Florida’s new condo reform bill, House Bill 913, goes into effect on July 1, 2025, and brings sweeping changes to how condominiums operate, report, and budget for maintenance and reserves. Here’s a concise, fact-based guide for condo owners, board members, and realtors—with direct statute references to help you stay compliant.
🛠️ Inspections & Structural Reserve Studies
- Deadline Extended: Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) now due by December 31, 2025 for eligible buildings.
- Scope: Required only for buildings with 3 or more habitable stories.
- No Double-Dipping: Inspectors or firms conducting SIRS or milestone inspections cannot perform any resulting repair work.
- Owner Notification: Associations must file SIRS reports with the DBPR and notify unit owners within 45 days of receipt.
💰 Reserve Funding & Budget Flexibility
- Reserve Threshold Raised: Reserve contributions now required for components costing $25,000 or more (up from $10,000).
- Flexible Funding Options: Boards may fund reserves via loans or lines of credit with majority approval—must be immediately accessible and properly disclosed.
- Temporary Reserve Suspensions:
- Automatically allowed if the building is uninhabitable due to a natural emergency.
- Up to 2 years if a SIRS was completed within the last 2 years—good through Dec 31, 2028. After that, a new SIRS is required.
- Automatically allowed if the building is uninhabitable due to a natural emergency.
🏗️ Board Meetings & Governance Rules
- Meeting Frequency: Boards must meet at least quarterly, with agendas that allow owner questions.
- Remote Participation Allowed: Video meetings are allowed if the notice includes a web link, call-in number, and a physical location within the county (or within 45 miles if bylaws are silent).
- Record-Keeping: All meeting recordings are considered official records and must be retained.
- Electronic Voting: Required within 180 days if requested by 25% of unit owners. Electronic ballots must be counted.
📁 Records, Transparency & Oversight
- Required Documents: Associations must maintain and make available:
- Invoices
- Director training certificates
- Affidavits
- Permits
- Audio/video of meetings
- Meeting minutes
- Online Transparency: Condos with 25+ units must post minutes, videos, budgets, reserve studies, and inspections online.
- Expanded DBPR Authority: The Department of Business and Professional Regulation can now demand budgets, assessments, insurance info, and enforce SIRS/milestone compliance.
⚖️ Board Qualifications & Ethics
- Director Certification: New board members must certify that they’ve read governing documents and complete director training within 90 days. Records must be retained for 7 years.
- Kickback Penalties: Board members or managers who solicit or accept kickbacks face a third-degree felony and immediate removal.
🔍 Benefits & Opportunities
- Financial Relief for Owners: Seniors and fixed-income residents can delay reserve payments or finance through loans, easing short-term cash flow pressures.
- Transparency for Buyers & Lenders: With mandatory posting of budgets, videos, and inspection data, realtors can market more confidently, and buyers can make informed offers.
- Improved Governance: Mandatory education, strong ethics enforcement, and conflict-of-interest rules help build owner trust and board credibility.
- Emergency Flexibility: Boards can temporarily suspend reserve funding when disaster strikes, giving time to stabilize before resuming long-term planning.
📚 Statutes You Should Know
If you’re looking to dive deeper, refer to these key Florida statutes:
- Chapter 718, Florida Statutes, especially:
- § 718.111 (Records & Reporting)
- § 718.112 (Budgets, Reserves, Meetings, Ethics)
- § 553.899 – Milestone Inspections
- § 468.436 – Manager Disciplinary Actions
- § 719.129 – Cooperative Electronic Voting
✅ Final Takeaway for Condo Owners & Realtors
- For Realtors: Use new transparency rules as a sales advantage—showcase posted inspections, videos, and reserve plans to build buyer confidence.
- For Condo Boards/Owners: Take advantage of loan options and reserve pauses for smarter planning. But don’t delay—these rules require training, compliance, and documentation.
- Start preparing now—HB 913 goes live July 1, 2025.
Need help navigating these changes?
Whether you’re buying, selling, or managing a condo, we can guide you every step of the way.
📞 Call us at 954‑807‑1489