Miami Beach weighs 0% loans to help condo owners pay repair assessments
A pilot of $500,000 could help 5 to 25 households, a city memo says. Commissioners will be asked Nov. 18 who qualifies and where the money comes from.
Miami Beach condo owners facing big special assessments for structural repairs could get 0% city loans of up to $100,000 under a program the City Commission will discuss Nov. 18, according to a memo from City Manager Eric Carpenter.
The administration supports creating the program but is asking commissioners to decide who should qualify and how to pay for it, the memo (item R7 V) says. Commissioner David Suarez first referred the idea in December 2025. The item has been on four earlier agendas without being reached.
What the city is considering
The memo sketches a pilot. If commissioners approved $500,000, it says, the money could help:
- up to 25 households with loans of up to $20,000, repaid over five years at about $333 a month;
- up to 12 households with loans of up to $40,000, repaid over seven years at about $476 a month; or
- up to five households with loans of up to $100,000, repaid over 10 years at about $833 a month.
The loans would carry no interest, be secured by a lien on the unit and be paid directly to the condo association. Repayment would start 30 to 60 days after the money goes out.
To qualify under the draft rules, the unit would have to be in Miami Beach, be the owner’s homesteaded primary residence for at least five straight years and face a verified assessment for structural repairs, safety work or recertification. The owner would also have to be current on regular association fees.
Three ways to decide who is eligible
The memo offers three income tests. One would cap household income at 170% of the area median, for example $148,240 for one person and $210,630 for four. Another would look at whether housing costs take 30% to 40% or more of income. A third would help owners whose assessment is more than 10% to 20% of a year’s income.
Miami-Dade County already runs a condo assessment loan program for owners earning up to 140% of the area median, with up to $50,000 at 0% interest over 40 years, the memo says. It notes that County Commissioner Micky Steinberg said in February that the county program, then paused, was expected to return in spring 2026. The memo doesn’t say whether it has.
The Nov. 18 meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive.
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