Latest news with #DawnMunera
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Condo Crisis: Communities approved for safety inspections can't count on state grants yet
Their roof is aging and members have been battered with multiple years of gargantuan insurance increases, so a Pembroke Pines condominium association made sure they were among the first in an avalanche of applications for state condo-hardening grants. My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Project proved so popular in November that the window of opportunity to grab one lasted only six days. But now, with the Florida Legislature approving a new round of condo improvement grants, Dawn Munera, president of Pierpointe V Condo III, has learned her board's efforts are coming up short despite quickly getting in line. Just as hurricane season is bearing down, starting June 1, the new legislation cuts out condo buildings that, like her association's 36-year-old buildings, are just two stories. The new legislation requires the buildings to have at least three habitable stories to be eligible for the state money. 'This (grant money) could have given them (residents) just enough relief not to have another assessment, at least for a year,' said Munera, explaining that their special assessments have been needed for several years of 50% increases in insurance costs. The collapse of Champlain Towers South nearly four years ago caused the deaths of 98 people and injured 11 others prompted the state Legislature to adopt a law creating new standards for condo buildings three stories or higher. It has left many Floridians wrestling with the option of paying significant association fees, selling their unit or going into foreclosure. Once Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the bill the House and the Senate both unanimously passed this past session, 52 associations among the 165 that were approved to be in the grant program last year will have buildings ineligible for portion of the program that doles out money after the inspection because of their height. After the inspection determines an association has qualifying improvements that would increase its resistance to storms, it pays each association up to $175,000. For every $1 the association spends on improving windows, doors and roofs that the association holds in common, the state grant gives the association $2. The money, for which $30 million was allocated for last year, was aimed at improving condos' storm-worthiness and thus lowering their insurance costs. A bill analysis indicates that last year's allocation will be rolled over for another year. Munera says her association delayed the replacement of one of its roofs, anticipating the inspection and then the state grant. 'It's so crazy to me, because we followed up with them (the Department of Financial Services, administering the grant) for six months, getting all this information,' Munera said. 'They told us, 'Oh, you're on our short list.' We went back and forth.' State Rep. Vicki Lopez, R-Miami, said getting information back from the first set of inspections during the program's pilot year produced some insights. And, in the program's second pilot year, legislators decided to focus the grants on those associations that must meet the new condo guidelines passed after the 2021 Surfside disaster, Lopez said. Spurred by reports of the physical deterioration and membership money squabbles before the 40-year-old, 12-story building's collapse, laws tightened the rules that condo boards must comply with or face fines. Condo associations with buildings of at least three habitable stories must undergo a study of building deficiencies and whether they have sufficient reserves to cover building repairs. 'The revisions that we made were necessary to ensure that they aligned with the condo bill,' Lopez said. 'It was all such a new program that we didn't really understand what we needed to do to clarify in terms of criteria (for eligibility) until they started the inspection phase.' That rationale is cold comfort to Munera, though. Her association also faces the increased expense that taller condo buildings must meet because of Surfside's fallout. Two-story condos in Pembroke Pines must also comply with reserve and building deficiency studies, like the state's new condo rules. The ones that got in line last year should be grandfathered in, she said. Florida's condo crisis: In 3 Palm Beach County communities, big issues = high assessments 'We were so diligent, right?' she said. 'We should be rewarded for that — we were on top of it. But instead, we're being punished and kicked out.' Others among the 165 associations green-lighted for participating in the first year's pilot may also find they are ineligible for the condo grant money. Another provision in the law would require some to rejigger the division of individual and common property if they're going to remain eligible for the grant, for example, Lopez said. 'In the case where the exterior doors and windows are the responsibilities of the individual unit owners … they wouldn't be able to get a grant, because you'd have to ensure that every single person in that building upgrades their own exterior doors and windows in order to get the insurance credit,' Lopez said. 'These are all the things that we found out when we were first initially trying to implement the program through inspections,' Lopez added. In addition to the requirements, other new provisions in the law say that: Only those improvements that result in an insurance discount are eligible. Mitigation improvements must be made to all openings, including exterior doors, garage doors, windows and skylights, if doing so is necessary for the building to qualify for an insurance discount. All condos approved for grants must have completed their milestone inspections and reserve studies that the Surfside condo rules lay out. Still, Lopez pointed out, all those who were initially approved to be in the program did get something — even if the new provisions make them ineligible for the improvement grants. 'They got a free inspection,' she said. For now, Munera hangs onto the shred of home that the new legislation the House and Senate passed somehow doesn't become law — which is possible if DeSantis vetoes it. "That would be awesome," she said. Anne Geggis is the insurance reporter atThe Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at ageggis@ Help support our journalism. Subscribe today This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: New Florida law puts condos approved for program in limbo
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Condo conundrum: 165 properties OK'd for grant program face tougher new hurdles
A Pembroke Pines condominium's governing board thought it moved quickly to get in line for a roof replacement grant when the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program opened to applications last November. Now, the association is being told that it's ineligible for a grant under terms of a new bill just passed by the Florida Legislature that, among other revisions, now limits eligibility to condominiums over two stories. Pierpointe V Condo III is a small complex of 24 units in three two-story buildings. It's one of 165 condominium properties in Florida told they were approved for windstorm mitigation inspections and, depending on what the inspections identified, generous grants for storm-hardening improvements. But now those approvals are uncertain. A new law that awaits the governor's signature includes several tougher qualifying provisions that could put Pierpointe V and a number of others out of the running. 'It's really unfortunate, and it's a little bit disappointing,' said Dawn Munera, Pierpointe V's treasurer, who submitted the condo's application. The property still awaits its initial inspection nearly six months after it was approved in December, she said. 'I was also surprised that none of the condo condominiums that applied for this have been been approved for grants yet.' Florida lawmakers pass revamp of condo laws, responding to residents' higher costs Florida condo owners 'need relief.' These proposals move forward in Legislature. Hundreds of South Florida condos now on secret mortgage blacklist The My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program, patterned after the popular My Safe Florida Home program, was originally enacted in 2024. The program aimed to provide $2 in state funds, up to $175,000, for every $1 spent by condo associations to fund mitigation projects. Eligible projects include replacement of windows, skylights and other openings with impact-resistant glass; purchase and installation of code-compliant exterior doors; and improvements to roofs that would require full roof replacements. Officials shut down the application portal on Nov. 19, six days after receiving 174 applications. Those applications were enough to deplete the initial $30 million budget if all sought the maximum grant amount, according to a Jan. 1 report sent to legislators by the Department of Financial Services, which oversees the program. Of the 174 applications, 165 were approved, the report said. The Department of Financial Services confirmed on Thursday that the 165 approved properties will be subjected to new requirements in the amended law if they hope to qualify for a grant. 'Once the grant window is opened, all applications are subject to the provisions of law at the time of approval,' department spokesman Devin Galetta said. Of the 165 applicants, 52 have buildings under three stories, Galetta said. And inspections of 378 buildings at 91 condo associations have been completed, he said. If enacted, the new law would add these requirements: — Condos must be at least three habitable stories. — Window upgrades will be eligible for grant funding only if they are established as common elements in a condo declaration, and not owned individually by unit owners. — Improvements will only be eligible for grants if they result in an insurance discount. — Mitigation improvements must be made to all openings, including exterior doors, garage doors, windows and skylights, if doing so is necessary for the building to qualify for an insurance discount. — All condos approved for grants must have completed their milestone inspections and Structural Integrity Reserve Studies. Munera said her condo completed its milestone inspection and reserve study because Pembroke Pines requires them even for condominiums under three stories. The condo had recently spent $142,000 to replace two of its three roofs before owners heard about the My Safe Florida Condominium program. It canceled plans to replace the third roof, believing it could recover $47,000 in grants before the June 1 start of the upcoming hurricane season. Each unit owner would have saved about $2,000, Munera said. In December, the condo board learned it was approved to participate in the program, Munera said. Eligibility for a grant hinged on what the inspection found and were subject to rules in place at the time, she said. But although she reached out in December to the vendor hired to conduct the inspections, several months went by and no inspector showed up, Munera said. After Munera sent several emails, the employee told her by telephone on Tuesday that the complex would no longer be eligible for a grant under terms of the new law, which the employee said would be signed shortly by the governor, Munera said. Munera said she then reached out to the office of Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami Republican who co-sponsored the original and amended bills, and received an email from one of Lopez's aides telling her that her condo no longer qualified. Galetta and Lopez pointed out that one of the revisions approved in the new bill will make it easier for qualified properties to secure a grant. One of the revisions, intended to allow condo boards to bypass individual holdouts, reduces the percentage of unit owners required to approve grant applications from 100% to 75%. The 100% threshold 'was determined to be a significant hurdle,' Galetta said. Munera said she had approval from all 24 of her condo's unit owners to apply for its grant. In addition, Galetta said, the new bill allows larger grant amounts per window and per square feet of roof. Asked if the bill's sponsors made a mistake by not grandfathering in the previously approved applicants under the rules enacted last year, Lopez said she didn't think so. Requirements added to the revised bill, including changing the approval threshold to 75% of unit owners and ordering that all windows be under common ownership, resulted from 'what we learned during the initial implementation phase,' she said. 'What probably should have happened is that (the department) should have notified all who applied for an inspection that the program would most probably be amended and then they should only have inspected the buildings that were aligned with the provisions of the new bill,' she said. 'This would have avoided any confusion that exists today.' The confusion is just beginning for Munera and her fellow residents at Pierpointe V Condo III. They have to figure out how to proceed knowing they'll have to come up with the money they had counted on saving. 'I have to bring all these owners back in for another meeting and explain, 'You know what? We haven't fixed this roof for six months because we were waiting for the grant money. Now, it's not gonna come.' Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071 or by email at rhurtibise@
