UPDATE: In an effort to prevent another Surfside-like tragedy a Florida house committee yesterday advanced a bill that would require condo associations to conduct more frequent inspections and make the results public. The associations would also have to make sure they have enough money in reserves to pay for repairs.

The bill would require milestone inspections for multi-family buildings taller than three stories. It would also require these buildings to be inspected 30 years after they are built and then every 10 years after that.

While they could not say for sure whether or not this bill would have prevented the Surfside collapse if it had been in place in 2021, these supporters do say this bill is a step in the right direction. Leaders with CAI say that without a reserve fund, some condos are forced to put maintenance projects on hold, even when they are critically important.

This is why they’re pushing for Senate Bill 7042 to be passed. It would give condo boards the authority to make investments for required maintenance projects.

“[There] has to be the ability to have, whether it be a line of credit, or an approved special assessment… or some funding source in place to ensure that the necessary projects can be funded at a time when they need to be funded,” said Michael Bender, chair of the Florida Legislative Action Committee of CAI.

The bill was filed after 98 people were killed when Champlain Towers South collapsed last year.
Supporters of Senate Bill 1702 say they just want to make sure tragedies like the collapse of Champlain Towers in Surfside never happen again.

ORIGINAL STORY:
Housing is no longer affordable in South Florida and it’s about to get worse.

With a mass exodus of people flocking to the sunshine state, the average renter can expect to pay more than $2200 for an 850 square foot unit in South Florida as of January 2022.

For most people, that price is no longer affordable. So why is the price of housing skyrocketing?

Board certified South Florida attorney Eric Glazer specializes in community association law and he has been sounding the alarm since the catastrophic collapse of the Surfside condominium that rents and housing are going to skyrocket for a myriad of reasons.

But mainly, Glazer says, new laws are about to be passed to ensure that another fatal building failure never happens again in Florida.

That means condo owners will have to pay thousands of dollars in monthly assessments on top of their mortgage so their associations can stockpile reserves to cover any necessary future building repairs.

Also, conventional loans to buy a condo may not be attainable because of new strict reporting requirements which include whether the association has fully funded reserves.

Listen to the full interview with attorney Eric Glazer here. He explains exactly what to expect if you plan to rent or buy a home in South Florida.