PALM BEACH COUNTY — We're looking into the milestone mandate from Florida state leader as the deadline for condo buildings to have their inspections ended at the end of last year.

Palm Beach County commissioners met on Tuesday, agreeing that it's time to crack down on the nearly 200 condo buildings that are out of compliance.

"Safety is paramount and if something happens it's going to fall back on us," said County Commissioner Joel Flores. During the meeting, staff reported that 568 buildings were required to submit phase 1 reports. That's approximately 25,000 units. As of Jan. 7, a total of 113 condo buildings in Phase 1 had still not submitted their reports. Seventy-five in Phase 2 also had not submitted. "That's a real problem," said Commissioner Marci Woodward. "At this point, I think there's a lot of inspectors with free time that they didn't have a few months back. There's no excuse at this point."

Commissioners voted unanimously giving them an approximate 60-day window to get into compliance or possibly face some fines.

Staff said condos in noncompliance with Phase 1 and/or Phase 2 will be sent a compliance notice at the end of January.

Condos in violation will have 30 days to respond with either a milestone report or a request for an extension. The extension would be limited to 60 days.

If there is no response within 30 days after the compliance notice, the county will set a hearing with a Special Magistrate, which will set a new deadline.

If that deadline is not met, the building fines will begin, however, the fee has not been finalized.

"Sometimes if you don't put some teeth behind it, they're going to drag their feet to come into compliance," said Flores.

Commissioners are looking into possibly charging those in violation of Phase 1 $100 each day they're out of compliance. And $500 a day for those failing to report in Phase 2, which is for buildings found to have substantial deterioration.

"I don't want the residents who live in that building to get punished for the lack of competency of the potential management company," said Commissioner Sara Baxter.

Right now, county commissioners are looking into whether they can hold the property management companies in charge of condominiums accountable for the violations.

"Yes, safety is very important but our livelihood is too," said Gloria Gracia, who has a condo in Lake Clarke Gardens.

She said her complex is in compliance but that her monthly fees have gone up from $290 a month in 2015 to $1,000+ a month.

"Everything is going up, our insurance is going up but our Social Security checks aren't going up," said Gracia.

Lake Clarke Gardens is located near Lake Worth Beach. The community is for seniors age 55 and older, many of who are on a fixed income.

"It just was so fast and there's people going on foreclosures already and homes are not selling and if they are selling, they're selling very cheap," said Gracia.

She's now advocating for other seniors in the state of Florida facing similar financial hurdles.

"Legislatures aren't pushing to change the law, they're not pushing DeSantis. DeSantis himself is the boss and he can call a session and he needs to do it immediately," said Gracia. "The next thing that I'm actually going to call for is every senior that's going through this that has the ability is we have to show up in Tallahassee."

She said the voices of the seniors are not being heard.

Gracia said she is in favor of making repairs to dangerous buildings but seniors on fixed incomes can't afford it.

"People lost their homes due to death and the building falling and it's very sad but we're losing our homes and we're still living," said Gracia.