In a late special session, the Florida Legislature passed and the governor signed House Bill 5D on May 24, which enacted significant changes to the Florida Condominium Act and several other sections of the laws of Florida. These amendments were enacted in response to the 2021 Champlain Towers disaster in which the condominium’s structure collapsed and 98 people died.

The new laws impose new obligations and liability upon condominium associations regarding structural inspections of their condominiums, disclosure of the results of those structural inspections and the obligation to collect reserves to pay for maintenance and repairs of the structural components of the condominiums. Of special concern to condominium association board members is the new presumption that a board member’s failure to cause his, her or their association to comply with the new law is, per se, a breach of the board member’s fiduciary responsibility to the unit owners.