Although Florida collects millions of dollars in condo fees each year intended to investigate complaints and provide maintenance training, the state has drained large portions of those funds each year to spend elsewhere.
Of the $167 million collected since 2008, Florida has redirected $65 million — nearly 40%, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
In 2020 alone, Florida collected $13.7 million from condominium owners associations, timeshares, and mobile home communities. State lawmakers moved $5 million into the state fund for daily operations, the newspaper reported.
The fees, fines, or penalties collected by the state through the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes Trust Fund were intended to train association members on building maintenance requirements and investigate any complaints filed by condo owners.
“For years, we've said please don't sweep that fund,” condo association lobbyist Travis Moore told the News-Journal. "But every year, the Legislature reallocates that money."
The surprise collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida that killed dozens raises concerns about the state legislature’s yearly practice of spending the money on items other than its intended purposes.
Throughout the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the Florida condominium division conducted 22 training sessions for nearly 4,200 people, the newspaper found. There are more than 1.5 million condominiums in the state, most built between the 1960s and ‘80s.
“That's a joke," said Moore who represents condo associations throughout the country. "That's less than two a month and we have more than 20,000 condo associations in Florida.”
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"The Legislature sweeps whatever we can get our hands on," State Sen. Wright said in an interview. "The Legislature sweeps a lot of accounts.”
Florida State Rep. Paul Renner defended the practice of moving money to the News-Journal, arguing, “Just because it went into the general fund doesn't mean the money wasn't spent on something equally important.”
Funds moved into the general fund are nearly impossible to follow.
“Those monies should be spent on condominium owners themselves. They’re the ones who pay the fee,” said South Florida attorney Eric Glazer.
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