‘We have the responsibility to act.’ DeSantis says Florida House blocking condo-law change
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that he and the Florida Senate are ready and willing to address a financial crisis for condo owners created by a new law that aims to prevent another Surfside tower collapse — but said state House leaders are blocking meaningful action.
“We’ve shared ideas with the Legislature. I know the Florida Senate has solicited ideas,” DeSantis said in a Winter Haven press conference. “My sense is that the House is not really in a position where they think anything needs to be done.”
DeSantis has called a special session for the week of Jan. 27 to address a series of issues, including complaints from condo owners that a 2022 law passed in response to the collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside has led to onerous maintenance costs and special assessments for building repairs. But what the Legislature does during the session is entirely up to them, and House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton have said it would be better to wait to tackle the issues in March, when lawmakers are scheduled to hold their regular session and will have more information to work with.
Perez, a Miami Republican, sponsored the House version of SB-4D, the 2022 law passed after the 12-story Surfside condo tower crumbled to the ground the year before, killing 98 people. Asked for a response to DeSantis’ criticism Wednesday, Perez reiterated past remarks on why he is against a special session on condominium reform, saying the “question shouldn’t be ‘when’” the Legislature acts on the condo safety safety law but “what” members will propose as a solution to the cost for owners.
DeSantis said last year that he wanted to amend the law, which requires associations to fully budget for certain building repairs starting in 2025, to prevent many of the roughly 1.5 million Florida condo owners from being displaced. He now says he didn’t call lawmakers back to Tallahassee last year because there was no agreement with the Legislature. There still isn’t any agreement, he said, but “at some point we just have to take a stand… And do something.”
He added: “Are we just going to sit by and let people be forced out of their units and act like we shouldn’t do anything? I mean, I just think that we have the responsibility to act.”
Perez has defended the legislation, which doesn’t include penalties for associations that don’t comply.
In November, Perez likened calls for relief from the financial requirements of the 2022 law to a desire to return “to the circumstances that led to the collapse of the Surfside towers.”
He and Albritton, the Wauchula Republican Senate president, balked Monday at DeSantis’ call for a special session the week of Jan. 27, saying it was “premature” when the Legislature is already set to convene on March 4.
In a Monday proclamation calling for the special session, DeSantis said he wanted the Legislature to focus on five different topics, including “combatting illegal immigration,” “agricultural relief in response to natural disasters,” “replenishing the My Safe Florida Home program,” the “citizens’ initiative petition process” and “condominium regulation.” President-elect Donald Trump endorsed the immigration proposal the next day, after Perez and Albritton signaled they did not intend to go along with the governor.
“Condominium safety and ballot initiatives proposing constitutional amendments are complex subjects and should be considered during the regular session, not a truncated special session,” Perez and Albritton wrote in the joint memorandum to the Legislature.
Still they made clear that lawmakers are required to attend under the Florida Constitution.
DeSantis’ office didn’t respond to the Herald/Times in time for publication regarding a summary of the ideas the governor wants to see the Legislature take up on condominiums during the special session.
Albritton didn’t comment Wednesday on whether he would be open to a special session to specifically address condominium legislation.
Herald/Times reporter Ana Ceballos contributed to this article.
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 5:29 PM.