Gov. Ron DeSantis promises relief for Florida condo owners by year's end. But how?

TAMPA, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis said the Legislature would 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 on Thursday.

Still, the governor would not commit to calling a special session himself. And 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.

Though legislators hoped this 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?”

He 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 session begins in March.

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 Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald, 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 spokesperson.

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(Times/Herald staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.)

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