House passes condo bill following DeSantis’ criticism

The Florida House on Wednesday approved in a near-unanimous vote this year’s condominium bill, which Gov. Ron DeSantis has criticized as part of his feud with the chamber’s leadership.

With a little more than a week until the scheduled end of the session, House lawmakers approved Miami Republican Rep. Vicki Lopez’s bill, HB 913, which would allow condominium associations to open lines of credit instead of raising cash from owners to fund building repairs.

The legislation attempts to address escalating association fees following last year’s deadline for condominiums to complete studies detailing how much each needs to save to pay for roof and structural maintenance. Lawmakers passed legislation, requiring those studies and milestone inspections 30 years after the buildings’ construction, after the 2021 collapse in Surfside of a 12-story condo that killed 98 people.

“I did not come to the Florida House to become a housing expert, but here we find ourselves,” Lopez said Wednesday. “So, this affectionately known as the condo queen is prepared to continue to do the work to make sure that we have listened. I’m telling you, this is landmark legislation that finally does provide relief, the financial relief that all of our condo owners deserve.”

The vote followed criticism from DeSantis, who in press conferences said that language allowing condo owners to vote electronically on matters brought by their associations would incite fraud. The version the House approved Wednesday requires 25% of condo owners who can vote to ask the association to hold an electronic voting option, which Lopez said is needed because a lot of owners live outside of the state or country.

“The House condo bill seems to be something that favors developers and puts the interest of developers over the interests of Florida residents,” DeSantis said during an April 10 press conference at the City of Sweetwater Community Center.

The only two votes against the bill came from DeSantis allies: Republican Reps. Michael Caruso of Delray Beach and Kiyan Michael of Jacksonville.

Multiple Democrats praised Lopez on the House floor, saying she took the time during the summer to meet with their constituents about the rising condominium fees burdening elderly people on fixed incomes.

The Senate is set to take up its proposal, from Fleming Island Republican Sen. Jenifer Bradley, SB 1742, on Thursday. There are still some key differences between the two proposals. For example, Bradley’s bill would allow condominium associations to invest their funds for repairs and to pause their contributions for reserve funds for repairs for up to two years after the milestone inspection.

However, one provision that intensified disagreement between the sponsors early on is no longer a part of the House bill. Lopez originally wanted to prohibit Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state’s property insurer of last resort, from issuing or renewing policies for condominium buildings that haven’t completed their building inspections.

“We want to make sure that associations comply, but I’m also very concerned about making sure that they don’t compound their troubles by not being able to secure insurance,” Bradley told Florida Phoenix in March.

Hardening pilot program

House lawmakers also voted unanimously to extend a pilot program for grants for condominiums to take on projects that would make buildings more resilient against hurricanes. HB 393, co-sponsored by Lopez and Parkland Democratic Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, lowers the requirement of 100% approval from condo owners to 75% for the association to apply for a grant.

However, the House is not adding additional funds for the pilot other than the $30 million appropriated last year, of which $29.6 million remains unspent because of the timeline of the application process.

The Senate bill, SB 592, has passed all of its committee stops but it has not been scheduled for a floor vote.