ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For more than a year, we have listened to the stories from condo owners across Tampa Bay and the State of Florida about how crippling HOA fees and sky-high insurance continue to crush the condo market, pushing many out of paradise.
"I've seen my condo HOAs at $450, double in two years to $900 and I've seen thousands of dollars in assessments. That's what it's cost us," said Fran Sullivan, a condo owner in St. Pete. "That's what we were reaching out and said, 'Hey, what's going on?'"
WATCH: Full report from Nadeen Yanes
Much of it is due to reform after the Surfside building collapse in 2021, requiring condo associations in buildings 30 years or older and three stories or higher to get Milestone Inspections, along with Structural Integrity Reserves Studies to make sure associations had the funds to make costly repairs. That deadline was December 31, 2024. Those new regulations have led to crushing HOA fees and surprise assessments to cover the needed repairs and fully fund those reserves.
"A lot of people here were financially strapped for doing this, myself included, to come up and say, I need $10,000 in three months for most of us is not a realistic thing," said St. Pete condo owner, Tyler Clee.
Last year, we covered how condos were sitting on the market, not selling in Pinellas County, due to these pressures. We were also there as Governor Ron DeSantis held round tables with condo owners, pushing for state lawmakers to hold a special session to push back the deadlines. However, state lawmakers waited until the full regular session instead and have since come up with solutions they say will bring relief.
NEW CONDO REFORM LEGISLATION
Despite the back-and-forth in Tallahassee, state lawmakers were able to agree on condo reform. Together, the Florida House and Senate passed HB 913, a third revised version of the post-Surfside condo reform bill.
"The only way you get this legislation right is by doing a lot of listening," said Florida Senator Jen Bradley.
Senator Bradley was behind the original bill post-Surfside and has since, alongside Senator Jason Pizzo, held countless town halls and spoken to condo owners about the desperate need for relief. In this revised bill, Senator Bradley said they are not rolling back any safety regulations.
"Milestone inspections are still required," Senator Bradley said.
As is the Structural Integrity Reserve Study.
However, this new version of the bill allows for much-needed flexibility, it:
- Delays deadlines to begin funding structural integrity reserves by one year
- Offers condo associations to use lines of credit or loans instead of cash to fund future repairs
- Requires inspectors to distinctly clarify the nine key components required by law to be repaired, compared to other items of disrepair that have nothing to do with the building's structural integrity
- It also allows for electronic voting to better engage all condo owners
Watch Senator Bradley discuss more about the bill
"Before the bill, all the reserves would have had to be in cash, and this offers the flexibility for owners to be able to pace the funding better and plan," Senator Bradley added. "Ultimately, that's what the legislature and the state is looking for, is making sure that associations have that plan in place."
Senator Jason Pizzo also worked with Senator Bradley on this new legislation. He says he is the only state lawmaker who lives in a condo.
"The overwhelming majority of all the condo buildings in my district have already done these things. But we've basically just, I wouldn't say, softened, but we've expanded and broadened a lot of the the guard rails," Senator Pizzo said. "Most of your viewers, especially the 60 plus percent of my constituents who live in condos, are very familiar with what the components are. Milestone is the first snapshot of where you are physically. Some of those things have to be done in emergency fashion. And the structural integrity reserve study is just a useful life remaining."
'TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE'
ABC Action News Anchor Nadeen Yanes returned to the condo owners she first spoke with in November.
"It's in my prayers for a special session," Fran Sullivan said back in November.
However, that special session never came. Instead, Fran's condo building set a budget based on the needed deadlines and has already paid nearly $10,000 for a new roof, along with rising HOA fees to cover rising insurance costs.
"It's too little, too late," Sullivan said. "I was hoping they would have done that before the end of last year, because we were forced into a position because of the timeline that we had to take care of all of that. So that's in our past and not in our future. Now, I'm not sure if other condos it could be helpful to them, that's great. It's not for us."
She and her neighbors were hoping the state would provide zero or low-interest loans for individual residents to help cover surprise assessments. However, both state lawmakers say that wasn't an option.
"To say, 'Listen, I have a couple 100,000 people who have 100% equity in their unit. They've never put a dime away for the last 30 years, but they want state state money'. Bailout is not a really attractive presentation to my colleagues," Senator Pizzo said.
Senator Bradley agreed.
"In terms of a statewide program, you know, in terms of our fiscal constraints, the dollars that would be required for that would be probably close to a billion dollars, and that's just not something that is is really feasible," she said.
WHAT ABOUT SOLUTIONS TO HIGH CONDO INSURANCE?
For Fran's neighbor, Tyler Clee, he was most frustrated that state lawmakers didn't even speak about the high cost of insurance contributing to the mounting pressure for condo owners.
"A lot of the HOA fees are insurance because of the things that have happened," Clee said. "It would have been nice if they addressed that more than loaning people money."
We've heard this sentiment over and over again and took Clee's frustrations back to our state leaders.
"Ultimately, I think, that when you have when these repairs are made, these updates are made, that will drive the premiums down because insurers will be there will be greater comfort that they're insuring a safe building," Senator Bradley said adding she held panels with insurance experts on the topic. "This bill was we were trying not to get so far afield so that we could get that financial relief and really address the Surfside regulations. But, but I expect next session that dialog is going to continue."
Senator Pizzo is stronger on this stance.
Watch Senator Pizzo discuss the condo crisis
" I will tell you this, Senator Bradley and I have made it very clear that when we look at balance sheets, basically for associations, the largest cost driver for increase in assessments over the last 36-48 months has absolutely been insurance," Senator Pizzo said. "So I don't know, grow up and be adults in the room and basically say, 'This is what's more important.'"
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