THE BILL ITSELF
CS/HB 1497
My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program
1
A bill to be entitled
2
An act relating to the My Safe Florida Condominium
3
Pilot Program; amending s. 215.55871, F.S.; defining
4
the term "area median income"; removing the definition
5
of the term "service area"; revising eligibility
6
requirements for the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot
7
Program; requiring the Department of Financial
8
Services to adopt rules to verify household income;
9
authorizing condominiums with mixed-income occupancies
10
to participate in the pilot program under certain
11
circumstances; requiring an application for a
12
mitigation grant to include documentation to verify
13
household income; limiting the award of grant funds;
14
requiring an association to complete a certain
15
percentage of opening protection improvements;
16
providing applicability; providing an effective date.
18
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
Section 1. Subsections (1) and (2) and paragraphs (a) and
21
(j) of subsection (5) of section 215.55871, Florida Statutes,
22
are amended to read:
23
215.55871 My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program.—There
24
is established within the Department of Financial Services the
25
My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program to be implemented
26
pursuant to appropriations. The department shall provide fiscal
27
accountability, contract management, and strategic leadership
28
for the pilot program, consistent with this section. This
29
section does not create an entitlement for associations or unit
30
owners or obligate the state in any way to fund the inspection
31
or retrofitting of condominiums in the state. Implementation of
32
this pilot program is subject to annual legislative
33
appropriations. It is the intent of the Legislature that the My
34
Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program provide licensed
35
inspectors to perform inspections for and grants to eligible
36
associations as funding allows.
37
(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
38
(a) "Area median income" means the median household
39
income, as published annually by the United States Department of
40
Housing and Urban Development, for the county in which the
41
condominium property is located.
42
(b)(a) "Association" has the same meaning as in s.
43
718.103.
44
(c)(b) "Association property" means property, real and
45
personal, which is owned or leased by, or is dedicated by a
46
recorded plat to, an association for the use and benefit of its
47
members and is located in the service area.
48
(d)(c) "Board of administration" has the same meaning as
49
in s. 718.103.
50
(e)(d) "Condominium" has the same meaning as in s.
51
718.103. For purposes of this section, the term does not include
52
detached units on individual parcels of land.
53
(f)(e) "Condominium property" means the lands, leaseholds,
54
and personal property that are subjected to condominium
55
ownership, whether or not contiguous, and all improvements
56
thereon and all easements and rights appurtenant thereto
57
intended for use in connection with the condominium and are
58
located in the service area.
59
(g)(f) "Department" means the Department of Financial
60
Services.
61
(h)(g) "Property" means association property and
62
condominium property, as applicable, located in the service
63
area.
64
(h) "Service area" means the area of the state which is 15
65
miles inward of a coastline, as that term is defined in s.
66
376.031.
67
(i) "Unit" has the same meaning as in s. 718.103.
68
(j) "Unit owner" has the same meaning as in s. 718.103.
69
(2) PARTICIPATION.—
70
(a) Participation in the pilot program is limited to:
71
1. Condominium associations in which at least 80 percent
72
of the occupied units within the condominium are owned or
73
occupied by a person or family whose annual income is at or
74
below 80 percent of the area median income, adjusted for
75
household size, applicable to the county in which the
76
condominium is located. Eligibility must be determined using the
77
area median income published at the time an application is
78
submitted. For purposes of determining if a condominium
79
association meets the 80 percent unit-occupied threshold:
80
a. Only occupied residential units may be counted.
81
b. Both owner-occupied and tenant-occupied residential
82
units may be counted as long as the persons or families living
83
in such residential units provide income documentation to the
84
department and the department has verified that such person or
85
family meets the income requirements of this subparagraph.
86
2. Structures or buildings on the condominium property
87
which are three or more stories in height, provided that each
88
structure or building that is the subject of a mitigation grant
89
contains at least two single-family dwellings.
90
(b) The department shall adopt rules establishing
91
acceptable methods for verifying household income, including,
92
but not limited to, owner self-certification, tax returns,
93
income statements, or other documentation deemed sufficient by
94
the department. The department may require periodic
95
recertification of income eligibility to ensure compliance with
96
this section.
97
(c) A condominium with mixed-income occupancies is
98
eligible to participate in the pilot program under this section
99
if the income threshold in subparagraph (a)1. is met.
100
(d)(b) In order to apply for an inspection under
101
subsection (4) or a grant under subsection (5) for association
102
property or condominium property, an association must receive
103
approval by a majority vote of the board of administration or a
104
majority vote of the total voting interests of the association
105
to participate in the pilot program. An association may not
106
apply for an inspection under subsection (4) or a grant under
107
subsection (5) for association property or condominium property
108
unless the association has complied with the inspection
109
requirements in ss. 553.899 and 718.112(2)(g) and (h). An
110
association may not apply for a grant under subparagraph
111
(5)(e)1. for association property or condominium property unless
112
the windows of the association property or condominium property
113
are established as common elements in the declaration.
114
(e)(c) In order to apply for a grant under subsection (5)
115
which improves one or more units within a condominium, an
116
association must receive both of the following:
117
1. Approval by a majority vote of the board of
118
administration or a majority vote of the total voting interests
119
of the association to participate in a mitigation inspection.
120
2. Approval by at least 75 percent of all unit owners who
121
reside within the structure or building that is the subject of
122
the mitigation grant.
123
(f)(d) A unit owner may participate in the pilot program
124
through a mitigation grant awarded to the association but may
125
not participate individually in the pilot program.
126
(g)(e) The votes required under this subsection may take
127
place at the annual budget meeting of the association or at a
128
unit owner meeting called for the purpose of taking such vote.
129
Before a vote of the unit owners may be taken, the association
130
must provide to the unit owners a clear disclosure of the pilot
131
program on a form created by the department. The president and
132
the treasurer of the board of administration must sign the
133
disclosure form indicating that a copy of the form was provided
134
to each unit owner of the association. The signed disclosure
135
form and the minutes from the meeting at which the unit owners
136
voted to participate in the pilot program must be maintained as
137
part of the official records of the association. Within 14 days
138
after an affirmative vote to participate in the pilot program,
139
the association must provide written notice in the same manner
140
as required under s. 718.112(2)(d) to all unit owners of the
141
decision to participate in the pilot program.
142
(5) MITIGATION GRANTS.—Financial grants may be used by
143
associations to make improvements recommended in a hurricane
144
mitigation inspection report which increase the condominium's
145
resistance to hurricane damage.
146
(a) An application for a mitigation grant must:
147
1. Contain a signed or electronically verified statement
148
made under penalty of perjury by the president of the board of
149
administration that the association has submitted only a single
150
application for each property that the association operates or
151
maintains.
152
2. Include a notarized statement from the president of the
153
board of administration containing the name and license number
154
of each contractor the association intends to use for the
155
mitigation project.
156
3. Include a notarized statement from the president of the
157
board of administration which commits to the department that the
158
association will complete the mitigation improvements. If the
159
grant will be used to improve units, the application must also
160
include an acknowledged statement from each unit owner who is
161
required to provide approval for a grant under paragraph (2)(d)
162
(2)(c).
163
4. Include documentation deemed sufficient by the
164
department under paragraph (2)(b) for verifying household
165
income.
166
(j) Grant funds may only be awarded for a mitigation
167
improvement that addresses the common elements of the
168
condominium property that will result in a mitigation credit,
169
discount, or other rate differential for the building or
170
structure to which the improvement is made. As a condition of
171
receiving awarding a grant, the association department must
172
complete 100 percent of the opening protection improvements to
173
the common elements which were recommended in the final
174
hurricane mitigation inspection report require mitigation
175
improvements to be made to all openings, including exterior
176
doors, garage doors, windows, and skylights that are a part of
177
the common elements, if doing so is necessary for the building
178
or structure to qualify for a mitigation credit, discount, or
179
other rate differential.
180
The amendments made by this act to s. Section 2.
181
215.55871, Florida Statutes, apply to inspection and grant
182
applications submitted to the Department of Financial Services
183
by a condominium association on or after July 1, 2026.
184
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.