H 1497

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1A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to the My Safe Florida Condominium
3Pilot Program; amending s. 215.55871, F.S.; defining
4the term "area median income"; removing the definition
5of the term "service area"; revising eligibility
6requirements for the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot
7Program; requiring the Department of Financial
8Services to adopt rules to verify household income;
9authorizing condominiums with mixed-income occupancies
10to participate in the pilot program under certain
11circumstances; requiring an application for a
12mitigation grant to include documentation to verify
13household income; limiting the award of grant funds;
14requiring an association to complete a certain
15percentage of opening protection improvements;
16providing applicability; providing an effective date.
17
18Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20Section 1.  Subsections (1) and (2) and paragraphs (a) and
21(j) of subsection (5) of section 215.55871, Florida Statutes,
22are amended to read:
23215.55871  My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program.—There
24is established within the Department of Financial Services the
25My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program to be implemented
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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.
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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:
711.      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
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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:
80a.      Only occupied residential units may be counted.
81b.      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.
862.      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
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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:
1171.      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.
1202.      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.
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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:
1471.      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
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151    maintains.
1522.      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.
1563.      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).
1634.      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
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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.
180Section 2.  The amendments made by this act to s.
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.
184Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.
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