After the Surfside collapse, new laws are going to make things very expensive for some condo owners, I understand.

California has had rigorous laws for quite some time that require homeowner associations to maintain annually redetermined and updated budgets for asset mortaility. These must be used as a basis to calculate how much money needs to be accumulated and by when an adequate balance will be available, to match the timing of expensive major maintenance/rebuilding/replacements in the future.

Starting some years ago, not too many, a new rule was added that the periodic assessment of condition and costs of refurbishment need to be done by an expert. In the case of my neighborhood, where the land was simply subdivided into lots but first owners built their own houses, the redetermination of years remaining before work is required for each asset and the costs to be incurred for things like the pool and its equipment, gates, roads, and drainage is done by outside consultants.

I'll bet the people who died in the Surfside disaster and those who lost their properties would have welcomed similar rules being in place long ago.

As to whether it will be "very expensive", the problem with not having laws requiring reserve savings for the eventual costs for work on properties owned in common, no matter what their physical structure type may be, is that past owners skip out without having to contribute to work needed because of wear and tear and the passage of time while they were owners, and current owners get stuck paying more than what's their fair share.

20,000 is not that large of a percentage in a state with over 1.5 million condos.

Associations have had to raise the HOA fees a higher amount than usual the last few years, mostly because the cost of insurance on the buildings has skyrocketed.

We’ve owned a Florida condo (used as a rental) for over 20 years. It’s not waterfront, or in a flood zone. The assessment fee has gone up every few years as the costs of maintenance, insurance and property taxes rise. Our HOA fee covers property taxes and building insurance.

One of my closest friends sold her South Palm Beach condo 4 years ago because of the maintenance fees and assessments. It was ocean front and the association had just started work on the exterior concrete. She didn't want to sit on her patio and put up with the noise, dust and inconvenience of the contractors work, not to mention the huge assessment. So they sold at a loss but felt good about escaping.

Our HOA owns a $2mil clubhouse on 8 acres. The insurance was $4600 in 2023. 2024 it's $30K and the outlying structures are NOT fully insured. Our HOA dues have to go up to cover the expense. But surrouding homes are still paying $4600 a year....? I undertand costs have gone up...but....those numbers just don't add up.