New Florida condo laws aim to add transparency for buyers

Come July 1, those working and transacting in Florida’s condo market will have some new requirements to deal with. On Monday, Florida Governor Ron Desantis signed both HB 913 and HB 393 into law. 

Many of the changes outlined in the bills were championed by Florida Realtors. These changes include things like adjustments to document transparency and an extended deadline for “structural integrity reserve studies” (SIRS) until the end of 2025. 

While Governor Desantis has said he feels the laws are “well intentioned,” he has also expressed concerns as to how they could impact affordability. 

“There were a lot of folks that had a lot of concerns about how some of these assessments were being done, whether people could even afford to even stay in their units,” the governor said during the bill signing press conference. 

The Florida housing market has been generating a lot of headlines over the past few months as inventory has risen and home prices have fallen. 

As of late June 2025, Altos data shows that there are 74,327 condos currently listed in the state, which is 20,000 more listings than in June 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the median list price for a condo in the state has dropped to roughly $350,000, down from a high of $445,000 set in May 2022, but still up roughly $50,000 from pre-pandemic. Based on this data, it should come as no surprise that the Florida condo market has an Altos Market Action Index score of 26. Altos considers anything under 30 to be a buyer’s market. 

Past Florida condo reform

Over the past three years, several condo reforms have been enacted in the state. These reforms included provisions requiring  “milestone inspections” of older buildings, which were supposed to be completed by the end of 2024, and SIRS to determine how much money should be saved for future major repairs. These inspections were for certain older buildings that are three stories or higher. Through the special assessments conducted for these studies, many condo associations raised HOA fees and dues for condo unit owners. 

Under the new laws, the requirement for milestone inspection and SIRS studies only applies to buildings with three or more habitable stories and associations are allowed to temporarily pause reserve funding for two years immediately following a milestone inspection. The law also now allows condo associations to use lines of credit as well as Certificate of Deposit accounts for their reserves. Additionally, local governments will be required to report milestone inspection statuses to the state.

The laws also require condo associations to include all approved board of directors meeting minutes for the preceding 12 months on their websites, and condo buyers will have a rescission window of seven days instead of three days, giving them more time to make an informed decision after receiving their condo association and governing documents. 

Finally, the law also states that Certified Apartment Managers, whose licenses are revoked, now have a 10-year ban from property management firms. 

“Our goal has always been to increase transparency and accountability,” Danielle Blake, the chief of residential and advocacy at MIAMI Association of Realtors, said. “One of the big things they have done is that the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Florida Building Commission had to develop a form that will be the standard form for SIRS, so that when people are comparing SIRS for different properties they are comparing apples to apples. That provides more transparency and we are very much in favor of that.”

Blake said the trade group is interested in how lenders will respond to this, as well as the increased meeting minute transparency, as they consider information on upcoming special assessments when determining whether or not to issue a loan to a buyer. While she does expect these changes to have an impact on buyer sentiment, she feels interest rates and insurance costs will, in most instances, play a larger role.

“When a buyer is looking to purchase a property they are looking at all kinds of things and most importantly they want to be able to afford it and part of that is if there is a special assessment pending, but it is more about what interest rate they are going to get,” she said.