The real estate crisis of 2008-10 seems like a distant memory. Resort communities and homeowners in Florida did anything they could to generate income while delinquencies ticked up and rental homes sat empty back in that period. Times have changed as home values have increased in most areas and vacation homes in Florida are hugely popular with tourists.
New Florida vacation home rental laws now threaten to limit homeowners’ ability to place their vacation and second homes up for short term rental.
Florida Vacation Home Rental Laws
The initial bill by the Florida legislature passed in 2010-11 with the specific goal to oppose interference with a homeowners’ right to rent his or her home. In some local instances like Ft. Lauderdale in 2010, hundreds of residents showed up at public hearings to support bills not to limit their rights for renting homes. This saved hundreds if not thousands of rental properties from foreclosure.
This was House bill 883 which breezed through the approval phase in 2011. HB 883 specifically enacted into Florida law the illegality of regulating or restricting vacation rentals. Homeowners and small businesses who were in dire need to support themselves with some rental income were quite relieved that this bill passed.
Fast forward to today’s environment where there are an estimated $31 billion impact of Florida vacation home rentals on the state economy and where Florida vacation home rentals are burgeoning. This is the latest study commissioned by the Florida Vacation Rentals Managers Association (FVRMA). Now that vacation homes have become so popular and that underlying home values are up substantially (in most cases), the tide has turned substantially.
The new proposed 2014 Florida vacation home rental laws include Senate Bill 356 and House Bill 0307. Senate bill 356 involves the “regulation of public lodging establishments” and will effectively delete the restriction against a homeowner’s right to rent their second or vacation home. This repeal passed a Senate committee in February and was passed 37-2 in March.
House bill 0307 is now making the legislative rounds in Tallahassee. This legislation has a similar intent of potentially allowing laws, ordinances, and regulations that regulate the use of vacation rentals based solely on their classification, use, or occupancy. In other words, local municipalities would now be free to place limitations and restrictions on a vacation home and short term rentals. Florida HB 0307 passed the sub-committee in February and passed the full committee easily in March.
The question now is if any specific amendments will be added to these bills limiting minimum stay rules on any ordinances at the local level. As of this date, the amendment passage prohibiting vacation home rental minimum stays does not appear likely. The state economy will suffer as a result of these forthcoming limitations on Florida vacation rentals.
The boom in popularity in Florida vacation home rentals has now in essence become their Achilles heel and this is the reason for these detrimental Florida vacation home rental laws. At least in Florida, this may be at the loss of “vacation rental by owner” listing websites if local municipalities move quickly to block the rights of owners to list short term rentals.
Will this New Florida Rental Legislation Impact Central Florida?
Vacation rentals in Kissimmee, Davenport, and Clermont are all tremendously popular with visitors and have been for many years. Legislators in Central Florida recognize the huge negative impact this might have on real estate markets and no changes are anticipated. Local bills prohibiting vacation home rentals will most likely pop up in other areas of the state however.
Orlando Vacation Homes 360 (OVH 360) supports the rights of all homeowners to rent their homes as the free market indicates. Florida vacation home rental laws limiting these rights are not in the best interests of all Florida citizens.
OVH 360 hand selects of all the homes in the company’s rental portfolio. All the vacation rentals listed on the OVH 360 website are pre-screened for quality, comfort, and value. The rental homes are professionally managed so you can count on a great vacation every time.
OVH 360 is so sure you’ll be satisfied, the company offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee outlined on the website. Give the team a call at 1-888-826-0551 toll-free or check for online home availability by entering your prospective arrival and departure dates above.
