Miami lawmaker proposes revoking Citizens coverage for non-compliant condos
Most condominium buildings three stories and higher must have had a building-safety inspection and study outlining recommended budgets for future building maintenance by Dec. 31 of last year.
But so far, most of the more than 11,270 condominium associations in Florida required to get the study for funding future repairs haven't followed through, the secretary for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation told House lawmakers in a panel discussion last week. There are no criminal penalties for non-compliance.
Over the weekend, Republican Rep. Vicki Lopez, filed HB 913 — a 99-page bill refining the condominium laws that have been the subject of every legislative session since the Surfside tragedy.
One of the provisions addresses the problem raised by the DBPR secretary last week.
Lopez proposes to bar the state-run property insurer Citizens from providing coverage to condominiums that fail to comply with the new requirements. She didn't respond to a request for comment, but wrote on social media that the bill 'addresses the need for modernized, efficient, and inclusive condo management, prioritizing safety and financial sustainability for Florida's communities.'
The bill also expands access to electronic voting and allows associations to take on loans or levy special assessments 'without the approval of the membership' to pay for the now-required building maintenance and repairs.
READ MORE: Florida condo costs officially dropped from special session amid Republican showdown
But one of Lopez's Miami-based colleagues, state Sen. Ileana Garcia, told the Herald/Times the proposal 'threatens to significantly displace thousands of condominium owners in Florida, all in an effort to pave the way for private companies to enter the market.'
Garcia said Lopez is basically offering only a stick, and no carrot.
'The bill ties insurance coverage' to 'compliance, yet it fails to offer a feasible way for associations to fulfill these obligations,' Garcia said. 'As a result, many Floridians could lose their insurance, compelling associations to implement steep special assessments that will hit seniors, retirees, and low-income residents the hardest.'
Garcia added: 'Citizens has long served as a safety net for residents.'
Last week after the House panel met, the Miami Realtors posted a video of Lopez at their condo summit on Feb. 14 saying there would be 'no financial bailouts at all' related to the building-safety laws this legislative session after the governor and associations around the state have asked lawmakers to revisit the requirement that associations fully budget for future building repairs.
'We're not in the business of bailing people out who did not do the right thing from the get go,' Lopez said.
One of last week's panel members said the idea was proposed after the House discussion as Lopez, the DBPR secretary and others were leaving the state Capitol.
'Someone simply suggested, well, they shouldn't get the benefits of Citizens if they're not complying with the law,' said Pete Dunbar, a Florida condominium law expert and lobbyist who spoke to the House last week. 'I believe that both the secretary and Rep. Lopez heard the comment made.'
Should Lopez's provision make it into law, it would impact mostly South Florida.
More than half of the 18,468 condominium buildings insured by Citizens are located in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, a Citizens spokesperson told the Herald/Times on Monday. There are 4,213 associations governing those condominium buildings.
It's unclear how many of them have failed to comply with the law.
During the discussion in the House last week, Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Melanie Griffin said the state has had a difficult time confirming that condominiums have completed the required studies to fund future building maintenance. Just more than a third — 4,096 — of the associations required to comply with that provision have actually done so.
And while they are supposed to notify the department that their study is complete, they don't have to provide any additional information, making what the regulators can glean from the studies limited.
Griffin said that 'of the information self-reported to us' the median cost to procure a study was $6,000.
Herald/Times staff reporter Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
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