If you’ve paid more than $150 to apply to live in a condo in Florida, you’ve been ripped off.

Miami Condo Listings with Illegal Application Fees. Courtesy of Miami Herald.

Last month I was reading the latest issue of ‘Florida Realtors’ magazine and I came across an article that informed Florida Realtors that condominium associations are not permitted to charge any transfer fee or application fee that exceeds $100 per applicant, (and that any husband, wife and child are always considered one applicant). Whether this fee is a transfer fee, an application fee, or a tenant screening fee; the maximum fee allowed by Florida state law is $150. This came as a complete surprise to me, considering I had assisted many clients with rentals and sales of condo properties in Miami in which the condo management fees ranged from $150 to $250. Almost every client that I have ever had has complained to me about these illegal application fees, but until reading the article in the ‘Florida Realtors’ magazine, I was completely unaware that any fee exceeding $150 was illegal.

I decided that something should be done about it.

I called the Florida Realtors Legal Hotline to clarify that these fees were illegal, and to get more information for my clients about what kind of recourse they would have to get their money back. The Florida Realtors Legal Hotline is an invaluable resource for Realtors that allows us to instantly speak to an attorney about various real estate topics.  The attorney that assisted me informed me that, yes, any fee exceeding $100 is illegal, and that my clients have 4 options to get their money back and to report this illegal activity. Those 4 options are listed below.

I then reached out to the Miami Herald to see if they’d like to investigate this issue, and to help get the word out to consumers statewide. Real Estate reporter Nick Nehamas did an amazing job researching how widespread this illegal activity really is, and helped consumers statewide by publishing it on the cover of the Miami Herald on Friday, June 3, 2016:

“South Florida condo boards rip off consumers with high application fees” – Miami Herald

The Miami Herald (https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article81430117.html) analyzed the current listings in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and found that in Miami-Dade county, 46% of the condominiums listed for rent or sale show that they require a fee of more than $150 per applicant. The issue here is that Realtors are the ones entering the fee into the MLS system; so they are exacerbating the problem by allowing the activity to continue, and by publishing it for their clients and other Realtors to see. In my opinion, Realtors should be highly aware that any application fee over $150 is illegal, and thus, they should never be entering any number higher than that into the MLS, and they should be reporting any condo that’s attempting to charge an excessive fee to their clients, and to the State of Florida.  For those Realtors that are unaware that these fees are illegal, the MLS system itself should be set up to stop any Realtor from entering a number higher than $150 into the application fee field. This is an issue that myself, and some other Realtors, are taking up with the Miami Association of Realtors.

Clearly, this is a HUGE issue, and it’s going to take a LOT of work, by a lot of people, to resolve it. If Realtors are educated properly they can inform their clients to never pay illegal fees. If condo boards are educated properly they can change their policy on fees to comply with Florida State law.

“You’ve single-handedly changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Florida residents by exposing this”
– B. Hunt

The Miami Herald investigation found that Quantum on the Bay in Miami charges renters $625 to apply and move in.

If you’ve been the victim of illegal condo fees, do these 4 things:

Inform the condo board that the fee is illegal.
Consumers should inform condo associations that they are breaking the law. If you have already paid an illegal fee, you are entitled to a refund. Section 718.112(2)(i) of the Florida Statutes prohibits condos from charging more than $150 in transfer fees per person or married couple. That includes application fees, credit checks, background screenings, move-in fees, pet registration and other charges related to the sale or lease of a condo unit.

File a complaint with the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes.
If the association insists on charging more than what is allowed by law, you must file a written complaint with the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes: http://www.myfloridalicense.com/DBPR/condos-timeshares-mobile-homes/

File a complaint with the Florida Attorney General.
The Florida Attorney General’s office accepts consumer complaints. Visit the following website for information: http://myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/Contact?OpenForm&Section=Consumer_Protection_Division

File a civil lawsuit, or join a class-action lawsuit.
Consumers can also file civil lawsuits against condo associations. After the publication of the article in the Miami Herald, many attorneys have begun investigating claims.  One such attorney is Aaron Resnick, P.A.

Search for your new Miami Home:

South Florida is one of the most popular places in the entire country to move to, and almost every one of those people who are moving here are asking me “Where are the best places to live in Miami?”. Thankfully there’s a great interactive map that was created to answer that question!

City-Data user ‘Jacobmax‘ has created a very useful interactive Map of the Best Places to Live in Miami and Miami Beach called the ‘Miami Neighborhood-O-Meter’. The interactive map (below, with key) includes all of the neighborhoods and cities in Miami-Dade county, rated by quality of life (safety, crime, poverty, upkeep, amenities, reputability, etc.). The Map of the Best Places to Live in Miami and Miami Beach is color coded by neighborhood, with the best areas labeled in dark green color, and the worst areas labeled in red color (there is a complete key to this map at the end of this page). The creator of the map used factual government & public data, his own research, and ongoing community feedback to come up with the interactive map of Miami located below, and it’s updated regularly as Miami neighborhoods change.

The full size interactive map is below. You can zoom in & out, and click on any neighborhood to see the neighborhood name.

Miami Beach consistently ranks in the top 100 most livable cities in the United States, according to rankings by Livability.com.

Livability cites Miami Beach’s seven miles of beach, three golf courses, 20 parks, endless shopping, dining, nightlife, museums, and cultural attractions among its best features.

“Sultry beaches, sizzling restaurants, wild nightclubs and the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world make Miami Beach one hot place to live,” Livability said. “Golf courses, museums and shopping centers provide more entertainment options. Miami Beach has attracted a diverse group of residents and draws thousands of tourists.”

So for all of those that now want to move here, the big question is…

Should you rent or buy a home in Miami Beach?

The Miami Beach median household income is $47,216 a year. The US average is $28,555 a year. Miami Beach currently has a median home price of $376,000, and a population of 91,784. The average rent in Miami Beach is $2086. So should you rent or buy a home in Miami Beach? Using these figures, it makes much more sense for you to buy a home in Miami Beach, rather than rent a home in Miami Beach, with a savings of more than 35% by buying rather than renting. Trulia found in a study in October 2015 that buying is 23 percent cheaper than renting nationally, but in Miami there’s an even bigger difference: it is 43% cheaper to buy a home here rather than rent.

Miami Beach home buying isn’t without risk though; many of the home sales here are discretionary purchases, meaning that they are purchased as investments or as vacation properties; both of which are highly subject to economic booms and busts. Additionally, when politics in Latin American countries become volatile, those foreign buyers flock to Miami to park their assets in Miami Beach real estate. This fluctuation in foreign property investment typically will profoundly boost the local market at times, and hurt it at others.

Contact Stavros Mitchelides, Miami Beach Realtor to chat about your needs, or if you’re ready to begin looking for your new Miami home, start your Miami real estate search now!