Palm Beach County leaders, advocates seek solutions as rising HOA fees squeeze condo owners

Article Courtesy of Channel 5 WPTV West Palm Beach

By Matt Sczesny

Published October 17, 2026

WEST PALM BEACH — Local leaders joined housing advocates in West Palm Beach on Tuesday to discuss rising homeowners association fees and condo assessments that they say are putting financial pressure on residents, particularly seniors and people struggling to remain in their homes.

The panel, organized by U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, focused on potential solutions including more financial assistance for seniors, greater state oversight of homeowners associations and limits on attorney fees charged to condo owners.

"This is really tough," state Sen. Mack Bernard said. "But we don’t want another Surfside, but at the same time what we want to do is create new affordable housing."
Condo costs create affordability concerns

Florida condominium owners have faced increased financial pressures following reforms adopted in response to the 2021 Surfside condominium collapse. The reforms included inspection and reserve requirements intended to address building safety.

The discussion comes as Florida communities rank among those with the nation's highest HOA burdens. A Realtor.com analysis previously covered by WPTV found seven of the nation's 10 metro areas with the highest HOA fees relative to estimated mortgage payments were in Florida. Port St. Lucie ranked fifth, while the Sebastian-Vero Beach area ranked ninth.

"Now, I don't remember. It was kind of blurry exactly what time, but that's when I started noticing things were not right. The noise was changing. My glass was moving, vibrating. My front doors were heaving in and out. It was moving quickly and getting more and more terrifying."

She says she thanks God her condo remained unscathed, but Friday night took a toll on her regardless.

Condo owners at the Portofino say they were fine staying put during Hurricane Sally in 2020, which was also a category 2 storm. That's why they assumed Hurricane Isaias wouldn't make much of an impact.