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.