Lots of New Condo Laws This Year

Florida’s legislature gave a lot of attention to condominiums this year. Most important was House Bill 1021, which was approved by the Governor on June 14, 2024, and went into effect July 1. This column will address some of the highlights of the new laws.

In 2022, the Legislature adopted laws requiring structural integrity studies and reports. Associations are required to provide copies of the studies and reports to unit owners and will now also be required to notify owners that a structural integrity reserve study is available within 45 days of completion of the study. Associations must also notify the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes within 45 days after the study is complete and the Division must create a database of associations that completed the studies.

If an entire condominium building is uninhabitable due to a natural emergency, an association may temporarily stop funding of reserves or reduce reserve funding if approved by a majority of the members. Any reserve account can be used by the Board of Directors to make a condominium building habitable. Once habitability is restored, the association must resume reserve funding.

There have been a lot of owners complaining that their Boards do not hold regular director meetings. Associations with more than 10 units are now required to have a board meeting at least once every quarter and at least four times a year. Board meeting agendas must include an opportunity for all owners to ask questions. Owners must be given an opportunity to speak at Board meetings on all agenda items and to ask questions about construction or repair projects, revenues and expenditures, and other issues affecting the condominium.

Notice for all board meetings has been required for decades. Under the new laws, notice of any board meeting at which assessments will be considered must specifically state that assessments will be considered, provide an estimate of cost and a description of the purpose for the assessment. If an agenda includes approval of a contract for goods or services, a copy of the contract must be provided with the notice of the board meeting and be made available for inspection and copying by owners (or alternatively made available on the associations website).

Condominium directors have new, more stringent education requirements. Directors must complete at least four hours of an educational course including milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies, elections, recordkeeping, financial literacy, transparency, fines, notice and meeting requirements. A certificate of completion must be submitted to the association by June 30, 2025, for existing directors or within 90 days of taking office by others. The certificate is valid for seven years following issuance. Every year thereafter, a director must complete at least one hour of continuing education related to recent changes to the Condominium Act and pertinent regulations. 

Directors are also required to provide written certification that they have read the association’s governing documents and will work to uphold the documents to the best of their ability.

Owner email addresses are made official records if the owner has given consent to electronic notice or expressly authorized sharing the email address with other owners. The association must make sure owner email addresses are used only for association business and not shared with third parties.

Official records will now include invoices, receipts, and deposit slips that substantiate any receipt or expenditure of funds plus building permits and board member education certificates. Official records must be maintained in an organized manner to facilitate inspection by owners. If any records are lost or destroyed, an association must make a good faith effort to recover the records.

If an owner requests records, the association must now respond with a checklist and maintain the checklist for seven years for all records provided. The checklist must also specify any records not made available. If the records are on the association’s website or available to download, the association may direct the requester to the website or the software for download.

Residential and mixed residential/commercial condominiums must adopt hurricane protection specifications for each building and specify whether the owner or association is responsible for installation maintenance and repair. Hurricane protection will not be a material alteration requiring owner vote. If a majority of the voting interests approve, an association may require all owners install hurricane protection that complies with applicable building code. Cost of installation of hurricane protection is made enforceable as an assessment, and associations must clarify responsibility of unit owners and associations for cost of maintenance, repair and replacement of hurricane protections, exterior doors, windows and glass apertures. 

We must have had a lot of naughty directors in Florida because the legislature incorporated criminal violations into the Condominium Act. If an officer or director is charged by information or indictment with forgery of a ballot envelope or voting certificate, theft or embezzlement of association funds, destruction of refusal to allow inspection of an official record in furtherance of a crime, obstruction of justice, fraudulent voting activities related to an association election or any other criminal violation under Chapter 718, the person must be removed from office. Violations of these laws can be punished as anything from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third degree felony.

In furtherance of effort to make sure directors acted properly, the Division has been given expanded authority to investigate complaints including elections, procedures and records related to financials, maintenance of an owner access to records, procedures followed in meetings and conflicts of interest. The Division must refer any person it believes has participated in criminal activity to local law enforcement. And as an extra bonus, the Division and ombudsman is authorized to attend and observe any meeting of a condominium Board or owners in performance of duties of the Division or the office of the ombudsman.

A board can now authorize online voting and must honor an owner’s request to vote electronically at all subsequent elections unless the owner opts out of online voting. Associations must notify an owner at least 90 days before an election if the association intends to suspend voting rights due to nonpayment of money due the association.

HB 1029 enacts the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program. The program is available to condominiums within 15 miles of the coastline. An association may apply for a free state inspection after approval by a majority of the Board of Directors or a majority vote of the total voting interest of the association. An association may also apply for a grant after approval by a majority vote of the board or majority vote of the total voting interests and a unanimous vote of all unit owners within the building that is the subject of the mitigation agreement. Grants are awarded based on the type of project and costs with a maximum total grant of $175,000 per association. 

Most new statutes in Florida become effective October 1. The changes in this article are effective July 1.