ORLANDO, Fla. — One day after Gov. Ron DeSantis indicated he would be open to a special legislative session to deal with condo costs, questions remain about whether lawmakers will be able to craft a solution that avoids pricing people out of their homes.

What You Need To Know

  • Questions remain about whether lawmakers will be able to craft a solution that avoids pricing people out of their homes when it comes to increasing condo costs

  • A new law requires all condos to undergo increased inspections and repairs after the deadly Champlain Towers building collapse in Surfside

  • Residents at the Fairview Vista Condominiums will be seeing their monthly dues go up hundreds of dollars ahead of the January deadline to make repairs

  • RELATED: Gov. DeSantis wants special session to address rising costs for condo owners

It all comes back to the law the governor signed back in 2021 that required all condos to undergo increased inspections and repairs after the deadly Champlain Towers building collapse in Surfside.

“If there was no issue with condos, it would still be something that may be difficult to afford, just the normal payments and the normal fees,” said DeSantis during a press conference.

Members of one local condo association say their dues are going up as a result of the law.

The Fairview Vista condos overlook Lake Fairview in Orlando.

When they were being built and sold in 1980, lifelong College Park resident Phyllis Tuell scooped one up.

“I’ve lived on this lake, learned to ski on this lake, I’ve lived in College Park all my life,” she said. “When they were being built, I had a realtor friend that was selling them and when I came over here, I bought it.”

Dues, she recalls back then, were about $100 a month.

Forty-four years later, her monthly dues this year have been $587.33.

But come 2025, they will go either to $857.91 or $917.12/

“They have to fund the non-structural reserves. They haven’t been funded enough, apparently,” Tuell said.

One that hasn’t been funded at all, as it is now following new legislation that passed in 2022. New requirements to ensure condo associations maintain their buildings and have enough reserve funding.

A new line item is now in the Fairview Vista budget for 2025, called the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS), and it has to have $280,000 in it next year.

The elements that SIRS considers is:

  • Roofing
  • Flooring
  • Load bearing walls
  • Fireproofing and fire safety
  • Exterior painting and water proofing
  • Plumbing
  • Electrical systems
  • Windows
  • Other elements over $10,000 that have an impact on the structural integrity of the building

Erik Perez practices HOA and condo law in south Florida. He said the recent legislation is going to have a clear cause and effect for condo owners.

“Population at this stage probably doesn’t understand the effects of all this. But I can assure you next year, when they see those increases, they certainly will,” Perez said. “Often times, the optics are more important than the practical aspects of something. The optics are the legislation is doing everything it can to protect homeowners. The practical concerns are now everyone is going to spend way more money than they wanted to spend.”

Like Tuell, who will spend close to $1,000 a month moving forward on condo fees.

“It does sting, 100 percent,” she said.

The condo board sent out a recent letter that reads, in part:

“There’s no easy way to say it, though. Mandatory reserve funding and rising operational costs will have a significant impact on Fairview Vista in 2025 and the years to come.”

The Fairview Vista budget also shows other line items on the operational side of the budget did go up as well with things naturally costing more.

However, for the reserves, residents will be contributing a total of either $458,000 or nearly $400 thousand, depending on how they choose to fund the reserves next month.