The Florida Legislature came so close to passing meaningful new rules to help prevent another deadly condo collapse. The move failed at the last moment, but the problem has not gone away. Thousands of aging condo towers still need inspecting, and many condo associations don’t have the money to pay for repairs. There’s been talk of calling a special legislature session to address the issue. That’s a good idea. Lawmakers shouldn’t wait another whole year to solve what they came so close to fixing already.
The push for reforms came after 98 people died in the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside in June. The tragedy exposed dangerous gaps in how condominiums in Florida are managed and maintained. A major problem: Only two Florida counties — Miami-Dade and Broward — required that condos be inspected and recertified as safe, and that was only after a building turned 40. Another challenge: Condo associations that neglect maintenance or postpone major repairs. Condo owners at Champlain Towers South faced more than $15 million in assessments after the tower underwent its recent 40-year inspection.
State leaders vowed to find out what caused the collapse and to enact safeguards during the recently ended annual legislative session. The state House proposed recertifying condos that were three stories or taller every 30 years, or were 25 years old and within 3 miles of the coast. The shorter timetable for coastal condos addressed the corrosive effect of sea water. The Senate bill called for a slightly different timetable, requiring a “milestone” inspection for coastal condos every 20 years, and recertification thereafter every seven years. Either the House or Senate inspection schedules would have helped protect tens of thousands of condo residents.
The reforms, though, failed on the sticky issue of how to require condo owners to pay for improvements and repairs. Current law allows condominium association boards to waive the requirement that they hold money in reserve. The House bill would have tightened that gaping loophole. At the last minute, the Senate flinched, saying such a requirement would be too much of a financial shock to condo associations, many of which represent working- and middle-class owners. So instead of any reforms at all, the state was left with the system that helped foster the Champlain Towers tragedy. That’s not good enough.
Insurance, mortgage and financial companies might step in and begin requiring inspections and more robust reserve funds for repairs. But that’s a big “might.” And it could leave an uneven landscape where some condos are inspected and financially equipped to make structural repairs where other similar ones are not. Condo buyers and current condo residents deserve better. The state needs to set a solid regulatory foundation and then allow the market to take shape. To do less is to court another condo collapse.
This is an election year, which could motivate some lawmakers to defer the financial issue to the 2023 legislative session. They wouldn’t want to hit condo residents in the pocketbook as they are courting their vote. But this is too serious for that kind of political calculus. Besides, lawmakers were already so close to enacting needed reforms. Call the special session. Get this done.
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Editorials are the institutional voice of the Tampa Bay Times. The members of the Editorial Board are Editor of Editorials Graham Brink, Sherri Day, Sebastian Dortch, John Hill, Jim Verhulst and Chairman Paul Tash. Follow @TBTimes_Opinion on Twitter for more opinion news.
