HIGHLIGHTS OF NEW CONDOMINIUM LAW EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024

Creates new educational training requirements on milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies, elections, recordkeeping, financial literacy, transparency, levying of fines, and more for condo boards.

It requires directors, officers, persons with a financial interest in a community association management firm, and their relatives to disclose any possible conflicts of interest.

Adds criminal penalties and removal from office for any directors, officers, or board members who solicit or accept kickbacks, destroy or refuse to release records, commit theft of association funds, violate inspection requirements, engage in fraudulent voting activities, and other violations.

Condos with 25 units or more must set up webpages that include documents such as bylaws, budgets, lists of contractors and vendors, records of expenditures, building permits, and educational certificates by board members.

Requires that records be made available for inspection by written request and makes repeated refusal to release records a second-degree misdemeanor (unless they refuse to release documents to cover up crimes, in which case it's a third-degree felony).

Requires associations of 10 or more units to meet quarterly, with opportunities for members to ask questions.

It requires that meetings where assessments will be considered specifically state that in the agenda, along with an estimated cost and description and copies of any contracts involved.

Expands allowable hurricane protection retroactively and creates a uniform procedure and definition for standard hurricane protection

It prohibits condo associations from filing "SLAPP suits," or lawsuits strategically designed to quiet condo residents with defamation or using association funds to pay for them.

Empowers the Department of Business and Professional Regulation: Requires them to start tracking which associations have completed structural inspections

Adds $6.1 million in recurring and $1.3 million in nonrecurring funds to pay for 65 more positions.

_________________________________________________________________________________

MANDATORY STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY RESERVE STUDY & 

FUNDING REQUIREMENTS FOR FLORIDA CONDOMINIUMS

Signed into law in May, 2022, Florida Senate Bill 4-D establishes statewide Structural Integrity Reserve study and funding requirements for condominium associations.

_________________________________________________________________________________