Latest news with #JenniferBradley
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida Condo Owners Hit With Skyrocketing HOA Fees Find Relief as Gov. DeSantis Signs New Bill Into Law
Florida condominium owners will see some relief after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping condominium reform bill on Wednesday. HB 913 is aimed at helping condo owners battling skyrocketing HOA fees. With the governor's signature, it now becomes law and will take effect on July 1. Following the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside, which killed 98 people, condos over 30 years of age (and three stories tall) got hit with new safety laws requiring 'milestone' inspections and beefing up reserve funds for repairs and maintenance. HB 913 is meant to help owners with costs without sacrificing safety. 'This bill comes from a lot of listening to owners talk about how they know their building needs to be safe but pleading that the process be fair and workable,' state Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R-Fleming Island), who led the effort to address condo owners' concerns, said during bill debate. 'With each milestone inspection, our condos are becoming safer, but financial impacts are reverberating.' In April, both chambers of the Florida Legislature voted unanimously to pass House Bill 913, addressing endless complaints over the rising fees for condominium owners, despite pushback from DeSantis. Essentially, the bill would aid condominium associations in setting up credit lines and investing funds that would contribute to necessary building repairs instead of immediately looking to owners for the money. 'You had people that were going to be forced out of their condos potentially because of legislation that had come down the pipe,' DeSantis said during a May 20 appearance in Tampa, referencing recent safety laws, as reported by NBC Miami. The bill will help some condominium associations in certain situations use special assessments, lines of credit, or loans to fund their reserves, and to pool reserve accounts—hopefully, taking the pressure off of condo owners who were suddenly faced with exorbitant fees. The 191-page bill had additional provisions: Prohibits a person whose community association manager license is revoked from having an indirect or direct ownership interest in, or being an employee, a partner, an officer, a director, or a trustee of, a community association management firm for a specified time frame. Requires a licensee to create and maintain an online licensure account with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Requires a community association manager to identify on his or her online licensure account certain information. Requires a licensee to provide specific information on his or her online licensure account. Requires that such information be updated within a specified time frame. Requires a community association management firm to identify on its online licensure account the community association managers it employs to provide community association management services. The bill is aimed at providing transparency and accountability to avoid another Surfside condo collapse. Owners hope to see relief fast. The sharp rise in condo fees has had an effect on older condos for sale. Homeowners are finding themselves saddled with rising HOAs, in addition to being unable to sell their condo. 'Prospective buyers are more cautious now, often demanding structural inspection reports before making a purchase,' , director of new development sales at Compass Development Marketing Group, told 'This caution has led buyers to shift their interest into newer buildings since older buildings' costs are higher. Newer condo products are selling at higher prices.' New Homes Are Flying Off the Shelves in These 4 Metros—Defying the National Trend of Sluggish Sales Mapped: States Most at Risk for Hurricane Damage 7 Bedrooms Is the New 4 for Luxury Living in New England Suburbs
CBS News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Art installation at Denver "No Kings" rally to encourage peaceful discourse on contentious issues
One Denver woman is preparing an art installation she hopes will encourage peaceful discourse as a rally takes place Saturday. Friday evening, Jackie Burt was doing some impromptu coloring for her art project she will be showcasing Saturday at the People's Fair during the "No Kings" rally in Denver. Each panel on her project is a prompt about a hot button issue that people can respond to. CBS "It'll be an easy up, pop-up type. You know, like a fair tent. And then I have a system to hang everything. So, people will walk around with sticky notes, markers. They're welcome to write directly on the signs. Or they can throw a sticky note on," said Burt. She hopes this will take the passion down a notch so people can talk about issues in person instead of emotionally commenting about them, because she wants Saturday's event to be a peaceful and welcoming one for everyone. "I think it will be a powerful way to highlight people's voices and interact peacefully on a day of action," said Burt. CBS Jennifer Bradley, a local organizer with Colorado 5051, the organization putting on Saturday's "No Kings" rally, says the day isn't about anarchy, chaos, violence or protesting the military. "We will not tolerate violence. We will not tolerate any bad actors," said Bradley. "This is about the people coming together and standing up for each other against a dictatorship and sending a very specific message to the president that we will not be silenced." She says they have safety marshals and a security team ready if bad actors do show up. But for the rest of the people planning to come, she just wants them to use their voice to stand up for themselves. "Find your family. Find your fit. Join us. Join the movement. There's a million different perspectives. There's a million different voices. But we're all here to fight fascism," said Bradley. That's why Jackie was diligently coloring as the sun set on Friday. She hopes her art can help people find that voice if they need help. "Your voice is needed, and it's going to be a really wonderful day," said Burt. The rally will start at noon on Saturday and finish at 4 p.m.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Condo crisis: HOA's level of insurance can block owners from refinancing. This man's did.
Anticipating a refinancing offer that could save him $647 a month, Dave Mayers of Jupiter instead got a jolt of reality: The deal was nixed after lenders saw the level of insurance his condominium association was carrying. Inadequate insurance is the most oft-cited reason that more condominium associations are on federal mortgage guarantor Fannie Mae's blacklist, a number that's more than tripled over the past two years. This kind of listing makes it more difficult for condo buyers to get loans, for condo associations to borrow for repairs and, for residents like Mayers, to refinance an existing mortgage. 'I've never been rejected for a loan in my life,' said the 74-year-old retired Pennsylvania furniture store owner. The Legislature this session passed a bill that made new rules for condo associations to take out loans and get lines of credit to finance needed repairs — seen as helping condo dwellers cope with new state regulations designed to avert a deadly disaster like the one that felled a 40-year-old Miami-area condo tower. The new legislation clarifies three options for acceptable levels of condo insurance. Still, following the guidelines set out in the bill awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis's signature might not get associations a clean bill of health from financial institutions, which are looking for condos to be insured at full replacement value. Talking about the legislation's insurance tweak, the bill's sponsor, Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said: 'There are associations in Florida that I think are being asked to carry coverage levels at an exorbitant cost and insurance levels they will never touch. So … in consultation with their insurance specialist, they (condo associations) will be able to land on the proper level that is adequate from a protection standpoint.' The bill allows for condos' common property to be insured at 'insurable value.' Fannie Mae, however, requires what may be a higher bar: that the common property is insured for the full replacement cost — a guidance that many banks follow in deciding who gets a loan. Andy Kasten, president of Fort Lauderdale-based Creative Financial Property and Casualty, said insuring for anything less than full replacement value could mean of a repeat of the Surfside debacle, where the association was unable to rebuild because of underinsurance. In that tragedy, 98 people were killed when the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside collapsed in the early hours of June 21, 2021. "If in fact they are allowing condos to insure at less than full replacement, where is the additional money going to come from to rebuild the structure in the event of a catastrophe?" Kasten asked. "It runs counter to what these laws that changed after the Surfside collapse were supposed to do. You can never assume that you are not going to have a 100% loss." Rep. Vicki Lopez, R-Miami, who sponsored the legislation about to become law, acknowledges that the clarified options in her bill don't line up with Fannie Mae's. She argues that it's financial institutions that need to adjust their requirements. What they consider acceptable levels of insurance when it comes to backing mortgages are holding condos hostage, she said. "If you are ensuring to the full replacement value, it could be said that you are over-insured, because never in a disaster has one of our condo buildings been leveled," Lopez said. "They may have roof issues, air conditioning issues, window issues, but the whole building doesn't go down. "... My next step is to try to connect with either U.S. Sen. (Ashley) Moody or Sen. (Rick) Scott or one of our congressional delegation members to say, look, we have to have a meeting with [federal home loan company] Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae so they are aware of the financial impact they are having on condo owners in terms of insurance when they insist on having full replacement value," she said. His condo's status has Mayers — and many more who may not know it — in a catch-22 he's been emailing lawmakers and state agencies about to no avail, he said. The condo can't get the required insurance because the roof is too old, but it's not old enough that it needs replacing, he said. 'They've been getting prices on replacing the roof, but they don't want to do it yet — it's not an emergency,' Mayers said. 'We have to fund other things the state is mandating.' As the state's scrutiny of the condition of condominium buildings increased following the Surfside disaster, the insurance market for condominiums worsened. Only two or three companies would insure garden-style, low-rise condos and coverage for high-rises were simply unaffordable compared to years past, according to Tyler Spaedt, vice president at Valley Insurance Services, which specializes in condo communities. 'The last three years were the toughest markets that there's ever been in Florida,' Spaedt said. In the last five to eight months, though, things have started looking better. 'People are starting to save and more (kinds of) coverages are becoming available,' Spaedt said. Still, he says, about one of the 10 of associations he's covering can't manage to buy the insurance that would pay for the full replacement value of a condo association's common property. 'It's not always about what they're going to save, even though that's a big part of it. … Some of it (the associations getting insured for less than the replacement value) is that it's not available to them, based on the condition of the building,' Spaedt said. There are 1,438 'blacklisted' Florida condos deemed ineligible for Fannie Mae-backed loans, and potentially other banks. The blacklisting, mostly confidential, is the result of answers given to lender questionnaires that involve everything from deferred maintenance to delinquent special assessments. One condo can be on the list for multiple problems, but insurance problems are cited the most often among these condos, according to attorney Jake Marcus, whose practice, Allcock Marcus, has offices in Miami and Massachusetts. Florida's condo crisis: Is it bad enough to call a special legislative session? There's some comfort, though. 'What's happening in Florida is eventually going to make its way to other jurisdictions,' Marcus predicted. Michael J. Gelfand, a West Palm Beach attorney who specializes in condo association law, said he urges associations to get the full replacement value if they can. 'Insuring a roof for its actual cash value doesn't work,' Gelfand said. 'When it's depreciated, it's pennies on the dollar for the cost of replacement.' Florida's condo crisis: In 3 Palm Beach County communities, big issues = high assessments Mayers said he was hoping the expected drop in his interest rate was going to help him pay for the new assessments triggered when his condo underwent its state-required structural integrity reserve study, trying to comply with the first set of state regulations that were passed, post-Surfside, in 2022. 'I was really counting on the savings I was going to receive from a refinance to help with all the added expenses of the increased reserves,' Mayers said. 'If condos in Florida can't acquire mortgages or refinancing because of Fannie (Mae's) … new mandates and pile that on top of the (structural integrity reserve study) mandates, what happens to seniors, like myself, and to the property values in Florida? This is just crazy.' Palm Beach Post reporter Kimberly Miller contributed to this report. Anne Geggis is the insurance reporter at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at ageggis@ support our journalism. Subscribe today This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: New condo scrutiny gets associations blacklisted for insurance status
CBS News
11-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
The 2025 legislative session with Florida Sen. Jennifer Bradley
One-on-one with Jennifer Bradley Jim and State Senator Jennifer Bradley discuss the condo reform bill, and also the passage of the Tristin Murphy Act, as well as the inability for the legislature to pass a budget plan during the regular legislative session. Guest: State Sen. Jennifer Bradley/R-6th District About condo reform A key senator on Tuesday signaled a willingness to make further changes to safety laws that require inspections of older condominium buildings and adequate reserves for repairs, saying more urgent structural needs should be prioritized. Senate Regulated Industries Chairwoman Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, also indicated that lawmakers need to "clarify" some requirements included in measures passed after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside that killed 98 people. A panel of experts — including engineers, accountants and attorneys — gave the Regulated Industries Committee an update on how the laws requiring inspections and adequate reserves have affected the condo industry Bradley said she wanted to help "smooth the transition" for condominium associations to come into compliance with the laws, which many residents say are causing soaring costs. "We're here to find solutions. The condo market will be stronger. Floridians will be safer," she said. About the Tristin Murphy Act On Friday evening, April 15, 2025, the Florida Legislature formally passed the Tristin Murphy Act, the most comprehensive reform to mental health inside the criminal justice system in decades. Murphy, a 37-year-old schizophrenic, had been in and out of jail for years because of his mental illness, without ever receiving the treatment or long-term care he needed. Murphy's final arrest came when he allowed his pickup truck to roll into a pond near the Charlotte County Jail. Prosecutors charged him with littering, and because of the weight of the truck, it was deemed a third-degree felony. Arguing he had no other recourse, a judge sentenced him to three years in prison. On September 16, 2021, a month after arriving at the South Florida prison to begin serving his sentence, Murphy killed himself at the facility with a chainsaw. Murphy's story was chronicled in the 2023 CBS Miami documentary, "Warehoused: The Life and Death of Tristin Murphy."
CBS News
11-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
The 2025 legislative session
The 2025 legislative session Jim and State Senator Jennifer Bradley discuss the condo reform bill, and also the passage of the Tristin Murphy Act, as well as the inability for the legislature to pass a budget plan during the regular legislative session. Guest: State Sen. Jennifer Bradley/R-6th District About condo reform A key senator on Tuesday signaled a willingness to make further changes to safety laws that require inspections of older condominium buildings and adequate reserves for repairs, saying more urgent structural needs should be prioritized. Senate Regulated Industries Chairwoman Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, also indicated that lawmakers need to "clarify" some requirements included in measures passed after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside that killed 98 people. A panel of experts — including engineers, accountants and attorneys — gave the Regulated Industries Committee an update on how the laws requiring inspections and adequate reserves have affected the condo industry Bradley said she wanted to help "smooth the transition" for condominium associations to come into compliance with the laws, which many residents say are causing soaring costs. "We're here to find solutions. The condo market will be stronger. Floridians will be safer," she said. About the Tristin Murphy Act On Friday evening, April 15, 2025, the Florida Legislature formally passed the Tristin Murphy Act, the most comprehensive reform to mental health inside the criminal justice system in decades. Murphy, a 37-year-old schizophrenic, had been in and out of jail for years because of his mental illness, without ever receiving the treatment or long-term care he needed. Murphy's final arrest came when he allowed his pickup truck to roll into a pond near the Charlotte County Jail. Prosecutors charged him with littering, and because of the weight of the truck, it was deemed a third-degree felony. Arguing he had no other recourse, a judge sentenced him to three years in prison. On September 16, 2021, a month after arriving at the South Florida prison to begin serving his sentence, Murphy killed himself at the facility with a chainsaw. Murphy's story was chronicled in the 2023 CBS Miami documentary, "Warehoused: The Life and Death of Tristin Murphy."
