Buying a Condo in Central FloridaAfter the Reserve Laws

If you are buying a condominium in Winter Park, downtown Orlando, Altamonte Springs or anywhere else in Central Florida with buildings of three stories or more, the law changed underneath this market after 2021 and has been amended in every session since. The version that matters is the one in force now, and two of its deadlines fall before the end of this year.

This is not a reason to avoid condos. It is a reason to read six specific documents before your rescission period runs out.

First: which regime are you actually in?

This trips people up constantly, because a townhome in an HOA and a townhome in a condominium can look identical from the street. The difference is what you own and which chapter governs it.

The gap is not small. In a SIRS-required condominium association, owners can no longer vote away the structural reserves. In an HOA, reserves are optional to begin with — section 720.303(6)(b) says the budget "may" include reserve accounts, an association is only deemed to have provided for them upon affirmative approval of a majority of the total voting interests, and once established the membership can vote by simple majority at a quorate meeting to provide no reserves or less reserves. That waiver applies to one budget year at a time, so it comes back around annually. The membership can also vote to terminate a reserve account entirely.

If an HOA budget carries no statutory reserves, the annual financial report must include a conspicuous warning that it "DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR FULLY FUNDED RESERVE ACCOUNTS FOR CAPITAL EXPENDITURES AND DEFERRED MAINTENANCE THAT MAY RESULT IN SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS." Read that warning as information, not boilerplate.

Milestone inspections

Section 553.899 requires a milestone inspection of any building that is three habitable stories or more under the Florida Building Code and that is subject, in whole or in part, to the condominium or cooperative form of ownership. Single-family through four-family dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories above ground are excluded.

The timing. By 31 December of the year the building reaches 30 years of age, measured from the date the certificate of occupancy was issued, and every ten years after that. Transition deadlines applied to older buildings: those reaching 30 years before 1 July 2022 were due by 31 December 2024; those reaching 30 years between 1 July 2022 and 31 December 2024 were due by 31 December 2025.

The 25-year coastal trigger is now a local option. Under the original 2022 law, buildings within three miles of the coast faced a mandatory 25-year trigger. Section 553.899(3)(b) now says the local enforcement agency may determine that local circumstances — including proximity to salt water — require inspection at 25 years instead. So the answer varies by jurisdiction.

Two phases. Phase one is a visual examination by a Florida-licensed architect or engineer with a qualitative structural assessment. If no signs of substantial structural deterioration are found, there is no phase two. Phase two is triggered only when substantial structural deterioration is identified.

The statute is specific about what "substantial structural deterioration" is not. It expressly excludes "surface imperfections such as cracks, distortion, sagging, deflections, misalignment, signs of leakage, or peeling of finishes" unless the professional determines they signal substantial structural deterioration. A phase one report noting cosmetic cracking is not a crisis.

Who enforces it. The local building official, not the state. The agency notifies the association by certified mail; the association must notify unit owners within 14 days; phase one must be completed within 180 days of that notice. Local agencies may prescribe their own timelines and penalties. County commissions and municipalities are required to adopt ordinances requiring repairs for substantial structural deterioration to commence within 365 days of a phase two report — and if the owner cannot show repairs are scheduled or underway, the local enforcement agency must determine whether the building is unsafe for human occupancy.

What you get to see. The inspector submits a sealed report plus a separate summary of material findings to the association and the building official. Within 45 days the association must distribute the inspector-prepared summary to every unit owner, post it conspicuously on the property, and publish the full report and summary on its website if it is required to have one.

The structural integrity reserve study

Eight categories must be studied: the roof; the structure, including load-bearing walls and primary structural members; fireproofing and fire protection systems; plumbing; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; windows and exterior doors; and any other item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost exceeding $25,000 whose failure would negatively affect the others.

The deadline is the thing to check. Associations existing on or before 1 July 2022 and controlled by unit owners rather than the developer were required to complete a SIRS by 31 December 2025. An association required to complete a milestone inspection on or before 31 December 2026 may complete the SIRS simultaneously with it — but the statute closes the door hard:

A willful and knowing failure to complete one is a breach of the officers' and directors' fiduciary duty. Within 45 days of receiving the study the association must distribute a copy to each unit owner or notify each owner it is available for inspection and copying.

It must be performed by a licensed engineer, a licensed architect, or a person certified as a reserve specialist or professional reserve analyst by the Community Associations Institute or the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts — and it must include a reserve funding plan with a recommended annual amount, at minimum a baseline plan that keeps the reserve cash balance above zero.

Owners can no longer vote the big reserves away

This is the change with the most direct effect on what you will pay every month.

Reserves for the studied components must now be maintained, and the amount must be based on the findings and recommendations of the most recent SIRS. Items with no ascertainable useful life, or with more than 25 years of remaining useful life, need not carry replacement-cost reserves, but the association must still reserve the deferred maintenance amount the study recommends. Reserves outside the (g) list remain waivable by majority vote.

Associations have some funding flexibility. The (g)-item reserves may be funded through regular assessments, special assessments, lines of credit or loans, with a special assessment, line of credit or loan requiring a majority vote of the total voting interests. An association that must have a SIRS may secure a line of credit or loan to cover milestone or SIRS capital expenses — including previously waived or unfunded portions — immediately drawable by the board without further member approval. That debt must be disclosed in the annual financial statement and provided to prospective purchasers.

There is also a temporary pause with a hard sunset. For a budget adopted on or before 31 December 2028, an association that has completed a milestone inspection within the previous two calendar years may, on approval of a majority of the total voting interests, pause or reduce reserve contributions for no more than two consecutive annual budgets in order to fund repairs the milestone inspection recommended. An association that pauses must obtain a SIRS before resuming contributions.

What the seller owes you — at the seller's expense

Section 718.503(2)(a) entitles a prospective purchaser under contract to a current copy of each of these, paid for by the seller:

• The declaration of condominium
• The articles of incorporation
• The bylaws and rules
• An annual financial statement and annual budget
• The inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report, if applicable
• The association's most recent structural integrity reserve study, or a statement that the association has not completed one
• The turnover inspection report, for a turnover inspection performed on or after 1 July 2023
• The "Frequently Asked Questions and Answers" document required by section 718.504

You are also entitled to the division's governance form. Note one detail that cuts the other way: a real estate licensee who provides or obtains these documents "is not liable for any error or inaccuracy contained in the documents." The documents are the association's representations, not your agent's.

There is a further protection buyers rarely use. For contracts entered into after 31 December 2024, the contract itself must state whether the association is required to have a milestone inspection, a post-1-July-2023 turnover report, or a SIRS — and whether it has completed them. If the association is not required to have them, the contract must say that too. Read your contract for one of those three statements. If none appears, the contract is voidable at your option before closing.

Your rescission rights — seven days, not three

The old three-day figure is out of date. HB 913 extended the nondeveloper resale period to seven days effective 1 July 2025.

In every case: any purported waiver of these voidability rights has no effect, and the right terminates at closing. A contract that does not conform is voidable at the purchaser's option before closing.

Practically, this means your reading window is short and it starts when the documents actually arrive. Ask for the package the day you go under contract, not the week before closing.

Estoppel certificates

An estoppel certificate states what is owed on the unit. The association has 10 business days to deliver it after a written or electronic request. It is effective for 30 days if hand-delivered or sent electronically, 35 days by regular mail.

Two protections worth knowing. If the association fails to deliver within 10 business days, no fee may be charged at all. And the association waives its right to collect any amount in excess of what the certificate states, from anyone who relies on it in good faith and from their successors and assigns.

On fees: the caps printed in the statute are $250 standard, plus $100 for expedited delivery within three business days, plus $150 where a delinquency exists. Those are not the operative numbers. The statute requires a five-year CPI adjustment published by DBPR, and DBPR's current published figures are not more than $299 standard, an additional $119 for expedited delivery, and an additional amount not to exceed $179 where the unit is delinquent, with aggregate caps of $896, $1,194, $1,791 and $2,985 depending on unit count. The next update is due by 1 July 2027. The same figures apply to homeowners' associations.

A due diligence checklist

• Confirm the form of ownership and the number of habitable stories. That determines which rules apply at all.
• Get the phase one milestone report — the full report, not only the summary — and check its date against the certificate of occupancy date plus 30 years.
• Get the SIRS, or the written statement that none exists. If none exists and the association is required to have one, you are buying into a compliance problem with a 31 December 2026 wall in front of it.
• Read the reserve line in the budget against the SIRS recommendation. A gap between them is a future special assessment.
• Read the last two years of board meeting minutes. Assessments get discussed there long before they get voted.
• Ask whether the association has taken a line of credit or loan for milestone or SIRS expenses. It must be disclosed.
• Ask whether the association has paused reserve contributions under the temporary provision, and when the pause ends.
• Check the contract for the required statement about milestone, turnover and SIRS status.
• Call the local building official if anything about the inspection history is unclear. They hold the compliance record.

Condominiums in Central Florida are not uniformly risky and they are not uniformly safe. The documents tell you which one you are looking at, and Florida law now requires that they exist and be handed to you. Use the window.