Florida To Hire 65 New Regulators To 'Implement' Changes To Condo Law
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.
Some three years after the Surfside condo collapse on the Miami-Dade County barrier island, Florida is hiring the “equivalent” of 65 fulltime regulators to “implement” the numerous changes made to the state’s condo law.
As part of the 2024 revisions to the Florida Condo Law, the state has allocated more than $7.4 million to jumpstart the initiative. The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes will oversee the operation.
Besides the nearly $3.2 million budgeted for hiring the new regulators, the Division has also been directed to use some of the money to review its condo association application process, method for maintaining records and website functionality.
Once the review has been completed, the Division must submit its recommendations to Florida’s governor, Senate president and House speaker by January 2025.
Additionally, the Division has been asked to create a database to track the progress of Florida condo associations in obtaining their state-mandated Structural Integrity Reserve Studies (SIRS).
A SIRS is a two-part evaluation conducted by experts - such as engineers, architects and reserve specialists - to determine the physical and financial status of all residential structures in a condo association that are at least three-stories high, according to a recent report.
Florida has nearly 28,250 condo associations with more than 1.2-million units as of Aug. 3, 2024, according to the Florida Division of Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes.
In the tricounty South Florida region alone, there are nearly 13,000 condo associations with about 610,000 units located in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, according to a recent report.
The Division’s soon-to-be expanded workforce and added database responsibilities are part of the 2024 revisions enacted 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.
The measures are part of an ongoing effort by the Florida legislature in the aftermath of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse 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.
Watch and/or listen to the four-part narration of the 2024 revisions to the Florida Condo Law
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.
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 and led to more stringent building code requirements in South Florida.
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.
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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.