; I'm ready to do that for sure." DeSantis said.

The legal battle at Seagate of Gulfstream is one example, one of many, illuminating how FL condo law and the pressure surrounding major repair work has created an all-new affordable housing crisis.

A little help materialized late Thursday, when the Florida Senate passed a condo law reform package, the house passed the same version of the bill last week; it now heads to the Governor's desk. It allows for associations to take out a line of credit to fund their reserves.