- The Florida Senate may soon grant more regulatory control over vacation rentals to local governments, specifically targeting those rented through online platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO.
- The bill allows local governments to require vacation rentals to register, charge fees for processing and inspecting compliance with building and fire codes, and enforce other regulations while adhering to the principle of equal treatment for all property owners.
- While the bill prohibits local laws or regulations banning vacation rentals or controlling their frequency or duration, it allows local governments to charge fees for registration and inspection, and requires advertising platforms to display the vacation rental license number and remove listings without valid license numbers. Failure to register and comply with codes can result in fines.
- State lawmakers and local governments have long battled over authority to regulate vacation rentals in state. The bill seeks to provide more balance between the rights of private property owners and local government.
A Florida Senate bill, SB 714, could soon grant local governments more regulatory control over vacation rentals after it cleared a key Senate Fiscal Policy committee on Tuesday with a 17-3 vote. The bill aims to provide cities and counties with more authority to regulate vacation rentals, particularly those rented through online platforms like AirBnB or VRBO. Local governments have long been at odds with state lawmakers over how to deal with “bad actors” who operate vacation rental properties without regard for local residents.
It’s been a long, pitched battle over the last 15 years, as state lawmakers sought to prevent overzealous local governments from passing ordinances that unfairly targeted vacation rental owners. The pre-emption law, giving the state authority to regulate vacation rentals, sought to eliminate overreaching local tourism regulations that created a complex legal patchwork across the state that triggered expensive lawsuits and stifled Florida’s tourism industry. Previously passed state preemption laws forced local governments to treat all property owners equally, regardless of their residency or voting status.
But now, with SB 714, sponsored by Republican State Senator Nick DiCeglie, local governments would get some of local control back with the authority to require vacation rentals to register, charge fees for processing and inspecting compliance with building and fire codes, and enforce other regulations, all while adhering to the principle of equal treatment for all property owners.
Some key provisions of SB 714 include a prohibition on any local laws or regulations banning vacation rentals or controlling their frequency or duration, with some exceptions. But the bill would also allow local governments to charge fees for registration and inspection of vacation rentals, require owners or operators to provide identification, license information, tax registrations, and maximum occupancy information.
The bill also requires local governments to review registration applications within 15 business days and either accept or deny them, providing reasons for denial if necessary, but allows local governments the authority to terminate or refuse to issue or renew a vacation rental registration under certain circumstances.
Finally, the bill requires advertising platforms to display the vacation rental license number and remove advertisements or listings that do not have valid license numbers within 15 business days after being notified by the division, and mandates that advertising platforms adopt an anti-discrimination policy and inform users that it is illegal to discriminate based on factors such as race, creed, color, sex, pregnancy, physical disability, or national origin.
If the bill is enacted, local governments will be able to impose fines for failure to register vacation rentals and inspect properties for compliance with state building and fire prevention codes.
The real problem with this is that it is allowing big business to take over small businesses like this where a person is hit with so many diff fees just to maintain a rental and where others who are acting as modi’s that want their cut basically…all this is and people need to understand it fir what it is. They see it as a money making opportunity to seize a part of it and eventually to take over the rentals because government will allow them to run it for their cut…it’s all a bunch of greedy people who come up with kind of nonsense. Ordinary people invested money and sweat to have a rental that gives them supplemental income to make ends meet, not to get rich, yet by doing this the government and big business can then legally get their chunk of the profits leaving a few Pennie’s, if that, to the owner. It’s terrible and people should be able to stop this by paying attention and voting No to it.
The real problem is investors are artificially increasing the value of property beyond the ability of normal people who work and live in Florida. Pinellas county, home of Republican State Senator Nick DiCeglie, trails behind Hillsborough County and the rest of the state in the percentages of workers who make $50,000 a year or more. Yet 3 Bedroom homes are rapidly increasing above the $500,000 mark. Driven primarily by investors who have the ability to pay over inflated prices for homes that promise to bring in $500 a night or more in income as Short Term Rentals. To pay a $4,500 mortgage, a family would have to make at least $15,000 a month. How is the average family going to afford a home, when the average household income is $120,000 a year? Properties that cost $250,000 two years ago, are now being sold for more than $600,000.
If law makers really want to help, they should do something to curb this type of investing. Perhaps, dramatically increased Real Estate taxes on multiple non-homestead properties and state income tax on revenues generated by STR’s? Increased homestead tax breaks for homeowners who own just one property, so the monthly payment is more affordable for those with a modest income?