A YEAR IN REVIEW – 2025!

An Opinion By Jan Bergemann

Published December 30, 2025

Another year has gone by, lots of new laws have been enacted, but not much has changed. Condo owners in hi-rise buildings are trying to figure out how to pay the bills after the new safety laws took effect and insurance premiums went sky-high. Owners in a lot of older buildings have figured out that the time of “easy-living” – as advertised – is over and have decided to sell the property to developers willing to pay millions of dollars for the properties. They will tear down the old buildings and build high-price condominiums on the property. What happens to the mostly older residents who called these buildings their home for many years?

The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes received millions of dollars to hire more employees and Florida’s legislators gave the Division lots of enforcement power, but nothing has changed. They plainly fail to enforce the laws and they still send out the form letters stating that the investigation found no wrong-doing and the case was closed. The real problem: They clearly fail to investigate cases where witnesses for the wrongdoing were named (the Division never contacted these witnesses) and lots of documents were supplied for evidence. The Division is still a useless government agency that only eats owners’ money and does nothing in return!

Fraud, Scams and Embezzlement is running rampant in Florida’s community associations. Millions and millions of dollars are disappearing into the pockets of bad actors and law enforcement is very slow in prosecuting these bad actors after them being caught. A “slap on the wrist” is definitely not scaring away bad actors from stealing money! And that is most all that is happening to the folks arrested for Fraud, Scams and Embezzlement!

New bills have been filed trying to make necessary changes, but will they be enacted and will they really do what owners are hoping for? Time will tell!