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Article
Courtesy of The Realtor
By Snejana Farberov
Published March 18, 2025
Thousands of Florida condominium owners could be at risk
of their building losing their state-backed property insurance coverage. A
proposed bill aims at cracking down on condo associations that fail to
comply with new safety requirements.
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Rep. Vicki Lopez, a
Republican, has introduced a bill that would bar Citizens
Property Insurance Corp., Florida's insurance of last
resort, from issuing or renewing policies to condo
associations that have not completed a Structural Integrity
Reserve Study.
Under a building safety law passed on the heels of the
deadly 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo in
the upscale Miami suburb of Surfside, FL, condo buildings
that are at least three stories high and over 30 years old
are required to undergo milestone inspections and reserve
studies, and must have sufficient funds in their budget to
carry out major repairs and maintenance.
In total, about 90% of Florida's 1.6 million condominiums
are more than 30 years old, reported the Associated Press. |
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The deadline to complete the first reserve study was Dec.
31, 2024, but the majority of the 11,270 condo associations that fall under
the requirement so far have not complied, the secretary for the Florida
Department of Business and Professional Regulation told House lawmakers last
month, as the Miami Herald first reported.
Lopez's 99-page bill, known as HB 913, targets
noncompliant condo associations by threatening them with insurance coverage
termination—a move that could have an outsized impact on thousands of
households throughout Southern Florida, particularly on retirees living on
fixed incomes.
According to a study by the Miami Association of Realtors, only 44% of condo
buildings in Miami-Dade County and 41% in Broward County have completed
their reserve studies to date.
Realtor.comŽ on Monday reached out to Lopez for comment on her bill and was
waiting for a reply, but in an Instagram post last month, the GOP lawmaker
said that her "legislation addresses the need for modernized, efficient, and
inclusive condo management, prioritizing safety and financial sustainability
for Florida’s communities."
However, concerns have been raised that Lopez's bill could deepen Florida's
insurance crisis.
State Sen. Ileana Garcia, Lopez's fellow Republican, told the Herald that HB
913 “threatens to significantly displace thousands of condominium owners in
Florida, all in an effort to pave the way for private companies to enter the
market.”
Garcia went on to describe the bill as a punitive measure that offers no way
for struggling condo associations to become compliant with the law.
“As a result, many Floridians could lose their insurance, compelling
associations to implement steep special assessments that will hit seniors,
retirees, and low-income residents the hardest," the state senator told the
outlet.
Meanwhile, Peter Zalewski with CondoVultures.com, a company that studies
South Florida's condo market, told CBS News that there is a good chance that
if the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance pulls the plug on coverage,
private insurance companies will not be in a rush to step in.
Those who get to keep their Citizens policies will likely face higher
premiums to offset the elevated risk, according to Zalewski.
Citizens currently covers 18,468 condo buildings overseen by 4,213
associations, more than half of which are located in Miami-Dade, Broward,
and Palm Beach counties.
It was not immediately clear how many of those condo associations insured by
Citizen were noncompliant with the study requirement.
Rep. Mike Caruso, a GOP ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has expressed fears about
the potentially disastrous impact of the condo safety law adopted after the
Surfside disaster, especially on senior citizens.
If not amended, the strict measure could trigger the “next wave of homeless
people,” he warned earlier this year.
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