Jesse Scheckner
A voluminous bill meant to strengthen Florida’s condo safety laws and penalize noncompliant associations just cleared its first House hurdle with ease.
Members of the Housing, Agriculture and Tourism Subcommittee voted unanimously to advance the legislation (HB 913), the latest condo-focused measure from Miami Republican Rep. Vicki Lopez.
The bill would block Citizens Property Insurance — Florida’s state-run insurer of last resort — from issuing or renewing policies for condo owners or associations that do not comply with existing inspection requirements.
Notably, most of the more than 11,000 condo buildings with three or more levels that must comply with the relatively new rules hadn’t done so by the Dec. 31 deadline.
HB 913 would also ban companies from double-dipping on condo safety work, a questionable practice scrutinized during a panel discussion on condo safety in January.
Under the proposal, a company that performs a building’s structural integrity reserve study would be prohibited from doing the subsequent repair work or having a financial interest in the entity that does it.
“Aimed at enhancing accountability, efficiency and protection for unit owners, the bill streamlines the decision-making processes, reinforces oversight and ensures greater financial stability for condominium associations,” Lopez said.
“By strengthening regulations and improving transparency, this legislation promotes integrity and long-term sustainability in condominium governance.”
Lopez half-jokingly referred to HB 913 as “much-awaited.” The laws passed in the wake of the June 2021 condo collapse in Surfside ramped up inspection and reserve fund requirements.
But those changes came with a price tag some unit owners, particularly those on fixed incomes or in buildings whose associations hadn’t raised membership fees for years, say they can’t cover.
Some sold their units and moved out of the state, citing prohibitive costs.
HB 913 includes provisions aimed at addressing those concerns. It requires associations to provide more timely reports and disclosures on studies and inspections to unit owners and allows association boards to levy special assessments and obtain loans for mandated maintenance without prior membership approval.
The bill also provides that certain associations may approve, by majority vote, secured lines of credit of up to 35% of the required sum to meet the reserve funding schedule recommended by a structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) report. Further, it provides that the amount of adequate insurance coverage for full insurable value, replacement cost or similar coverage may be based on the replacement cost of the property being insured, as determined by an independent appraiser.
The measure clarifies that unless it was previously agreed upon, condo unit owners are not responsible for the cost of any removal or reinstallation of hurricane protections. It also guarantees unit owners the right to vote electronically.
Before the bill advanced Tuesday, Lopez amended it to require condo associations to maintain online records of their meeting minutes for the preceding seven years, allow boards to pause funding reserve contributions if a local building official determines the structure is uninhabitable and clarify that certain changes made through last year’s condo reform package do not retroactively apply to any right or interest ending adjudication before Oct. 1, 2024.
Lopez said the HB 913 remains a “work in progress” and that it “probably won’t be the last” condo legislation she’ll carry.
“I did not come to the Florida House to be affectionately known as the ‘Condo Queen,’ but I am here and I am committed to doing the work,” she said. “I will continue to work with all of you and all of the members and all of the stakeholders to ensure that whatever bill hits the floor is the best version.”
Several organizations signaled support for HB 913, including the Florida Land Title Association, AARP Florida, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Marriott, the Associated Industries of Florida and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar.
Lopez’s regular collaborator on condo safety legislation, Fleming Island Republican Sen. Jennifer Bradley, has filed a more cost-focused measure (SB 1742). Among other things, it would give associations more runway to comply with milestone inspections, allow associations that completed an inspection within the past two years to pause reserve fund contributions until a SIRS is finished, and enable boards to invest reserve funds.
A third measure (SB 1600) by Kissimmee Democratic Sen. Kristen Arrington would protect condo owners from disenfranchisement and strengthen their ability to recall association board members.
HB 913 will next go to the House Commerce Committee, after which it has one more stop before reaching a floor vote.
SB 1742 and SB 1600 await hearings before the first of three committees to which they were referred last week.
