Aventura votes to require HOAs to submit critical reports within 48 hours

The city of Aventura is tightening up its requirements for homeowners’ associations in the wake of the deadly Surfside condo collapse.

The Aventura commission unanimously approved an ordinance on Tuesday requiring residential associations to submit any engineering, architectural and life safety reports they conduct to the city within 48 hours of their completion.

The commission also moved forward with a similar ordinance requiring owners of commercial properties larger than 2,000 square feet to share their engineering and architectural reports within 48 hours. The second reading for the proposed commercial code is set for Sept. 2.

Aventura Mayor Enid Weisman said she proposed the condo law after hearing concerns from residents about the structural integrity of their own buildings following the collapse of Champlain Towers South on June 24. Local building officials throughout Miami-Dade have since ordered the evacuations of several buildings after declaring them structurally unsafe, including Crestview Towers in North Miami Beach, La Costa in Miami Beach, and more recently, the Fifty Fifty Condominium in Miami.

The law guarantees transparency in a city filled with condominiums, Weisman told The Real Deal.

“I want to alleviate [the fears of Aventura residents] as quickly as we can. That is why we sought to do this,” said Weisman, who claimed that Aventura is the first municipality in Florida to enact such a law.

The commercial building law will have similar requirements for apartments, large retail complexes, and office buildings, Weisman added.

Associations and property owners that violate the ordinance could be given a $500 fine, and/or 60 days in jail. City code also states that each day a violation exists “shall constitute a separate offense.”

So far, there has been little pushback from real estate developers or condo associations over the law, Weisman said. There was, however, some division among elected officials over how long associations had to turn in a report.

Weisman and Commissioner Marc Narotsky felt that 24 hours was enough time for an association to turn in a report while Vice Mayor Linda Marks and commissioners Denise Landman, Jonathan Evans, Robert Shelley and Rachel Saltzman Friedman felt that 48 hours was needed, according to the Miami Herald.