Surfside Gardens Condominium

Reserve fund is 34% funded — below the fully funded level recommended by the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) required of buildings three storeys and taller. Since 1 January 2025 an association subject to SIRS can no longer simply vote to waive or underfund those reserves, but the prohibition is not absolute: HB 913 (2025) allows a unit-owner-controlled association that completed a milestone inspection within the two years preceding the budget to pause or reduce contributions for up to two consecutive annual budgets on a majority vote of total voting interests (budgets adopted on or before 31 December 2028); a board may pause reserve funding with no owner vote while the building is declared uninhabitable by the local building official; and reserves may instead be funded by special assessment, line of credit or loan on majority approval. At this funding level a special assessment is a realistic prospect within 18–24 months whichever route the board takes.

Board minutes from October 2023 reference a $42,000 emergency elevator repair whose cost has not yet been allocated to unit owners. An assessment that has been voted but not yet levied will NOT appear on an estoppel certificate, so the buyer can inherit the obligation without disclosure. The estoppel provided does not confirm whether this amount has been levied.

No Phase 1 milestone inspection report is evidenced in the documents provided. This is NOT a finding that the association failed to perform one — it means no milestone document was in the upload. The building is 45 years old (built 1981). The default trigger under F.S. 553.899 is 30 years; an accelerated 25-year trigger applies only where the local enforcement agency determines the building is within 3 miles of the coastline, so it is not automatic and not a whole-county rule. On the 30-year trigger a completed Phase 1 report should exist.

The reserve study is dated January 2022 — about 4 years old at the target closing date. Lenders and the secondary market commonly want reserve data no more than 3 years old, so a study this age can hold up underwriting. That 3-year window is an underwriting convention, not a Florida statutory requirement: the statutory recurrence under F.S. 718.112(2)(g) is that a SIRS must be completed at least every 10 years, and this study is inside that window. The 34% funding figure may be higher or lower on current conditions and costs.

The document set provided does not appear to include all of the disclosure documents a buyer is entitled to — the 2024 annual meeting minutes were not in the upload, and the FAQ sheet could not be located. The 3-day rescission clock does not start until all required documents (Declaration, Articles, Bylaws, Rules, financials, FAQ) have been received.

The component coverage of the SIRS could not be verified from the documents provided — no itemised component list was readable, so this report cannot confirm the study covers all 7 structural components enumerated in F.S. 718.112(2)(g) (roof; load-bearing walls / primary structural members; fireproofing and fire protection systems; plumbing; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; windows and exterior doors; plus any other item with a deferred maintenance expense or replacement cost above $10,000).