Lupe del Pino recently paid $258,000 for a two-bedroom condo unit with a balcony in North Miami Beach. That amount was within her allotted budget, but she had an additional cost to pay.
Her building is in the process of complying with new state requirements to improve the structural integrity of older buildings. The condo board is borrowing $7.5 million to restore the concrete of the structure and make other improvements. Ms. del Pino’s share amounted to more than $23,000.
Fortunately, she qualified for an interest-free loan under a new Miami-Dade County program. Ms. del Pino is borrowing $23,303.84, which she will pay at $48.55 a-month over 40 years, once the renovations are complete.
“I was going to be eating ramen noodles for the rest of my life,” said Ms. del Pino. “It really was going to be very challenging to pay that.”
Following the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside that resulted in 98 deaths, Florida last year enacted new legislation that requires condos to pass milestone structural inspections and to fully fund their reserves.
These special assessments are affecting thousands of residential buildings across the state and can run to more than $100,000 a unit, an amount well above what many condo owners are able or willing to pay. Residents in some buildings have agreed instead to sell their units to developers, who knock the properties down and build newer, more expensive ones.
To help those who prefer to stay but are struggling to pay the assessment, the county last year began offering interest-free 40-year loans of up to $50,000 to residents who make less than 140% area median income, which means any individual making up to $95,620.00 in income qualifies.
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The rubble of the Champlain Towers South condo building during the one-year Surfside Remembrance Event.
Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesFour months into the program, the $9 million in funds that had been set aside for the program has been exhausted. Some 32 residents have received loans and 12 more loans are committed pending closing. In addition, 90 others have been approved or are in the process of being approved. The Miami-Dade County mayor said she is already working to expand the program, which is funded by a fee that is charged under Florida State law on the sale of commercial real estate in Miami-Dade County.
“It’s really a great service that we’re providing to people who are really stuck because their associations did not plan adequately,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in an interview. “With the higher standards and the increased enforcement, it is really vital that they be able to make these repairs and not lose their homes.”
The program appears to be unique, according to Michael Liu, former director of the Miami-Dade Department of Public Housing and Community Development. The level of concern raised by the Surfside collapse may not be something felt in other communities, Mr. Liu said. The county’s loan program may also serve as a model for other coastal areas with aging buildings that need upgrades, he added.
The loan initiative is one of a number of new local efforts in Miami-Dade that amount to $500 million set aside to create a safety net for residents who are contending with large increases in rents and home prices that are rising faster than any major city in the U.S.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis last week also signed legislation that will incentivize developers to build workforce and affordable housing across the state to address the housing crisis. Known as the “Live Local Act,” the $711 million plan also prohibits local municipalities from enacting rent controls, and will supersede local zoning, density and building heights in certain circumstances.
“I think this is the first time a state, in a comprehensive fashion, has come up with a plan to incentivize workforce housing,” said Mr. Liu, who previously worked as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “It’s groundbreaking legislation.”