2024 Legislative Session: What changes can condo residents & homeowners expect?
MIAMI - With the 2024 Florida Legislative Session winding down, the legislature has days to approve reforms for how Condo and Homeowners' Associations operate.
We spoke with one of the bill sponsors for more than a half-hour Tuesday morning about the progress and what changes condo residents and homeowners can expect.
CBS News Miami's Joe Gorchow asked, "Should Floridians be concerned that something might not get done this week? Then, all of a sudden, we have to wait till next year to see meaningful reform."
Florida House of Representatives Vicky Lopez responded, 'We wanted to make sure that we got it right. And there are many stakeholders: Condo owners, condo boards, and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. We're excited to see it passed. We're excited to see the governor sign it."
Last Friday, all 111 House reps that voted, supported and passed its Community Associations Bill, targeting how condo associations operate. The Senate picks it up again Wednesday for discussion and a potential vote.
"The biggest complaint was access to records. If you have 25 or more units, everyone's going to have a website. We've detailed all the documents that must be on that website," adds Lopez.
Gorchow asks, "There have been mandates, in all fairness. What ultimately will happen in terms of punishment, so people don't have to go to civil court to demand they get these documents?"
Lopez responds, "Call the condo board and say, make that available to them immediately, right? They didn't have it before. And quite frankly, at some juncture, they can remove condo board members for lack of compliance."
The 154-page bill grants that state agency jurisdiction multiple ways to hold board directors and community association managers accountable for compliance issues – including the possibility of law enforcement action.
"Mandating now, education for every single person that serves on a board," added Lopez.
Similar state law changes could be coming for Homeowners' Associations, too. A bill addressing issues with HOAs passed the House on February 22nd. It is still working its way through the Senate.
Still needed scrutiny remains for the agency that oversees both condo boards and HOAs.
Gorchow: "One of the issues was you found DBPR was not effective enough for residents in your own area."
Lopez: "It's true. And I think the DBPR would agree that they didn't have the resources they needed." A lot of what will happen next year is whether they are doing what they should be doing now that they have the resources."
The expected total allotment for the state agency in this year's state budget is north of $187 million, including additional funding to help enforce the condo community associations reform.
Knowing condo and HOA fees and assessments only add to housing affordability concerns across South Florida, Lopez tells CBS News Miami she hopes to bring solutions on how the state can help in next year's legislative session.