Rep. Vicki Lopez said legislation holding condo boards accountable with beefed-up regulation and even criminal penalties is in no danger of being vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. HB1021 passed the House and Senate unanimously in the first week of March.
Under the bill, the Department of Business Regulation will get an additional $7.5 million in recurring dollars to hire 62 new people to investigate complaints from condo residents. The agency will also ensure condo boards are transparent, posting their financial documents online, or face criminal penalties found to have flagrantly violated the requirement.
“My conversations with DBPR are that they don’t have any indications that the bill is in trouble at all,” said Lopez, whose district includes Key Biscayne. “And they are already making their plans to be ready when he does sign it for July 1. So all indications are we’re all moving towards the same goal.”
Lopez, who owns a condo on Brickell, said she told DBPR officials if they fail to regulate condo boards under the new law, she will work to take away the agency’s jurisdiction. Right now it’s a waiting game for the bill to be signed by DeSantis.
“He asks for the bills to come to him. So I don’t have any idea when he’s going to ask for this big condo bill to come but I mean no one expects that he’s not going to sign it. It’s just that he’s taking his sweet time,” Lopez said.
DeSantis did sign another one of Lopez’s bills on Wednesday, creating a $30 million pilot that extends the My Safe Florida Home program to condo owners. The popular program provides a free inspection to determine the hurricane readiness of a property, providing grants to harden homes.
“This is going to help the coastal condominium associations harden condo infrastructure and protect against wind damage,” he said in signing the bill. “I think that’s innovative. I think that’s going to work.”
Condo associations could get up to $175,000 to upgrade windows, doors and roofs. Associations must get unanimous approval from members to start the application process in July.
Lopez spoke to the Key Biscayne Neighbors Association on her condo legislation earlier this month. Last week, she met with the Key Biscayne Condominium Presidents Council, a group of condo association board presidents.
“I actually thought it was a really good meeting. It was nice to hear everyone’s different perspectives,” she said.
Lopez learned that many of the condominium complexes on the island completed the newly required structural integrity reserve study, or SIRS. The Legislature passed the requirement after the Surfside collapse in June 2021 to bolster the safety and long-term maintenance of condominiums.
“I was most impressed because everywhere I go, no one has completed them,” she said. “So we have got some very good condo boards on the island.”
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JOHN PACENTI is the executive editor of the Key Biscayne Independent. John has worked for The Associated Press, the Palm Beach Post, Daily Business Review, and WPTV-TV.