Florida Congresswomen Revive Bipartisan Bill To Help Reduce Costs for Condo Owners

A new bipartisan bill in Congress aims to improve the financing environment for condominium associations to make structural repairs.

Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar, both of Florida, reintroduced the Making Condos Safer and Affordable Act. It had a few provisions around financing for structural and safety repairs.

Wasserman Schultz first pitched the bill in 2023, alongside Florida Republican Rep. Bill Posey, but it died in committee. The bill is inspired in part by the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside, which killed 98 people.

“Five years ago, an unimaginable but entirely preventable tragedy rocked our South Florida community with the collapse of Surfside's Champlain Towers, claiming 98 innocent lives," Wasserman Schultz said. "While the cause was finally identified after years of investigations, action is still needed to stop this from happening again."

The bill would expand the Federal Housing Administration's 203(k) loan program for condo owners, so they can use those loans for special assessments for structural and safety repairs. It also expands federal loan insurance for private lenders, eases the loan application process, and authorizes FHA to insure condo association rehabilitation loans under Section 234 of the National Housing Act.

There are a few other provisions in the bill, including expanding how FHA-insured association loans can be used. The FHA should be able to finance a broader array of rehabilitation, repair, alteration, and replacement of infrastructure and shared facilities of a condominium project, they said.

The Community Associations Institute supports the bill.

Florida's condo groups at a crossroads

The Sunshine State currently has the highest HOA fees and some of the steepest homeowners insurance rates in the nation, costs that have weighed heavily on condo prices there in recent years. 

Lawmakers have proposed several solutions to address rising costs. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed a ballot measure to eliminate property taxes.

After Surfside, condos over 30 years of age (and at least three stories tall) got hit with new safety laws requiring "milestone" inspections and beefing up reserve funds for repairs and maintenance. But lawmakers argue those required improvements to condo association finances prevent another disaster.

"As we honor those we lost, we must take action to help prevent another disaster,” Salazar said. “This bipartisan bill gives condominium associations and homeowners the tools they need to finance critical safety repairs, protect residents, and preserve safe, affordable housing across South Florida.”