Being able to walk outside and enjoy the ocean is a big reason why Marianne Meischeid bought her Surfside condo in 2002.
“I take walks every day,” she said, adding she always knew she wanted to enjoy retirement in South Florida. “This was the plan 22 years ago.”
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Her condominium is just half a mile down the beach from where the Champlain Towers South stood before it collapsed three years ago. She wasn’t home when the tragedy happened, but like so many in the area, she became concerned about her own building.
“The whole worry was … is my older building also structurally sound?” she said.
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Marianne said even though they had taken good care of her building over the years, unit owners are facing over $5.7 million in recent special assessments for an elevator project and to make repairs related to the building’s 50-year certification.
“This is probably one of our biggest assessments yet,” she said.
That’s why in December, she applied for Miami-Dade County’s Condominium Special Assessment Program, which offers residents who qualify a loan of up to $50,000 to help cover the cost of special assessments. Those who get approved for the loan then have 40 years to pay it back, interest-free.
“This is critically important for those people that are being faced with very high bills for necessary life-safety repairs,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. “We do not want them to lose their homes.”
The mayor said Miami-Dade County is home to about 20% of the state’s condos. So far, the county has loaned $17.4 million through the program, she said. Money for the loans comes from the county’s surtax program, which the mayor said was designed to help with affordability issues in the county.
“It’s been here for a few decades and has been very successful,” she said. “We were able to tap that fund, which is a constantly replenished fund as long as there are real estate transactions.”
The mayor mentioned the loan program in a letter to state lawmakers last month, where she urged them to prioritize condo reform.
“It’s becoming very difficult to survive here in South Florida,” Marianne said.
In March, Marianne found out she was approved for a loan of about $40,000, which she said was enough money to cover her portion of her building’s recent special assessments.
“I was ecstatic,” she said. “I can plan my finances because the monthly payment will only be $81 for me.”
But her worries are far from over.
“I am worried about the next big assessment, which could be in another 10 years,” she said.
Marianne said she knows she is not the only one facing uncertainty and urged state leaders to take action.
“People in Tallahassee have to listen and have to make a difference,” she said. “People just don’t know where to turn right now, especially people like me who retired here and are on fixed incomes.”
She remained hopeful she will be able to spend the rest of her life living a dream she was determined to make reality.
“This is what I worked so hard for all my life and now I got here and now I want to stay here,” she said.
In August, the leader of the state senate ruled out the possibility of a special session on condo reform.
To learn more about Miami-Dade County’s Condo Special Assessment Program, click here.
