If it could happen in Florida, could it happen here?
Since the devastating midnight collapse of a Florida seaside condominium, which killed at least 86 people and left 43 more missing, condo dwellers in the Twin Cities area are wondering if their own homes are safe.
As investigators work to determine what caused the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condos in Surfside, Fla., the focus has been on whether deferred maintenance contributed to the building's failure. The spotlight is prompting Twin Cities area condo owners to question if enough is being done to maintain their homes.
"They're saying, 'We need to make sure we're OK,'" said Kirk Gassen, CEO of Gassen Co., which provides professional management services to Twin Cities area condo and townhome owners.
Minnesota is among several states with laws that require the homeowners associations (HOAs) that govern condominium, townhouses and other common-interest communities to prepare a plan for the eventual replacement of common elements in those buildings and make sure the association has enough money to pay for that maintenance.
While Minnesota's laws are considered more stringent than many, they don't require those plans to be done by professionals, nor do they require structural evaluations in the vast majority of the condo and townhome buildings in the region. There's also no state agency that ensures compliance.
Over the years, amendments to the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act (MCIOA) have strengthened those laws, including a requirement that HOAs create a reserve fund that's separate from accounts used for routine operating expenses.
Twin Cities area real estate attorneys say the emerging details about the HOA conflicts at Surfside illustrate the challenges that many local HOAs now face. Those HOAs are often run by inexperienced volunteer boards that struggle with how to pay for costly repairs and maintenance while keeping monthly fees as low as possible. For HOAs that aren't setting aside enough money, a large special assessment is often the only option, but getting all the owners to appreciate the need to implement one is often difficult.