Florida Condos Barred From Suing Unit Owners Who Criticize Board Decisions
In the aftermath of the Surfside condo collapse, the Florida Legislature has made a number of changes to the state's condo law in 2024. This is one of the changes.
Florida condo associations can no longer use community funds to sue units owners who criticize the decisions of boards of directors under a series of 2024 revisions to the state’s condo law.
Condo boards are also prohibited from fining, raising assessments and/or decreasing services for units owners who disagree - privately or publicly - with the decisions of their respective associations.
Associations that violate this law against unit owners risk the courts awarding attorneys fees, costs, actual damages and “treble” damages.
The new protections for unit owners were added to the Florida Condo Law as part of the 2024 revisions made during the recent legislative session in March. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed the bill in June, clearing the way for the law to take effect in July 2024.
Condo units owners are now protected against “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation” - or SLAPP suits - brought by associations as a means to silence critics.
Prior to the 2024 revisions to the Florida Condo Law, individuals were only protected against SLAPP suits brought by “governmental entities, business organizations and individuals.”
In changing the language to protect unit owners, the Florida Condo Law states that SLAPP suits “are inconsistent with the right of condominium unit owners to participate in their condominium association and in the state’s institutions of government.”
The measures are part of an ongoing effort by the Florida legislature in the aftermath of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse in the barrier island town of Surfside on June 24, 2021, to bring more transparency to condo associations, which have a reputation for being shrouded in secrecy, intimidation and corruption.
Nearly 100 people died and a $1 billion settlement was reached with the families of the victims.
A federal investigation is currently underway but the preliminary reports suggest a flawed design coupled with a lack of upkeep by the condominium’s association contributed to the disaster.
The Florida legislature has taken a number of steps - prompted by insurance companies threatening to withdraw coverage in the state - to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.
Watch and/or listen to the four-part narration of the 2024 revisions to the Florida Condo Law
Up until now, the state’s measures were being implemented slowly but that all changes in 2025.
As part of the changes, condo boards are rushing to comply with a recently passed Florida law that goes into effect in January 2025. The law requires associations that were built before July 2022 to conduct and complete a Structural Integrity Report Study (SIRS) on their respective communities by the end of 2024.
Based on the SIRS results, condo associations are required to begin funding the necessary work in their 2025 budgets. Unlike previous years, associations can no longer defer the work and the cost under the law.
People are dubbing this moment as the 2025 Condo Association Financial Cliff as it expected to result in significantly higher costs for unit owners.
Some industry watchers have compared it to an inflection point on par with the Category 5 Hurricane Andrew that devastated South Miami-Dade County in August 1992.
Since the 2021 collapse, older units are said to be tougher to sell, insurance prices are spiking year-over-year and association maintenance fees and special assessments are squeezing owners to the brink.
To read the rest of this report or to watch a video narration of this part of the law, you will have to be a member of the Miami Condo Market Investing Club™. As a Club member, you will have access to the rest of this report as well as all of our published reports, statistics and proprietary research.
Please note, we are not attorneys and only attempting to understand the Florida Condo Law. If you have any legal questions, please consult your attorney for legal advice.