Florida’s ongoing property insurance crisis
leading to spikes in HOA fees |
Article Courtesy of Channel 9 WFTV Orlando
By Ashlyn Webb and Charles Frazier
Published
December 17, 2023
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Several residents in the Baldwin
Park area say their fees have doubled, increasing by nearly $400 dollars
per month to an estimated $770 per month. Now, they’re learning the rate
hike is a result of the state’s ongoing property insurance crisis.
“Absolutely shocked,” Baldwin Park
resident Susan Stiner said after hearing her HOA fee would
be nearly doubling. “We are only paying for insurance that
is basically the drywall to the exterior of the building.”
Stiner says her fees typically cover landscaping, painting,
maintenance, and insurance on the roof and exterior of the
building, but her property insurance through the HOA is
tripling from $109 to more than $400 per month.
“I mean, people can’t afford increases of 300% a month,”
Stiner said. “If that’s happening this year, what happens in
future years? We can’t sustain this kind of increase.”
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That’s in addition to what Baldwin Park homeowners
say they already pay separately for insurance on the interiors of their
townhomes.
“So I’m paying almost $6,000 a year for insurance for a townhome,”
Stiner explained. “If you think about the amount of money that we’re
paying now for an increase in groceries and other expenses, that could
price somebody out of the market.”
Stiner says they’re also considering selling the home but are convinced
the new HOA fee will make it more difficult for them to sell at an
appropriate price.
Residents like Mike Ridolfo say they’ve gone through appraisals, reserve
studies and more trying to figure out why there was such a drastic
change in their insurance.
“Everything that I looked at just didn’t seem right,” Ridolfo said.
“Wrong numbers didn’t add up.”
Channel 9 has contacted the HOA to ask how they calculated the increase,
but they have not replied.
Lawmakers in Florida have said there’s nothing the Florida Legislature
can do to tame the insurance crisis, but some state legislators like
Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) say there’s more that needs to be done. If
not, she says the astronomical rates will push homeowners out of their
homes.
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