Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed into law an important new condominium law known as Condo 3.0 that seeks to safeguard unit owners against possible misuse by condo board members. Dubbed by its sponsor State Representative Vicki Lopez as “Condo 3.0”, its impactful provisions will take effect starting July 1.
House Bill 1021 was unanimously passed by Florida legislators to combat corruption and malfeasance within condo associations by increasing oversight and providing residents with additional rights, while giving state authorities additional investigative capabilities against any abuses that might take place.
One of the key provisions of the law is requiring condo managers to undertake four hours of education on condo association management, along with mandating more transparency by creating webpages for condos with 25 or more units to publish essential documents like bylaws, budgets and lists of service providers. Furthermore, defamation lawsuits cannot be used by boards as an avenue for silencing discontentment against board decisions.
Lawmaker have taken an important step by closing an earlier loophole which prevented the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) from effectively enforcing condo laws in Florida. With this change, condo owners now can seek protection under state law while reporting mismanagement or corruption to DBPR for intervention.
After the 2021 tragedy that claimed 98 lives when a condo tower in Surfside, Florida collapsed, legislators felt impelled to tighten condo regulations in response to structural defects and delayed maintenance issues that contributed to its downfall. This disaster revealed serious deficiencies which contributed to its failure.
Though many condo owners in South Florida view the law as positive, its passage hasn’t gone entirely uncontested. Some are concerned with provisions which grant developers more power in common areas in mixed-use buildings – potentially shifting maintenance costs and control away from unit owners and shifting away maintenance responsibilities to developers instead.
This law also allocates $7.4 million for use by the DBPR in upholding condo regulations across Florida – representing an unprecedented commitment to oversight in Florida’s real estate sector.