Expand / Collapse search
☰

Governor DeSantis signs condo relief bill in Clearwater

By
Updated  June 23, 2025 11:18am EDT
Clearwater
FOX 13 News
Gov. DeSantis signs condo relief bills

Gov. DeSantis signs condo relief bills

FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia breaks down the new legislation signed on Monday that brings flexibility to both condo owners and their condo boards.

The Brief

    • Governor Ron DeSantis spoke in Clearwater on Monday morning.
    • The governor signed a condo relief bill and the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program bill at the Island Way Grill.
    • The ‘condo relief’ bill takes effect on July 1, 2025, and the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program bill will be effective immediately.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed two bills at Clearwater’s Island Way Grill on Monday morning that will impact condo owners.  

The governor kicked off Monday’s press conference by talking about the June 2021 Surfside condo collapse that killed almost 100 people. 

Afterward, the legislature enacted provisions to ensure nothing like that happened again.

DeSantis said while it was well-intentioned, there were a lot of people who had concerns about how some of the assessments were being done, whether people could afford to stay in their units, etc. 

PREVIOUS: Florida condo reform bill heads to governor's desk

The governor stressed that home values have gone up across the board, so while condo owners may be able to sell their units, they wouldn’t have anywhere to go because prices are up across the board. 

DeSantis said he called for condo relief and reform last year and now he is signing a ‘condo relief’ bill. 

The ‘condo relief’ bill DeSantis signed in Clearwater will change the regulation of condos and cooperatives. He said it would increase transparency and accountability for condominium associations and provide financial relief for condo owners. 

"People need to be able to afford to live in these units, especially if they are getting assessments on things that maybe they do need to be done, but it isn’t like the integrity of the structure is at risk here," DeSantis said. "They need to be able to work those out, and you shouldn’t have this mandate apply in that way. The bill also enhances accountability for condo associations. Very, very treacherous governance with these condo associations. Good Lord, the politics, no, thank you for wading into that, so we want to have accountability if those associations are not living up to what they are supposed to do. This also makes sure that our department in Florida of professional regulation will be able to prohibit association managers whose licenses have been revoked from holding any role in a management firm or being licensed for 10 years."

DeSantis said the bill also empowers condo owners to be more involved in the decision-making of the associations and gives owners access to the association’s financial records. 

While in Clearwater, DeSantis also signed HB 393, to make improvements to the My Safe Florida Condo Pilot Program to tailor the program more to the condo owners. It makes condo associations and condos eligible for grants to make improvements for resiliency against extreme weather events. 

"When you do have those protections, it makes a difference," DeSantis stated. "We’ve had six major hurricanes in Florida in seven years. When you have the improvements made. When there are things that are protective against hurricanes, whether it’s against surge or the winds, those structures do better. There’s just no question."

The condo relief bill takes effect on July 1, 2025, and HB 393 will take effect immediately. 

The Source: This story was written with information provided by Governor Ron DeSantis' office. 

STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:

ClearwaterRon DeSantis