A seemingly intractable clash of interests between home and vacation rental property owners remains unsettled after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed legislation that would have consolidated regulatory power within the state.
The bill would have allowed local governments to require vacation rental property owners to register and charge a reasonable fee, but the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation would be responsible for maintaining a statewide database of vacation rental properties.
Legislators took a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the issue “even though the vacation rental markets are far from uniform” statewide, DeSantis wrote in his veto letter. The bill also would preempt local government “from enforcing existing ordinances or passing any new local measure” specific to vacation rentals.
The Legislature in 2011 preempted local governments from enacting new regulations on vacation rentals, but allowed them to enforce rules on noise, trash and parking. The industry has since become deeply rooted, taking off even more during the COVID-19 pandemic, says bill sponsor Sen. Nick DiCeglie (R-Indian Rocks Beach).
He’s concerned that some local governments might try to run vacation rentals out of town, despite the “significant impact in our local economy when it comes to folks using vacation rentals ... To make sure that these folks are coming back to these communities, coming back to our beaches, spending money, contributing to our local economy is incredibly important.”
That could lead to lawsuits, distress sales and foreclosures, he says.
“It’s almost impossible … to put that (vacation rental) genie back in the bottle,” DiCeglie says. “Giving local government more authority, they’re going to use these ordinances to ultimately eliminate them.” The bill sought a “balance” between the rights of the property owner and the property rights of people who live in the community, he says. “We wanted to recognize that if we have some teeth to deal with what I call the bad actors, the properties that violate these local ordinances time and time again through noise, parking and trash regulations, that there was going to be enough teeth locally to be able to hold those folks accountable, to suspend those registrations.”
In his bill, enforcement action would happen only after at least five documented violations within 60 days. Local governments questioned whether anyone would have the resources to establish that record. But the registration money and increased tax revenue from non-homesteaded housing could be used to build “a robust code enforcement program for vacation rentals,” DiCeglie says.
However, for local government, “it’s an existential crisis for whether single family zoning is going to be allowed to operate,” says Melbourne Beach Mayor Alison Dennington, who calls the vetoed rental law “a terrible bill.”
“These rentals are commercial enterprises ... masquerading as single-family zoning. Essentially, we’ve got mini motels on every single street and these areas are zoned as single-family.” Vacation renters, especially in beach towns, often are “partying, they’re drinking, they’re staying (up) late, they’ve got music, they’re letting their kids run wild,” Dennington says. She would like to see a task force formed to give all interests a chance to weigh in and perhaps find compromises they could live with. The heavy hand of the state “stifles regulatory innovation,” she says.
DeSantis in his veto letter similarly urged “the Florida Legislature and all key stakeholders to work together” going forward.
“We worked hard to pass legislation through both the House and the Senate that took the concerns of all stakeholders into consideration,” DiCegilie says. “While I disagree with the Governor’s decision, I understand his concerns."
Florida Realtors, meanwhile, opposed the bill because they thought it was too tough on vacation rentals.