Bill Text: FL S0824 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Private Property Rights of Homeowners
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2019-05-03 - Died in Innovation, Industry, and Technology [S0824 Detail]
Download: Florida-2019-S0824-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2019 SB 824
By Senator Diaz
36-00965A-19 2019824__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to private property rights of
3 homeowners; amending s. 509.032, F.S.; preempting the
4 regulation of vacation rentals to the state; providing
5 an exception; requiring a court of law to determine
6 compliance with specified provisions; amending s.
7 509.241, F.S.; requiring each person applying for a
8 vacation rental license to provide the Division of
9 Hotels and Restaurants of the Department of Business
10 and Professional Regulation with specified
11 information; requiring the division to make vacation
12 rental license information available to the public on
13 the division’s website; providing an effective date.
14
15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17 Section 1. Subsection (7) of section 509.032, Florida
18 Statutes, is amended to read:
19 509.032 Duties.—
20 (7) PREEMPTION AUTHORITY.—
21 (a) Public lodging establishments and public food service
22 establishments.—The regulation of public lodging establishments
23 and public food service establishments, including, but not
24 limited to, sanitation standards, inspections, training and
25 testing of personnel, and matters related to the nutritional
26 content and marketing of foods offered in such establishments,
27 is preempted to the state. This paragraph does not preempt the
28 authority of a local government or local enforcement district to
29 conduct inspections of public lodging and public food service
30 establishments for compliance with the Florida Building Code and
31 the Florida Fire Prevention Code, pursuant to ss. 553.80 and
32 633.206.
33 (b) Vacation rentals.—
34 1. The Legislature finds that:
35 a. Property owners who choose to use their property as a
36 vacation rental have constitutionally protected property rights
37 and other rights that must be protected, including the right to
38 use their residential property as a vacation rental;
39 b. Vacation rentals play a significant, unique, and
40 critical role in Florida’s tourism industry, and that role is
41 different from other types of public lodging establishments;
42 c. There are factors unique to the ownership and operation
43 of a vacation rental; and
44 d. Vacation rentals are residential in nature, a
45 residential use and thus permitted in residential neighborhoods.
46 2. Except as provided under this paragraph, the regulation
47 of vacation rentals, including, but not limited to, inspection,
48 licensing, and occupancy limits, is expressly preempted to the
49 state.
50 3. A local law, ordinance, or regulation may regulate
51 activities that arise when a property is used as a vacation
52 rental if the law, ordinance, or regulation applies uniformly to
53 all residential properties without regard to whether the
54 property is used as a vacation rental as defined in s. 509.242,
55 the property is used as a long-term rental subject to chapter
56 83, or the property owner chooses not to rent the property.
57 However, a local law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit
58 vacation rentals, impose occupancy limits, or regulate the
59 duration or frequency of rental of vacation rentals.
60 4. A local law, ordinance, or regulation may not allow or
61 require the inspection or licensing of vacation rentals.
62 5. A court of law shall determine if a local law,
63 ordinance, or regulation complies with this section without
64 regard to any assertion in the local law, ordinance, or
65 regulation that it complies. In all actions brought pursuant to
66 this section, the political subdivision that enacted the local
67 law, ordinance, or regulation shall establish by clear and
68 convincing evidence that the local law, ordinance, or regulation
69 complies with this section This paragraph does not apply to any
70 local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted on or before June 1,
71 2011.
72 6.(c) This paragraph (b) does not apply to any local law,
73 ordinance, or regulation exclusively relating to property
74 valuation as a criterion for vacation rental if the local law,
75 ordinance, or regulation is required to be approved by the state
76 land planning agency pursuant to an area of critical state
77 concern designation.
78 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 509.241, Florida
79 Statutes, is amended to read:
80 509.241 Licenses required; exceptions.—
81 (2) APPLICATION FOR LICENSE.—
82 (a) Each person who plans to open a public lodging
83 establishment or a public food service establishment shall apply
84 for and receive a license from the division prior to the
85 commencement of operation. A condominium association, as defined
86 in s. 718.103, which does not own any units classified as
87 vacation rentals or timeshare projects under s. 509.242(1)(c) or
88 (g) is not required to apply for or receive a public lodging
89 establishment license.
90 (b) Each person applying for a vacation rental license
91 shall provide the name, address, telephone number, and email
92 address of the person the division may contact when a complaint
93 related to a vacation rental is reported. The division shall
94 make vacation rental license information, including the contact
95 person, available to the public on the division’s website.
96 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.
