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Article
Courtesy of Channel 6 NBC South Florida
By
Kate Payne
Published May 9, 2025
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Florida lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a bill
aimed at reforming a condominium safety law passed in 2022 in the wake of
the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South, which killed 98 people in
Surfside in June 2021.
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Condo owners have been
facing higher costs because of the 2022 law, which requires
condo associations to have sufficient reserves to cover
major repairs and to conduct a survey of reserves every
decade.
Sponsors of this year’s bill said further changes were
needed to allow for more flexibility and to lessen the
burden of new costs shouldered by residents, while ensuring
protections remain in place to prevent another potential
collapse.
“Without moving one step backwards on safety, this bill
provides options, flexibility, and relief so condo owners
and associations can prioritize the most important repairs
first,” said Republican state Sen. Jennifer Bradley, a
sponsor of the bill. |
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Residents and attorneys say regulations prior to 2022
allowed condo associations to keep fees low by failing to save money for
future repairs, only to hit residents with steep special assessments when
repairs couldn’t be put off any longer. The mounting cost of funding
deferred maintenance and building up reserves has strained residents in the
condo haven of South Florida, especially retirees and those living on fixed
incomes.
In Hallandale Beach, condo owner Kelli Roiter sympathizes with people having
trouble paying the higher fees, but said she supports rules requiring
associations maintain reserves for needed repairs.
Her building was built in 1971 and sits a few miles from Champlain Towers
South.
“I’m concerned that this building will collapse,” Roiter told The Associated
Press in December. “There are nights I wake up hearing a creak, and I jump.
And then I remind myself that, no, no, no, we’re safe. But am I safe?”
The bill, which now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, would
allow certain condo associations to fund their reserves through a loan or
line of credit, give residents greater flexibility to pause payments to
their reserves while they prioritize needed repairs, extends the deadline by
which associations have to complete structural integrity studies and exempts
some smaller buildings from having to do those analyses.
“We have strived to reach that delicate balance between the safety of our
constituents that live in condominiums, as well as understanding the
incredible financial impact that sometimes these particular bills that we
pass have,” said bill sponsor state Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami Republican.
“I will continue this work as long as we need to do so,” she added.
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