DOOMED

Surfside Condo Board Infighting Delayed Crucial Repairs

Residents of the Surfside tower recount how the board often screamed and yelled over how to approach a $15 million repair bill to save the building from its fate.

In the three years before the shocking collapse of the Champlain Towers in Surfside, Florida, the condo board frequently bickered as they tried to field grievances about a $15 million repair assessment that very well could have prevented the June 24 disaster. Testimony given to the The New York Times by several residents, lawyers, and families of the missing paint a picture of mayhem in board meetings, with many in attendance describing “screaming and yelling” as the board debated new fees for more assessments to make sure the repairs were truly needed. The board blamed other residents, saying they had tried “in a responsible way” to start the clearly necessary work. “Sadly a few of our residents have undermined our progress with petty challenges, discrediting the board members and management,” the board wrote in one memo obtained by the Times.