Condo reform law approved by Florida House; will DeSantis sign it into law?

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Cutting it close, State Rep. Vicki Lopez's condo reform bill was approved in the waning days of the 2025 Florida Legislature, and is now an enrolled bill.
Wednesday, the Florida House unanimously approved the final version of HB 913, sending it to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature or his veto.
"This landmark piece of legislation provides financial relief and ensures building safety for the condo residents in the state of Florida," Lopez said in a statement from her office.

From Key Biscayne to Keystone Heights and beyond, the bill would help lessen the immediate financial strain on condo owners who have been hit with higher assessment fees after mandated inspections, upgrades and reserve funds were required in the wake of the 2021 tragedy at Champlain Towers South in Surfside.
HB 913 would allow certain condo associations to fund their reserves through a loan or a line of credit and give residents greater flexibility to pause payments to their reserves while needed repairs are prioritized.
Explaining why it’s so important that condo associations be allowed to get a line of credit in lieu of reserves, Lopez told Jim Defede of CBS Miami, “For so many months we’ve been hearing that the Structural Integrity Reserve Study, which requires you to, obviously, start reserving, was going to increase people’s monthly condo fees because it’s a prospective budget tool, so it would be included in the budget which, of course, would mean an increase in the budget expenditures.
“And, now, they will be able to, thanks to this law, they will be able to take their Structural Integrity Reserve Study and they can get a credit line for the exact amount they need to have.
“And, as long as they keep that at the same amount, they will not have to reserve, which is going to be wonderful because they’ll have the money there; the credit line ensures the Legislature that the money will be available for any repairs that need to be made, or replacements of structural elements, and they won’t have to be paying for it before they need it.”
Lopez said that part of the bill is critical, but also important is the loan factor for assessments.

Miami and Key Biscayne Florida Rep. Vicki Lopez.

Photo courtesy of the Florida House of Representatives website

“As we know in South Florida, many, many of the buildings are very old, 30, 40, 50, 60 years old, and many have not been maintained properly over the years,” she said. “So, unfortunately, there’s going to come a time when they (have) their milestone inspection, which has to be done at 30 years and every 10 years thereafter. There will be repairs to be made.
“So, they can use the credit line or take a loan out, which I think will be wonderful, as an option, for those who potentially don’t have any reserves or are thinking of not reserving as much.”
To clarify, the association would be able to take out that loan with a majority vote of the unit owners, with each unit normally paying a proportionate share based on square footage.
However, each unit owner also could take out a personal loan to pay for that assessment fee, if they choose. In Miami-Dade County, interest-free loans of up to $50,000 on a 40-year term are available for those with income eligibility ranging from 30% up to 140% of area median income (AMI).
HB 913 also extends the deadline by which associations have to complete structural integrity studies and exempts some smaller buildings (those with three "habitable" stories or more in height (but not counting garage levels) from having to do those analyses.
“We have strived to reach that delicate balance between the safety of our constituents that live in condominiums, as well as understanding the incredible financial impact that sometimes these particular bills that we pass have,” Lopez told the Associated Press. “I will continue this work as long as we need to do so,” she added.
DeSantis said the fallout from the original 2022 legislation was not intended but needed fixing, something he prioritized heading into this year's legislative session.
Just last month, while speaking in Miami, DeSantis said he had warned lawmakers against the unintended consequences of their initial response to Surfside.
"Well, here we are today, and we have seen some of these consequences," he said. "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."
The state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees condo boards, would also create a standard form for Structural Integrity Reserve Studies.
Under current law, those studies focus on features that affect structural integrity or safety, including roofs, plumbing, load-bearing walls, electrical systems, waterproofing, exterior painting, windows and exterior doors.

The studies also include other items that have deferred maintenance expenses of more than $10,000, which the House and Senate proposals would raise to $25,000. Lopez said the proposed change would “provide flexibility to exclude certain low-cost repairs or replacements from the studies.”
The current laws, passed in 2022 and tweaked in 2023, included requiring “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, some as much as six figures, just to comply with the deadline.
How HB 913 is beneficialAmong some of the highlights of the 191-page "new" HB 913:
• Condo associations would be allowed to use lines of credit in lieu of reserves. Those must be included in the annual financial statement that is required to be delivered to unit owners and required to be provided to prospective purchasers of a unit.
• Limits the investment provision in the bill to investments in certificates of deposit and depository accounts in financial institutions without a vote of the unit owners.
• Online, or electronic, voting would be possible for associations if at least 25% of owners request it.
• Clarifies that condominiums and cooperatives, three "habitable" stories or more in height (not counting garage levels), are required to complete the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) and milestone inspection requirements, and exempts four-family dwelling with three or fewer habitable stories above ground.
• Further clarifies that a special assessment to fund reserves requires the approval of a majority vote of the total voting interests of the association.
• Provides for a milestone study by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability instead of by the University of Florida.
• Revises the definition for “alternative funding method” to apply the method to all multi-condominiums, and to remove the provision allowing additional methods developed by rule of the Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes.
• Restores provisions related to the posting of meeting notices on condominium property as an alternative to 14-day notice requirements and restores provisions related to the broadcasting of meeting notices.
• Expands the emergency powers of condominium and cooperative associations to require the evacuation of the property in the event of any evacuation order, instead of a mandatory evacuation order.
• Revises requirements for amending the declaration for nonresidential condominiums.
• Revises requirements related to maintenance and hurricane protection, including deleting the provision allowing the association to assess a unit owner if the association installs or removes hurricane protection that is the responsibility of the unit owner.
• Provides that all condominiums, in addition to residential condominiums, can be covered by an insured warranty program underwritten by a Florida-registered insurance company.
• Revises the conditions for transfer of control to non-developer unit owners in non-residential condominiums.
• Includes non-residential condominiums with 10 or fewer units in the provisions allowing condominiums that are controlled by non-developer unit owners to cancel agreements entered into before they assumed control of the association.
• Provides that a condominium association created within a portion of a building may inspect and copy the books and records of the owner of the non-condominium portion of the building, and require that the condominium association must receive a financial report with respect to such costs.
• Would prohibit companies or people that perform structural reserve studies from conducting repairs, to avoid what Lopez called “a clear conflict of interest.” The Senate version of the bill would require any contractor or “design professional” who bids to perform a stru