ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The ballots haven’t even been printed yet, but already a group of Florida landlords, apartment managers and real estate agents wants to block voters from deciding on a measure that would impose year-long rent controls at a theme park center that was one of the fastest growing metro areas in the US
The Florida Apartment Association and the Florida Association of Realtors last week sued Orange County, Fla., in an attempt to overturn a ballot initiative aimed at limiting how much landlords can raise rents. If passed by voters this fall, it would be the first such measure in decades in the Sunshine State.
Associations say Florida law prohibits rent control ordinances except in emergency situations, and the current situation in the county where Orlando is located does not meet that standard. They also say the decree could have the unintended consequence of making the situation worse by deterring the construction of new apartments and other housing.
“It is adverse and antagonistic to the public interest and the interests of the plaintiffs and their members to allow a Rent Control Ordinance to be placed on the ballot or to apply to Orange County if the Ordinance is illegal and void,” the associations said. in court documents.
Earlier this month, the Orange County Board of Commissioners narrowly approved a rent control ordinance that now goes to voters for approval in November. The ordinance limits rent increases in multi-apartment buildings to the annual increase in the consumer price index. The ordinance does not apply to luxury apartments, single-family homes or vacation rentals.
Violators of the ordinance can be fined up to $1,000 per day for a first offense, with fines not exceeding $15,000 for each offense. Landlords will be able to request exceptions to the limits under certain conditions.
Under the measure passed by commissioners, rents per unit in Orange County would rise from $1,357 in 2020 to $1,697 in 2021, the highest increase since 2006, and the county has a housing shortage of 26,500 units.
“For years, tenants have been asking this commission to do something about the impending emergency we’re in,” Stephanie Porto, co-founder of the social justice group Florida Rising, said during a commission meeting last month. “Corporate landlords, real estate investors and developers are raising prices and reaping record profits while hard-working Orange County residents are being forced out of their communities.”
The city of Miami Beach implemented rent control measures in the 1960s and 1970s before Florida law was passed to limit them. Orange County’s ordinance would be the first such measure in the state in decades. Rent control measures have been enacted in California and Oregon, as well as in areas such as St. Paul, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon.
Orange County’s population grew from 1.1 million to 1.4 million residents over the past decade, according to the 2020 census.
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