PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Stephanie Donner saw my report this week on local leaders discussing HOA fees and assessments in Florida and immediately contacted me.
"It is a problem in the state, to the point where they will put a sign on the highway coming from the north (that says) 'Turnaround,'" she told me outside her West Boca condo on Wednesday.
WATCH BELOW: West Boca condo owner says rising HOA fees could force her to move
Where she lives, she says her total fees are around $900 a month.
"We're going to have an assessment and, to be honest, a lot of people have already moved," Donner said.
"This is really tough," state Sen. Mack Bernard said Tuesday at the HOA Fee forum in West Palm Beach. "But we don’t want another Surfside, but at the same time what we want to do is create new affordable housing."
The discussion comes as Florida communities rank among those with the nation's highest HOA burdens.
A Realtor.com analysis previously reported by WPTV found seven of the nation's 10 metro areas with the highest HOA fees relative to estimated mortgage payments were in Florida. Port St. Lucie ranked fifth, while the Sebastian-Vero Beach area ranked ninth.
Among the potential solutions raised Tuesday at the forum were additional financial assistance for seniors and more state oversight of HOAs.
As for Donner, who is semi-retired, she says that with HOA fees, insurance and overall inflation, she's enduring the situation as long as she has her stay-at-home remote job.
"If I lose that, I have to move," she said
