Florida condo owner fears new regulations won’t protect against another Champlain Towers collapse

Florida condominium owners are looking at higher costs from condo associations in the new year, a consequence of a safety law passed by state lawmakers in 2022.

It requires condo associations to have sufficient reserves to cover major repairs and to conduct a survey of reserves every decade. Because of the law, older condos — found largely in South Florida, according to state records — are facing hefty increases to association payments to fund the reserves and repair costs.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law in response to the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South that killed 98 people in Surfside in June 2021.

New regulations require condo associations for buildings with three or more stories to file an inspection report focused on its structure, maintenance and expected costs for repairs or renovations by Dec. 31.

The report is just a small sector of the large-scale issue in Florida’s condo and property insurance crisis. A May report from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation noted that the average homeowner’s insurance premium in Florida is approximately $3,600, about $1,000 more than the national average, according to the National Association of Realtors.

In Hallandale Beach, condo owner Kelli Roiter sympathizes with people having trouble paying the higher fees, but she said she supports rules requiring condo associations to maintain reserves for repairs if it means her oceanfront condo building — built in 1971 — gets the repairs it needs.

She said her building, a few miles from Champlain Towers South, is showing some of the same problems that were visible before that building collapsed.

“I’m concerned that this building will collapse,” Roiter said. “There are nights I wake up hearing a creak, and I jump. And then I remind myself that, no, no, no, we’re safe. But am I safe?”

However, she says she fears the new state law is not doing enough as condo associations will be incentivized to artificially lower necessary repair costs to save owners money.
------------------

For More News and Videos
SUBSCRIBE and Turn Notifications On
https://bit.ly/2r0BEND

Get a Digital Subscription to the Tampa Bay Times
https://bit.ly/2Xinunj

Follow us:
Facebook ►   / tampabaycom  
X ►   / tb_times  
Instagram ►   / tampabaytimes  
TikTok ►   / tampabaytimes