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CS/HB 1497 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the My Safe Florida Condominium 2
Pilot Program; amending s. 215.55871, F.S.; defining 3
the term "area median income"; removing the definition 4
of the term "service area"; revising eligibility 5
requirements for the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot 6
Program; requiring the Department of Financial 7
Services to adopt rules to verify household income; 8
authorizing condominiums with mixed-income occupancies 9
to participate in the pilot program under certain 10
circumstances; requiring an application for a 11
mitigation grant to include documentation to verify 12
household income; limiting the award of grant funds; 13
requiring an association to complete a certain 14
percentage of opening protection improvements; 15
providing applicability; providing an effective date. 16
17
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18
19
Section 1. Subsections (1) and (2) and paragraphs (a) and 20
(j) of subsection (5) of section 215.55871, Florida Statutes, 21
are amended to read: 22
215.55871 My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program.—There 23
is established within the Department of Financial Services the 24
My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program to be implemented 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
pursuant to appropriations. The department shall provide fiscal 26
accountability, contract management, and strategic leadership 27
for the pilot program, consistent with this section. This 28
section does not create an entitlement for associations or unit 29
owners or obligate the state in any way to fund the inspection 30
or retrofitting of condominiums in the state. Implementation of 31
this pilot program is subject to annual legislative 32
appropriations. It is the intent of the Legislature that the My 33
Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program provide licensed 34
inspectors to perform inspections for and grants to eligible 35
associations as funding allows. 36
(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 37
(a) "Area median income" means the median household 38
income, as published annually by the United States Department of 39
Housing and Urban Development, for the county in which the 40
condominium property is located. 41
(b)(a) "Association" has the same meaning as in s. 42
718.103. 43
(c)(b) "Association property" means property, real and 44
personal, which is owned or leased by, or is dedicated by a 45
recorded plat to, an association for the use and benefit of its 46
members and is located in the service area. 47
(d)(c) "Board of administration" has the same meaning as 48
in s. 718.103. 49
(e)(d) "Condominium" has the same meaning as in s. 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
718.103. For purposes of this section, the term does not include 51
detached units on individual parcels of land. 52
(f)(e) "Condominium property" means the lands, leaseholds, 53
and personal property that are subjected to condominium 54
ownership, whether or not contiguous, and all improvements 55
thereon and all easements and rights appurtenant thereto 56
intended for use in connection with the condominium and are 57
located in the service area. 58
(g)(f) "Department" means the Department of Financial 59
Services. 60
(h)(g) "Property" means association property and 61
condominium property, as applicable, located in the service 62
area. 63
(h) "Service area" means the area of the state which is 15 64
miles inward of a coastline, as that term is defined in s. 65
376.031. 66
(i) "Unit" has the same meaning as in s. 718.103. 67
(j) "Unit owner" has the same meaning as in s. 718.103. 68
(2) PARTICIPATION.— 69
(a) Participation in the pilot program is limited to: 70
1. Condominium associations in which at least 80 percent 71
of the occupied units within the condominium are owned or 72
occupied by a person or family whose annual income is at or 73
below 80 percent of the area median income, adjusted for 74
household size, applicable to the county in which the 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
condominium is located. Eligibility must be determined using the 76
area median income published at the time an application is 77
submitted. For purposes of determining if a condominium 78
association meets the 80 percent unit-occupied threshold: 79
a. Only occupied residential units may be counted. 80
b. Both owner-occupied and tenant-occupied residential 81
units may be counted as long as the persons or families living 82
in such residential units provide income documentation to the 83
department and the department has verified that such person or 84
family meets the income requirements of this subparagraph. 85
2. Structures or buildings on the condominium property 86
which are three or more stories in height, provided that each 87
structure or building that is the subject of a mitigation grant 88
contains at least two single-family dwellings. 89
(b) The department shall adopt rules establishing 90
acceptable methods for verifying household income, including, 91
but not limited to, owner self-certification, tax returns, 92
income statements, or other documentation deemed sufficient by 93
the department. The department may require periodic 94
recertification of income eligibility to ensure compliance with 95
this section. 96
(c) A condominium with mixed-income occupancies is 97
eligible to participate in the pilot program under this section 98
if the income threshold in subparagraph (a)1. is met. 99
(d)(b) In order to apply for an inspection under 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
subsection (4) or a grant under subsection (5) for association 101
property or condominium property, an association must receive 102
approval by a majority vote of the board of administration or a 103
majority vote of the total voting interests of the association 104
to participate in the pilot program. An association may not 105
apply for an inspection under subsection (4) or a grant under 106
subsection (5) for association property or condominium property 107
unless the association has complied with the inspection 108
requirements in ss. 553.899 and 718.112(2)(g) and (h). An 109
association may not apply for a grant under subparagraph 110
(5)(e)1. for association property or condominium property unless 111
the windows of the association property or condominium property 112
are established as common elements in the declaration. 113
(e)(c) In order to apply for a grant under subsection (5) 114
which improves one or more units within a condominium, an 115
association must receive both of the following: 116
1. Approval by a majority vote of the board of 117
administration or a majority vote of the total voting interests 118
of the association to participate in a mitigation inspection. 119
2. Approval by at least 75 percent of all unit owners who 120
reside within the structure or building that is the subject of 121
the mitigation grant. 122
(f)(d) A unit owner may participate in the pilot program 123
through a mitigation grant awarded to the association but may 124
not participate individually in the pilot program. 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(g)(e) The votes required under this subsection may take 126
place at the annual budget meeting of the association or at a 127
unit owner meeting called for the purpose of taking such vote. 128
Before a vote of the unit owners may be taken, the association 129
must provide to the unit owners a clear disclosure of the pilot 130
program on a form created by the department. The president and 131
the treasurer of the board of administration must sign the 132
disclosure form indicating that a copy of the form was provided 133
to each unit owner of the association. The signed disclosure 134
form and the minutes from the meeting at which the unit owners 135
voted to participate in the pilot program must be maintained as 136
part of the official records of the association. Within 14 days 137
after an affirmative vote to participate in the pilot program, 138
the association must provide written notice in the same manner 139
as required under s. 718.112(2)(d) to all unit owners of the 140
decision to participate in the pilot program. 141
(5) MITIGATION GRANTS.—Financial grants may be used by 142
associations to make improvements recommended in a hurricane 143
mitigation inspection report which increase the condominium's 144
resistance to hurricane damage. 145
(a) An application for a mitigation grant must: 146
1. Contain a signed or electronically verified statement 147
made under penalty of perjury by the president of the board of 148
administration that the association has submitted only a single 149
application for each property that the association operates or 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
maintains. 151
2. Include a notarized statement from the president of the 152
board of administration containing the name and license number 153
of each contractor the association intends to use for the 154
mitigation project. 155
3. Include a notarized statement from the president of the 156
board of administration which commits to the department that the 157
association will complete the mitigation improvements. If the 158
grant will be used to improve units, the application must also 159
include an acknowledged statement from each unit owner who is 160
required to provide approval for a grant under paragraph (2)(d) 161
(2)(c). 162
4. Include documentation deemed sufficient by the 163
department under paragraph (2)(b) for verifying household 164
income. 165
(j) Grant funds may only be awarded for a mitigation 166
improvement that addresses the common elements of the 167
condominium property that will result in a mitigation credit, 168
discount, or other rate differential for the building or 169
structure to which the improvement is made. As a condition of 170
receiving awarding a grant, the association department must 171
complete 100 percent of the opening protection improvements to 172
the common elements which were recommended in the final 173
hurricane mitigation inspection report require mitigation 174
improvements to be made to all openings, including exterior 175
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
doors, garage doors, windows, and skylights that are a part of 176
the common elements, if doing so is necessary for the building 177
or structure to qualify for a mitigation credit, discount, or 178
other rate differential. 179
Section 2. The amendments made by this act to s. 180
215.55871, Florida Statutes, apply to inspection and grant 181
applications submitted to the Department of Financial Services 182
by a condominium association on or after July 1, 2026. 183
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 184