For more than a year, we have listened to the stories from condo owners across Tampa Bay and the State of Florida about how crippling HOA fees and sky-high insurance continue to crush the condo market, pushing many out of paradise.
“I’ve seen my condo HOAs at $450, double in two years to $900 and I’ve seen thousands of dollars in assessments. That’s what it’s cost us,” said Fran Sullivan, a condo owner in St. Pete. “That’s what we were reaching out and said, ‘Hey, what’s going on?'”
Much of it is due to reform after the Surfside building collapse in 2021, requiring condo associations in buildings 30 years or older and three stories or higher to get Milestone Inspections, along with Structural Integrity Reserves Studies to make sure associations had the funds to make costly repairs. That deadline was December 31, 2024. Those new regulations have led to crushing HOA fees and surprise assessments to cover the needed repairs and fully fund those reserves.
“A lot of people here were financially strapped for doing this, myself included, to come up and say, I need $10,000 in three months for most of us is not a realistic thing,” said St. Pete condo owner, Tyler Clee…