Condo fee woes spread

State Representative Julio Robaina, Republican of Miami, said as many as 40 percent of the state’s 21,833 condo associations are on the brink of disaster, making it a crisis that ranks just behind education and health care. The spread of foreclosures and growth in vacant units puts added financial pressure on remaining residents to maintain their properties. One partial solution is a bill Robaina sponsored to address the problem of owners who rent their units but don’t pay their associations. House Bill 1397 could let rent money first be used to pay an owner’s outstanding association debts. If a landlord does not cooperate, Robaina said, the association could evict the tenant.