A group of Florida condo owners are fighting back after facing a potential $3,000 hike in fees each month amid the real estate crisis.
Residents of Harborage Condos in Palm Beach are banding together to take on statewide regulations that could lumber them with eye-watering costs by the end of the year.
Under the Structural Integrity Reserves Study (SIRS), Florida is requiring condo owners to undergo surveys for repairs to comply with new state laws that were passed after the collapse of the Champlain Tower South in Miame-Dade county, which killed 98 people.
Darlene VanRiper, who is leading the Harborage Condos efforts to scrutinize the new laws, said an engineer recommended $6,480,000 worth of repairs to the buildings to meet SIRS needs – or an extra $3,000 per home each month.
‘We need to do something, and we need to do it now,’ Darlene VanRiper told NBC affiliate WPTV. ‘It is time to rally together. You’d be amazed what people can do when they’re united.’
‘When you consider everything that people have on their plate right now, inflation, insurance and now this? It’s unsustainable,’ she added.
A group of Florida condo owners are fighting back after facing a potential $3,000 hike in fees each month amid the real estate crisis. Pictured: Miami
Darlene VanRiper (pictured), who is leading the Harborage Condos efforts to scrutinize the new laws, said an engineer recommended $6,480,000 worth of repairs to the buildings to meet SIRS needs – or an extra $3,000 per home each month
‘We’ve seen that this legislation can happen pretty much overnight. It was forced upon us. We are hiring a lobbyist so that we will have a voice at the table. We really need to let them know what the practical problems are.’
‘If those fees keep going up like that, I’m not sure if I can do it,’ resident Candy Raulerson also told WPTV. ‘I would have to budget and rethink everything.’
‘If we don’t voice our opinions to the state, how are we going to make a change?’ Raulerson added. ‘You think about seniors too. … It’s going to impact them greatly. I can’t imagine them being able to afford it, somebody living on Social Security.’
The condo owners’ fight against rising fees comes as top investor Grant Cardone, who owns 15,000 properties, told Dailymail.com 80 percent of condo owners in Florida are at risk of losing money on their properties, in part thanks to the new laws.
‘If those fees keep going up like that, I’m not sure if I can do it,’ resident Candy Raulerson (pictured) said
Top investor Grant Cardone, who owns 15,000 properties, told Dailymail.com 80 percent of condo owners in Florida are at risk of losing money on their properties, in part thanks to the new laws
Florida’s condo owners have been forced to slash prices by up to 40 percent to sell their properties rather than pay huge repair costs to comply with SIRS.
An estimated 360,000 property owners in south Florida alone may not be able to afford the repairs required by the new law.
Cardone predicted that because a staggering 80 percent of condo owners in Florida are affected, the crisis was likely to spread across America.
‘It has all already started and will continue to spread to the point where residential HOA and condo properties will be penalized,’ he told DailyMail.com.
Cardone said if the federal government doesn’t ‘step in,’ condo associations reserves across the America would be ‘at risk’ of filing for bankruptcy.
‘There is no time left to solve this problem – it is a bigger issue than global warming,’ Cardone warned.
‘I have always been against investing in condos due to the endless cost increases for taxes, insurance and out-of-control Condo association fees and dues.’
ISG World has reported there were a staggering 20,293 condos listed for sale in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade in the second quarter of this year, up from 8,353 in 2023.
State legislation brought in following the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Tower South in Surfside (pictured)
The tragedy killed 98 people, means hundreds of thousands of condo owners must now fork out hefty sums for previously neglected maintenance
The properties with the biggest fall in prices were in Saint Petersburg, Sarasota and Venice on the west coast and Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach on the south and east coasts.
The Champlain Tower disaster lifted the lid on the widespread neglect of old condominiums, with associations postponing crucial repairs to save cash.
The collapse prompted lawmakers to introduce the SB 4-D Bill in May 2022, which requires all state condos aged 30 years and older to undergo an inspection by the end of the year.
Condo owners and associations must start repairs and maintenance works flagged in the report within a year of receiving it.
Nearly 90 percent of the 20,000-plus units listed for sale in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade are in buildings that are at least 30 years old.
Miami Real Estate Agent Steven Kupchan told DailyMail.com earlier this month that people are flocking to Georgia, Texas, the Carolinas and even moving out of the country to places like Mexico or Central America.
