VENICE, Fla. — As Florida's 2024 legislative session ends Friday, lawmakers are hoping to push a bill to expand the My Safe Florida Home Program to condo associations across the finish line.
The My Safe Florida Home Program currently offers up to $10,000 in state grant money for single-family homeowners to harden their homes with the goal of bringing down their insurance rates.
As lawmakers are working to refund the program after it ran out of money, State Representative Christine Hunschofsky, D-Palm Beach and Broward Counties is pushing to expand the program to condo associations. Proposing a bill that would budge $30 million dollars as a pilot program.
"Some of the people who are in my district, their property insurance rates have tripled, and condos have also been hit hard," Hunschofsky said.
If passed, individual homeowners can not apply for the grant, it must go through their condo association.
"You have to go through your condo association," she added. "For example a condo unit owner can't do hardening with the roof, that has to be done by the association. It will be an association focus grant program."
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It comes as just last week, a Redfin report showed condo prices in Florida are falling, and listings are going up as high insurance and HOA costs are driving Floridians to offload their condos.
For Karen Shipman, she's afraid she soon will also be priced out of paradise.
She told ABC Action News she invested $16,550 for hurricane-impact sliding doors that face her Gulf-front condo in Venice. It saved her about $200 in her individual "walls-in" condo policy.
Her condo association also invested in hurricane impact windows and doors which like the high premium costs, those discounts get passed down to homeowners.
Shipman said the improvements allowed her to pass a wind mitigation inspection and in total save $1,683.
As for her thoughts on the My Safe Florida Home Program being offered for condos.
"It sounds good in theory, I did see alot of people applied and were not able to get the money," she said speaking of the current My Safe Florida Home Program for homeowners. "I look at what's going through the legislature, and I just feel like it is all talk at this point."
Rep. Hunschofsky hears her concerns.
"It will help. It is not a solution to the property insurance crisis, but it will help," she said. "We are doing this budget now for one year. It's a pilot program. It will give us time to look at it evaluate it for next session."
As for other solutions?
"We absolutely need to be doing more," Rep. Hunschofsky said. "We did have some bills this session that were looking to address the property insurance crisis, but many didn't even get a hearing and didn't make it across the finish line."
She added the bill has passed the House of Representatives, now needs to pass the Senate, and hopes to get that done by the end of session on Friday.
