Article
Courtesy of The Key Biscayne Independent
By John Pacenti
Published April 30, 2024
Rep. Vicki Lopez said legislation holding condo boards
accountable with beefed-up regulation and even criminal penalties is in no
danger of being vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
HB1021
passed the House and Senate unanimously in the first week of March.
Under the bill, the Department of Business Regulation will get an additional
$7.5 million in recurring dollars to hire 62 new people to investigate
complaints from condo residents. The agency will also ensure condo boards
are transparent, posting their financial documents online, or face criminal
penalties found to have flagrantly violated the requirement.
“My conversations with DBPR are that they don’t have any indications that
the bill is in trouble at all,” said Lopez, whose district includes Key
Biscayne. “And they are already making their plans to be ready when he does
sign it for July 1. So all indications are we’re all moving towards the same
goal.”
Lopez, who owns a condo on Brickell, said she told DBPR officials if they
fail to regulate condo boards under the new law, she will work to take away
the agency’s jurisdiction. Right now it’s a waiting game for the bill to be
signed by DeSantis.
“He asks for the bills to come to him. So I don’t have any idea when he’s
going to ask for this big condo bill to come but I mean no one expects that
he’s not going to sign it. It’s just that he’s taking his sweet time,” Lopez
said.
DeSantis did sign another one of Lopez’s bills on Wednesday, creating a $30
million pilot that extends the My Safe Florida Home program to condo owners.
The popular program provides a free inspection to determine the hurricane
readiness of a property, providing grants to harden homes.
“This is going to help the coastal condominium associations harden condo
infrastructure and protect against wind damage,” he said in signing the
bill. “I think that’s innovative. I think that’s going to work.”
Condo associations could get up to $175,000 to upgrade windows, doors and
roofs. Associations must get unanimous approval from members to start the
application process in July.
Lopez spoke to the Key Biscayne Neighbors Association on her condo
legislation earlier this month. Last week, she met with the Key Biscayne
Condominium Presidents Council, a group of condo association board
presidents.
“I actually thought it was a really good meeting. It was nice to hear
everyone’s different perspectives,” she said.
Lopez learned that many of the condominium complexes on the island completed
the newly required structural integrity reserve study, or SIRS. The
Legislature passed the requirement after the Surfside collapse in June 2021
to bolster the safety and long-term maintenance of condominiums.
“I was most impressed because everywhere I go, no one has completed them,”
she said. “So we have got some very good condo boards on the island.”
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