(The Center Square) — The Florida Legislature could pass a new bill that will revise regulations for vacation rentals in the Sunshine State.
Local governments would be authorized to require vacation rentals to be registered in an effort to give cities and counties more control over vacation rented housing via online platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
Senate Bill 714 is sponsored by state Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach, and the bill changes legislation enacted in 2011 that forbade local government restrictions on vacation rentals.
DiCeglie said he has vacation rentals next door and behind his home in Indian Rocks Beach and added that the bill will tackle fears from local residents.
“We’ve got some issues at the local level there’s no question about it…The spirit of this bill is to provide local governments with some additional tools to deal with bad actors,” DiCeglie said.
DiCeglie added that it is that small group of “bad actors” who are causing the most disturbance and are violating many local ordinances like noise restrictions and parking.
Advertising platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo would be required to collect and remit specified taxes for certain vacation rental transactions and vacation rentals would be licensed by the Division of Hotels and Restaurants within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
The bill defines a vacation property as a property that is rented to guests more than three times a year, for less than 30 days or one calendar month at a time and changes include a maximum registration fee of $150 for an individual and $200 for a collective vacation rental registration.
Current law prohibits local laws, ordinances or regulations from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating how frequently they can be rented.
The bill was placed on the special calendar by the state Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government. If enacted, local governments can impose a fine for failure to register a vacation rental and are able to inspect properties to verify compliance with the state building and fire prevention codes.
Rental owners must have a designated person available 24 hours a day to address any complaints. Local governments will also be given permission to terminate local registrations for any violations and registration numbers must be displayed when advertising.
Florida has over 63,000 registered public lodging establishment licenses, with vacation rentals making up the bulk of those numbers with around 39,000 dwellings and condominiums.
Opposing the bill was Dolly Durand, an Airbnb host from Fort Lauderdale and member of the 2023 Airbnb Host Advisory Board, who said that hosting her property to vacationers was a way to supplement her income as a stay-at-home mother.
“I put my place on Airbnb, almost immediately, I started earning income and we were able to pay our mortgage and keep our home.” Durand said, adding that it was her right as a property owner to rent her property as a vacation home.
Indian Rocks Beach Mayor Joanne “Cookie” Kennedy said that her city has been inundated with short-term rentals and that the occupancy rate of these rentals is a public safety risk.
“We crafted an ordinance, unique to our community to make it enforceable and fair…regulating occupancy with a cap would provide for quality of life and safety in residential neighborhoods,” Kennedy said.
This article First appeared in the center square