CLEARWATER, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the Bay area on Monday touting a new law designed to help condo owners.

The governor just signed the bill, which was born out of the Surfside collapse in June 2021.

In the wake of Surfside, state lawmakers required more inspections at condos, along with more money on hand for repairs. But that sent the cost of owning a condo sky-high, and condo association dues climbed.

The new bill delays some of those requirements and gives condo associations other ways to put money in their reserve funds other than cash.

DeSantis thinks that gives them flexibility, which will keep costs down.

"Clearly one of the things we were looking at, very important was affordability," DeSantis said.

"People need to be able to afford to live in these units. And especially if they're getting assessments on things that, maybe they do need to be done, but it isn't like the integrity of the structure is at risk here. They need to be able to work those out."

For some, the costs after the Surfside changes became almost too much to handle. 

“I think they basically overreacted," said Boca Raton condo owner Ken Reid. "The buildings don't collapse often in the United States. What happened in Surfside was a disaster. It was horrible. But it's not happening. It doesn't happen often.”

The bill also expands the deadline for inspections.

“We've heard over and over again from our citizens that they need financial relief," said Melani Griffin, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation secretary.

"And this will provide a one-year extension that will immediately give them relief from sudden and burdensome fee assessments that will greatly help our unit owners afford to stay in their homes across Florida.”

The law takes effect next week.

Meanwhile, new information about what happened at Surfside has come out, basically narrowring what investigators think what went wrong.

They have what they call "higher likelihood" possibilities including issues with the pool deck, along with issues with basement columns exposed to flooding.

Investigators conducted interviews, combed through records and created models, doing analysis of audio and digital evidence.