Orlando condo association proposes special assessment of up to $22,105 per owner

Condo owners scramble to find funds

A condo association in Orlando is proposing a special assessment of up to $22,105 for each owner as part of an effort to fund its reserves as required by state law, and it would be due by the end of July.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A condominium association in Orlando is proposing a special assessment of up to $22,105 for each owner as part of an effort to fund its reserves as required by state law, and it would be due by the end of July.

Residents of the Regency Gardens Condominiums on Rosebriar Way learned of the proposal after receiving a letter in the mail from the attorney representing the association's board of directors.

"It was [scary] and shocking. I didn't know what to do at that time," resident Osnose Orbisi said Thursday.

He moved in about a year ago after saving up for a down payment.

"I was moving out of my parents' house, and this just seemed like the perfect area because of the price and the HOA at that time," he said.

The letter he received had left him unsettled.

The board is proposing a special assessment for each owner as low as $11,148.42 or as high as $22,104.69, depending on the unit size. Half of the balance would be due by June 30, and the other half by July 31.

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"I have no money laying around like that. I don't think anybody in this area has $10,000 laying around just to give," Orbisi said.

He's not alone.

Evelina Gomez, who's lived in her condo for about eight years, says she'll be required to pay nearly $13,000.

"If you’re a worker, a single mother, elderly, a father with a family, and you have to pay a mortgage, tell me how you’re going to pay that amount," Gomez said in Spanish.

Following the Surfside condo collapse in June 2021, a new state law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year required condominiums three stories or taller to have fully funded reserves.

Reserve studies were completed recently, and according to the letter residents received, the association will have only $1.6 million in reserves by the end of the year.

"The short explanation for the current, urgent need is that Florida law previously authorized chronic underfunding of reserves, resulting in substantial shortfalls in times of need. The practice of waiving reserves each year is no longer an option, and the consequences of underfunding have caught up with the need for maintenance and repairs," the attorney wrote in the letter.

If the board of directors approves the special assessment at its May 15 meeting, owners like Orbisi will now be tasked with making up the roughly $17 million shortfall.

"Right now, we're all kind of scared and shocked, and we're all just thinking, ‘Do we sell? Do we fight? Do we hold on?’ We're trying to figure out what to do," he said.

In addition to the proposed special assessment, the board is also proposing to nearly triple the cost of the monthly assessments.