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Article
Courtesy of NBC Channel 6 South Florida
By
Laura Rodriguez
Published March 16, 2025
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After the Surfside condo collapse, laws changed requiring inspections and
mandating reserve funds, but many condo owners and homeowners are now facing
increased fees.
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"Now all of a sudden
it's like hey we have a special assessment, but it's not
just to comply with the 30-year, it's also to fund our
reserves. Well, where did our reserve money go?” said Arlen,
a Kendall condominium owner.
After questioning her condo board, Arlen said she was met
with pushback and harassment at Kenland Walk Condominiums.
Among other issues, she said she's had cracks in her
concrete balcony for more than two and a half years and
there's been no resolution.
“If they haven't taken care of my issue, then what are they
doing with our reserve money?" said Arlen.
Arlen is one of many condo owners keeping a close eye on
this legislative session in Tallahassee. |
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House Bill 913 sponsored by Rep. Vicki Lopez seeks to
protect condo owners and clarify association accountability. The bill would
block Citizens Property Insurance from insuring condos if the association
hasn't complied with inspection requirements.
"The structural integrity and reserve studies that were
due last year have not been done, less than 30% of some of the condos across
the state has not complied,” said Lopez.
HB983 is targeting corruption in HOAs. It would create a Condominium and
Homeowners’ Association Economic Crime, Fraud, and Corruption Investigation
pilot program in Miami-Dade County.
“The issue that we’re seeing now is that lack of enforcement so this year
we’re going to tackle it head on. I’m going to give more authority to our
new sheriff’s office,” said Rep. Juan Carlos Porras.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he'd like new legislation to provide
relief for homeowners and condo owners.
“Especially these seniors on fixed income to all of the sudden be hit. They
don't have 50 or 100 thousand dollars to just write a check to a condo
board. They didn't budget for that. So let's do this is in a way that we are
mindful of safety, but I think the safety is just the transparency more than
anything," DeSantis said.
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