Surfside Condo Crash Leaves Unanswered Questions

With the recent collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside, a lot of questions have been raised by homeowners, wondering if they don't have adequate insurance. All people want to make sure that their home, condo or apartment is insured incase of any sudden disaster that may hit. Here are some things to keep in mind when browsing for the right insurance plan for you. 

In terms of the type of protection, the association's coverage will dictate what the owner will get, but if you are an individual owner, you will have to choose. HO-6 insurance is homeowners insurance for condo owners and covers all the items the association's policy cant. This coverage can offer enough to replace an entire condo, but some communities that is not the case. The buyers never thought that they would have to worry about a collapse of their condo, so the property insurance isn't going to be high enough to be able to cover making a whole new building, so it usually will tend to just cover the structure and exterior walls. This is problematic for those who had valuable items in their condo at the time, and will have to pay to reconstruct a whole new condo from scratch. 

If a person has a mortgage for the condo, and something happens to it, they still have to pay the loans in full. They can always foreclose, but this will greatly affect their credit score because they are foreclosing on a condo that is no longer standing. This is why it is always strongly urged to put down more than 20% of the purchase price so that they don’t have to take out private mortgage insurance (PMI) . If the homeowner does not, then they will have to take out a PMI. 

The survivors of the Champlain Towers collapse and the deceased victims' representatives are currently getting tax bills based on the evaluation of the condo on January 1st before the collapse. They are working on reducing the taxes like they would if a natural disaster struck. This will have a positive impact on the homeowners and representatives, and will be effective January of 2022. 

The collapse has taken an effect on the real estate market as a whole, but definitely in South Florida. Buyers and owners are worried that a similar collapse may happen to them if they invest in a property that was built at the same time as the Champlain Towers. With the structural integrity of the building in the air, people are looking around for answers to make sure they are safe and want answers. They want to know what caused this collapse and if it can happen to any other buildings. This has definitely made people more aware of the building codes that are put in place when building large condominiums like the Champlain.

If you would like to help the victims families, there is a gofundme that will be disbursed right The Shul of Bal Harbour's Central Emergency Fund. Please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/helpsurfside if you would like to donate.