The ballots have not yet been printed, but in advance a group of landlords and real estate agents in Florida want to prevent voters from deciding on a proposal that would implement a rent control for a year in Orlando, one of the metropolitan areas with the highest growth in the United States.
The Florida Apartment Association and the Florida Association of Realtors sued Orange County last week in an attempt to invalidate a proposal that would limit how much landlords can raise rent. If approved by voters in the fall, it will be the first such measure in decades in the state.
The associations argue that Florida law prohibits rent control decrees, except in cases of emergency, and that the current situation in the county to which Orlando belongs does not meet that condition. They further state that the ordinance will have the unintended consequence of making the situation worse by discouraging the construction of apartment buildings and other housing.
“It is adverse and antagonistic to the public interest and the interests of the plaintiffs and their members to allow the Rent Control Decree to be placed on the ballot or implemented by Orange County, where the ordinance is illegal and invalid,” the associations argued in court documents.
This month, the Orange County Board of Commissioners narrowly approved the mandate, which will now go up for voter approval in November. Said ordinance limits rent increases in multi-apartment buildings to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index. The decree is not applicable to luxury homes, single-family homes and vacation homes.
Those who do not comply with the decree would face fines of up to $1,000 a day for a first violation, with a maximum of $15,000 per violation. Landlords may request an exception to the limits in certain circumstances.
