Governor Charlie Crist today signed Senate Bill 1196, regarding condominium community associations. Governor Crist praised the legislation for providing relief to communities facing financial strains in the current economy and incentives to buyers seeking to purchase condominiums.

“Condominium and neighborhood residents will now find relief from practices that have threatened the quality of life of communities throughout the Sunshine State,” Governor Crist said. “Those seeking condominiums located on our beautiful beaches or in our vibrant cities will find great values and new reasons to buy.”

Several measures empower community associations to collect funds from owners with delinquent assessments. Associations will now be able to collect funds directly from a tenant if the owner is delinquent in paying assessments, and the tenant can then deduct the cost from rent paid to the delinquent unit owner.

Associations can also suspend the rights of an owner or occupant to use common areas and recreational facilities if the owner is more than 90 days late in paying any monetary obligation. Mortgage lenders will also be responsible for delinquent assessments on foreclosed properties for 12 months, rather than the current six months.

Other key provisions of the legislation are intended to increase sales of condominiums. To encourage bulk buying of condominiums in distressed communities, regulations are temporarily modified for certain condominium purchases. In addition, condominium owners are no longer required to purchase insurance on their individual units.

The legislation also provides condominium owners and associations flexibility in meeting fire safety and elevator regulations. Upon a majority vote, members of condominium associations will now be able to choose to be exempt from the requirement to retrofit elevators to operate during power outages.

The members can also waive the requirement to retrofit common areas with fire sprinkler systems. For associations that do not choose to waive the retrofits, the deadline is extended from 2014 to 2019. In addition, buildings four stories tall or less, that also have exterior walkways, will not need to install a manual fire alarm system.