TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida condo owners are already facing higher fees to keep up with new safety regulations.
However, many are starting to question whether Florida’s fragile property insurance market can handle back-to-back hurricane damage.
“This year, with these two big hurricanes, we’re anticipating a big increase,” said Pat Hutson, a condo owner in Tampa. “I’m very worried that our monthly dues will not cover the new insurance premium.”
“Condo fees are going up and insurance is going up,” Joe Todd said. “We did have a huge insurance premium increase. It was like a $300,000 increase that we hadn’t budgeted for.”
Many condo owners are also facing hefty special assessment fees to comply with a new state law following the deadly Surfside condo collapse in 2021.
The law requires condo reserve to be fully funded for potential structural repairs.
“They’re about to get hit with all kinds of financial issues,” said Eric Glazer, a board-certified attorney. ”We’ve got insurance that they’re dealing with. We have mandatory reserves now. We have mandatory inspections. We have mandatory repairs.”