Rush to sell condos ahead of new rule on inspections to prevent tragedies like Surfside

TAMPA - Tampa Bay is seeing a rash of condo sales as the impact of a new rule on inspections comes into focus.

The rules are designed to stop another condo collapse like Surfside in June of 2021.

Starting in December, three-decade old condos (25 years if they are near saltwater) will face inspections and must begin repairs by the end of next year.

When Andrew Ricker sells a condo, there is something that gets asked even before the square footage.

"The first question (from buyers), by and large, is has the milestone inspection report been done? Are there any assessments that we can expect now or in the future?"

His buyer for a condo on Sailboat Key had to pony up a $10,000 assessment key slated for the condo associations added costs for expenses and potential required fixes under the new condo reform law passed after the Surfside collapse.

"This condo is kind of on the lucky side at $10,000 assessment," he said, "which you've heard some of these condos levying $50,000, $60,000 assessments."

The law requires three-story, thirty-year-old condos, 25 years if it's near saltwater, to be inspected by the end of this year, and then every 10 after that. Condo boards then have a year to begin the necessary fixes.

"To characterize it, I guess, somewhat as a tough love measure," said State Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-Hollywood), the architect of the legislation which was passed in 2022.

Some condo owners might be giving up.

OTHER NEWS: Video: Tampa police help teen, others escape from armed barricaded suspect before deadly standoff

Comparing the first seven months of 2019 to the first seven months of this year, condo listings in Tampa Bay are up by a combined 28 percent, according to the MLS. From 33,700 listings to more than 43,300.

"It's something that the legislature needs to come back and take another look at, see what they can do to mitigate this," said former State Senator Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg).

Brandes warns condo associations could go into default and that it could impact banks' ability to issue loans or further erode Florida's insurance market.

"We shouldn't have to be facing this catch-22 choice of buildings falling down or destroying and bankrupting," he said. "Seniors are living in condos and young families and all of these people that are just starting out."

Pizzo says the house has rejected alternative methods to fund reserves and special assessments. 

He says, "Time and deferred maintenance on physical structures do not wait on the preferred schedule of owners. Where condos should’ve been collecting .50-.70 cents per sq. ft. over the past decade, they continued to waive reserves, artificially suppress association fees, and did so at the expense of current owners."

"The end of the year is when a lot of these questions need to be answered, when, the milestone inspection reports need to be completed," said Ricker. "I think it's going to be a couple of years before the legislation kind of catches up and finds the right answers."

Sen. Pizzo says the timeline for condo owners has already been pushed back once.   

The senate president's office says they are aware of the concerns.

SIGN UP: Click here to sign up for the FOX 13 daily newsletter