Florida Condo Rules in 2026: What Owners and Buyers Need to Know

Florida's condo rulebook is settled for now. The 2026 legislative session ended March 13, 2026 without a new condominium statute, and the two bills that would have reopened the structural reserve rules, SB 722 and SB 1498, died in committee (Florida Engineering). That means the law owners and buyers live with today comes from three acts: SB 4-D in 2022, HB 1021 in 2024 and HB 913 in 2025.

The deadlines that caused the panic have passed. Structural integrity reserve studies were due by December 31, 2025, milestone inspections for the oldest buildings are complete, and associations adopted their first non-waivable reserve budgets for 2026. The information now exists, and a buyer can read it while an owner can use it. Here is what the rules say as of October 2026 and how they are playing out in Orlando and on the Space Coast.

The three laws in one table

SB 4-D passed unanimously in May 2022 after the Surfside collapse and became Chapter 2022-269 (Florida Senate). HB 1021 took effect July 1, 2024, requiring new directors to complete four hours of approved education, moving the online records requirement down from 150 units to 25 units as of January 1, 2026, and adding misdemeanor and felony penalties for records abuse and kickbacks (Florida Senate). HB 913 was signed June 23, 2025 as Chapter 2025-175 and took effect July 1, 2025 (Florida Senate).

Milestone inspections: what they are and when they happen

A milestone inspection is an engineer's or architect's structural review of a condominium or cooperative building with three or more habitable stories. The first one is due when the building turns 30 years old, then every ten years. Local building departments can require it at 25 years where conditions such as saltwater exposure justify it, which is relevant on the Space Coast. Buildings that reached 30 years before July 1, 2022 had a December 31, 2024 deadline, and those turning 30 between July 2022 and the end of 2024 were due by December 31, 2025 (Florida Engineering).

Phase 1 is a visual inspection. If it finds substantial structural deterioration, Phase 2 follows with testing, and HB 913 requires repairs to begin within 365 days after the building department receives the Phase 2 report, with owners notified of results within 14 days (Florida Engineering). HB 1021 exempted four-family buildings of three or fewer habitable stories, and single, two and three family buildings were never covered (Florida Senate).

SIRS and reserves: the money part

The structural integrity reserve study is the document that drives your assessment. Every ten years an association with a building of three or more habitable stories must have a licensed engineer, architect or certified reserve specialist estimate the remaining life and replacement cost of the roof, structure, waterproofing, plumbing, electrical, windows and other listed components, and set a funding schedule. Under HB 913 those reserves cannot be waived in budgets adopted after the law took effect, and associations that had waived reserves were generally expected to begin funding them on January 1, 2026 (Florida Engineering).

HB 913 also made the rules workable. Reserves can now be pooled rather than held item by item, associations may fund them through special assessments, loans or lines of credit with majority approval of the voting interests, and the threshold for an item to be included rose to $25,000 (Lowndes). The state indexed that threshold to $25,675 for 2026. An association that completed a milestone inspection within the prior two calendar years may, with majority approval, pause or reduce SIRS contributions for up to two consecutive budgets adopted through 2028 so the money goes to the repairs the inspection found (Florida Engineering).

Key point: Higher dues are not the warning sign. A building with a completed milestone report, a current SIRS and a budget that funds it is the building a lender will approve and a buyer will pay for. The warning sign is a building that still has none of the three.

What changed for condo lenders in 2026

The state law is only half the picture. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rewrote their condo project standards in Lender Letter LL-2026-03, and those rules decide whether a buyer can get a conventional loan at all. Limited project reviews ended for applications dated on or after August 3, 2026, so most condo purchases now require a full review with a lender questionnaire and budget documents. The maximum allowable master policy deductible became $50,000 per unit on July 1, 2026. Beginning January 4, 2027, the association's budget must set aside at least 15% for reserves, up from 10%, unless a reserve study completed within the last three years is funded at its highest recommended level (Community Associations Institute).

For a well-run building the new rules change paperwork, not outcomes. For a building that waived reserves for years, the 15% rule can shut off conventional financing in 2027, leaving cash buyers and portfolio lenders. Ask for a project approval early. Our team at Don Harkins Mortgage runs that check before a buyer writes an offer.

What this means in Orlando and on the Space Coast

The two condo markets we serve are behaving differently. In Orlando, the condo and townhouse median sale price slipped 2.7% year over year to $301,071 in August 2026 on 549 closed sales (Orlando Regional Realtor Association). Much of Orlando's condo stock is garden-style, two and three story product that falls under the three-habitable-story line, so milestone and SIRS rules do not apply, but the Fannie Mae reserve and deductible rules do.

On the Space Coast the pressure fell on the oceanfront and riverfront towers in Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, Satellite Beach and Indialantic, many of which were built in the 1970s and 1980s and have now completed their first milestone cycle. The market has absorbed it. Brevard County's condo and townhouse median rose 1.9% to $270,000 in August 2026, closed sales rose 10.9% to 214, and months of supply fell from 8.0 to 5.8 (Space Coast MLS). Buyers who stepped back in 2024 and 2025 are returning to buildings that can show their homework.

For buyers: the document checklist

• Milestone inspection report, Phase 1 and Phase 2 if one was ordered
• The current structural integrity reserve study and the funding schedule adopted with it
• This year's budget, the reserve balance and any approved or pending special assessment
• The master insurance declarations page showing the hurricane deductible
• Twelve months of board meeting minutes
• The lender's project approval before the inspection period ends

Florida gives a resale buyer a rescission right after receiving the association documents, so make the request the day you go under contract. Our buyer resources walk through the condo questionnaire line by line.

For owners: how to protect your value

Attend the budget meeting and make sure the milestone report and SIRS are posted on the association website, which the law now requires at 25 units or more. Fund the plan rather than deferring it, because the building that has already paid for its roof sells for more than the one with the roof still in front of it. If you plan to sell, have the same documents a buyer will request ready at listing. A clean package shortens the inspection period and keeps the buyer's lender on schedule, which is part of how our listings sell in an average of 16 days.

Next step

Whether you own a condo and want to know what it is worth under the new rules, or you are weighing a purchase on the beach or near downtown Orlando, the first step is reading the building's documents with someone who does it every week. Reach out through our contact page and we will review the milestone report, SIRS and budget with you before you commit to anything.