Florida Condo Special Assessments: What Buyers Should Know

Why special assessments are so common in Florida right now

After the 2021 collapse in Surfside, Florida passed its 2022 condo safety law and later amendments. Buildings of three or more habitable stories must complete milestone inspections, starting by December 31 of the year they turn 30 (or 25 where the local building official requires), and then every 10 years. They must also complete a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) every 10 years.

For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners can no longer vote to waive or reduce reserves for the structural items in the SIRS. Many associations had underfunded those reserves for years. When an inspection finds concrete or roof work, and the reserve account cannot cover it, the gap is usually filled with a special assessment, a loan to the association, or both. Rising master insurance premiums have added to the pressure in many buildings.

The exposure is uneven. Older mid-rise and high-rise towers, especially near salt water where concrete and rebar age faster, carry the most risk. Buildings under three habitable stories fall outside the milestone and SIRS requirements, although they can still assess owners for roofs, paving, pipes or storm damage. A newer building can also assess, usually for insurance or a single failed system, but large structural assessments are mostly an older-building issue.

What Florida law says about how assessments are levied

The Florida Condominium Act, Chapter 718, sets the ground rules. The main points for buyers:

• Stated purpose. The notice of a special assessment must state its specific purpose, and the money can only be used for that purpose. Funds left over after the project are treated as common surplus and can be refunded or credited to owners.
• Advance notice. Outside emergencies, notice of a board meeting where a special assessment will be considered must be delivered to owners and posted at least 14 days ahead, and must say that assessments will be considered and why.
• Who decides. In many associations the board can levy a special assessment without an owner vote. The declaration and bylaws control, so read them.
• Funding options. Since 2025 changes, associations can fund required structural reserves through regular assessments, special assessments, or lines of credit and loans, with approval of a majority of voting interests. A loan spreads the cost into higher monthly fees over years.
• Enforcement. Unpaid assessments become a lien on the unit, and the association can foreclose. As the new owner, you can inherit amounts due after closing.

This isn't legal advice. A Florida real estate attorney can read the documents for your specific building.

Who pays at closing under the standard Florida contract

Most Florida condo sales use a Florida Realtors contract with a condominium rider. Under the version described by Florida Realtors, the allocation works like this:

• Levied or pending before the contract date. The seller must disclose them. Pending generally means on an agenda or in the minutes during the 12 months before the effective date. If the seller fails to disclose one, the seller pays it in full at closing.
• Payable in installments. The seller pays installments due before closing. A checkbox decides who pays the installments due after closing. If no box is checked, the buyer pays them.
• Imposed after the contract date. Amounts due before closing go to the seller and amounts due after go to the buyer.

That checkbox is negotiable, and it is one of the most valuable lines in a condo offer. Rider versions are updated, so confirm the wording in the version you sign.

How to spot an assessment before it is voted

Assessments rarely appear without warning. When I review a building, these are the places where they show up first:

• Board minutes. Read a full year. Look for engineering reports, bids for concrete, roof, balcony or elevator work, and any discussion of loans.
• The milestone inspection. A Phase 1 report that calls for a Phase 2 inspection means the inspector found signs of substantial structural deterioration.
• The SIRS and the budget. Compare the reserve balance to the study's recommended funding. A large shortfall has to be made up somehow.
• The estoppel certificate. The association issues it before closing and states what is owed on the unit, including special assessments already levied.
• Insurance renewal dates. A building whose master policy renews soon may face a premium jump that the budget did not plan for.

Your 7 days to cancel, and how to use them

For resale condos, buyers can cancel within 7 days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, after receiving the association documents. That window is the cheapest moment to walk away from a building with an assessment problem.

Use the 7 days to read in this order: minutes, milestone inspection summary, SIRS, budget, and any notice of pending assessments or litigation. If something is unclear, ask the association manager in writing. A vague answer to a direct question about upcoming assessments is itself information.

New construction works differently. Buyers from a developer can cancel within 15 days, and deposits up to 10 percent are held in escrow. A new building will not face milestone work for decades, though its reserves still matter.

Pricing an assessment into your offer

A known assessment is a cost like any other, and it can be negotiated. Common approaches:

• Ask the seller to pay it off in full at closing by checking the seller's box on the rider.
• Reduce the price by the remaining balance, which lowers your purchase cost and your tax assessment base.
• Ask for a closing credit, subject to your lender's limits.

Remember the effect on financing too. Lenders reviewing a building for warrantability look at reserves, pending repairs and owner delinquencies, and a large unfunded project can make a building hard to finance. That affects you now and also affects your future buyer. Add loss assessment coverage to your HO-6 policy, since it can pay your share of certain insured losses the association passes on to owners.

Statewide condos sit well below the $396,809 single-family value, and part of that gap reflects buildings still working through these costs. A shortlist built around buildings with completed inspections and funded reserves avoids most of these surprises.