Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks on condo relief in Sweetwater

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis discussed relief for condominium owners, particularly the elderly, struggling with high fees in a news conference on Thursday in the city of Sweetwater.

"I don't need to tell people in southern Florida, we've got a problem with our condo market right now," DeSantis said.

The governor spoke at the Sweetwater Community Center. He said legislation passed after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside that killed 98 people had unintended consequences.

"We have seen sudden, high-cost fee assessments that have been imposed on condo owners, many of whom in South Florida, particularly in this community, are senior citizens and living on fixed incomes," DeSantis said.

The laws that DeSantis references were initially passed in 2022 and tweaked in 2023. They require “milestone inspections” of older buildings and “structural integrity reserve” studies to determine how much money should be set aside for future major repairs.

Milestone inspections were supposed to be completed by Dec. 31 for certain older buildings that are three stories or higher. Some condo associations hit owners with large assessments in the race to comply with the deadline. Assessments are in addition to homeowners’ regular association fees.

DeSantis touted a bill in the state senate, SB 368, sponsored by state Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-District 36, who represents part of Miami-Dade County.

The governor brought the person in charge of the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation.  

Secretary Melanie Griffin heard criticism of her department from people who say the agency has failed them.

Hialeah condo owner Laura Paramo brought a stack of complaints that she says were filed with the department.

“All this that you see over here, are complaints that are sitting in Ron DeSantis’s office and Ms. Griffin’s for more than three years,” Paramo said.

DBPR is tasked with overseeing condominium and homeowners’ associations.

Many condo owners complain that the agency is not responsive and is doing nothing to enforce state laws.

Jorge Agrelo owns a condo unit in northwest Miami-Dade County and has a common complaint, saying his association has been corrupt for years.

“When you have a board that is mismanaging the money, what are they going to do when they have more money,” he said. “They are going to mismanage that money, so that  is the main problem.”

Griffin said recently that things have gotten better.

“Almost 90% of our cases we have received, we have been able to help citizens and the very small number that we have not been able to,  it is because it was something that, we did not have complete evidence, maybe the person did not give their contact details.”