DeSantis won’t call lawmakers to Tallahassee to address condo crisis. At least not yet

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday vowed to push the Republican-led Legislature to step in before the end of the year to help condominium owners facing financial turmoil as a result of new building safety regulations that go into effect Jan. 1.

“At some point over the next three and a half months, something will be done,” he said at a roundtable meeting with local condo owners in Pinellas Park.

Still, the governor would not commit to calling a special session himself — at least not yet. The reason: he said he doesn’t want Florida lawmakers scrambling and pushing “half-baked” proposals that may not end up helping condo residents in the end.

Last month, Republican leaders rejected calls to reconvene the Legislature early to tackle the condo issue.

The new rules, passed in the wake of the deadly Surfside building collapse, require certain condo associations to inspect their buildings and come up with plans to pay for necessary repairs by Jan. 1, 2025. While DeSantis says he wants to continue generating policy ideas, he has expressed interest in making that deadline more flexible.

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“I know the Legislature will look at that and see if there is a way perhaps for that to be reconfigured,” DeSantis said, noting that he is also open to considering low-interest loans to help condos make needed repairs.

Though legislators hoped current condo safety laws would prevent future engineering failures, condo owners say in the short term it has led to unwieldy special assessments that threaten to price out low-income and senior residents.

Earle Cooper, a Bellaire condo owner who spoke at the roundtable, said his building needs around $3.69 million in repairs. That could cost individual residents anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000.

“[One resident named] Dorothy just had her 99th birthday,” he said. “How do you go tell Dorothy that your assessment is more than you’ve probably ever made in your life?”

Cooper urged the governor to push back the deadline and look for solutions that would separate the “bad apples” from condo associations that had done their due diligence to save money and keep up with routine maintenance over the years.

Another condo owner, Ronni Caren from Clearwater, suggested DeSantis call a special session himself.

“How you call it and when you call it, things need to be kind of teed up so that we’re going to be successful,” DeSantis responded. “I can call one for next week and then everyone’s running around like chickens with their head cut off.”

He suggested that legislators may take it upon themselves to act before the regular legislative session begins in March. That could happen in November or December when lawmakers are already scheduled to be in Tallahassee for committee hearings, he said.

In a memo sent to state senators in August, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said she had “no intention” of calling a special session. Passidomo on Thursday said she had nothing new to add.

Earlier this month, incoming Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Bartow, and incoming House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, issued statements to the Herald/Times, saying they do not want to rush any changes to state laws if safety will not be the main focus.

“The important question that is not being asked about this very important issue is not ‘when?’ but ‘what?’ How do we properly balance issues of economic impact with the safety of our citizens?” Perez said.

Albritton said that when he looks to “prioritize affordability and safety, safety is going to win every time.”

When the Times/Herald followed up with Albritton and Perez last week after DeSantis held a similar condo roundtable in Miami Lakes, the two declined to comment through their spokespeople.

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 19, 2024 at 2:17 PM.