What S. Fla. Condo Boards Need to Know About the Amendments to the Florida Condominium Statute

Steven Carlyle Cronig.a partner in Hinshaw & Culbertson’s Coral Gables practice.

In the year since the 2022 Amendments were enacted, the practical problems which arose came into sharp focus. The residents of older buildings, many of whom were themselves elderly, suddenly found themselves facing the prospect of moving out of buildings in which they had lived for decades. This, combined with a severe shortage of affordable rental housing, resulted in these “structural refugees” having no place to go.

июня 27, 2023 at 09:59 AM

By Steven Carlyle Cronig | июня 27, 2023 at 09:59 AM

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

On June 9, the governor signed Florida Senate Bill No. 154, (the 2023 Bill), a “cleanup” measure which addressed unanticipated problems arising from the 2022 amendments to the Florida Condominium Act and several other sections of the Laws of Florida which were enacted in response to the 2021 Champlain Towers disaster in which the condominium’s structure collapsed and 98 people died (the 2022 Amendments). In the year since the 2022 Amendments were enacted, the practical problems which arose came into sharp focus. The residents of older buildings, many of whom were themselves elderly, suddenly found themselves facing the prospect of moving out of buildings in which they had lived for decades. This, combined with a severe shortage of affordable rental housing, resulted in these “structural refugees” having no place to go.

The two most urgent problems resulting from the 2022 Amendments were: the number of architects and engineers available to perform the new milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies was woefully inadequate to perform inspections on the number of condominium buildings now required to obtain those Inspections and Studies by the deadlines imposed; and the cost of performing required repairs and funding required reserves was beyond the ability of many lower valued condominium associations to afford. Many associations had for years voted to forego reserves to maintain artificially low maintenance fees. The prospect of closing hundreds of Florida condominium buildings due to noncompliance with the statute resulted in the Legislature’s passage of the 2023 Bill. The 2023 Bill makes many technical and stylistic changes, but four important issues were addressed:

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now