Senate Bill 1128 (2020) — Vacation rentals
SB 1128
Florida Bills
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1128 By Senator Diaz 36-01819-20 20201128__ Page 1 of 8 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to vacation rentals; amending s. 2 509.013, F.S.; defining the term “advertising 3 platform”; amending s. 509.032, F.S.; preempting the 4 regulation of vacation rentals to the state; providing 5 legislative findings; authorizing a local law, 6 ordinance, or regulation to regulate certain 7 activities under certain circumstances; prohibiting a 8 local law, ordinance, or regulation from allowing or 9 requiring inspections or licensing of vacation 10 rentals; preempting the regulation of advertising 11 platforms to the state; amending s. 509.241, F.S.; 12 requiring licenses issued by the Division of Hotels 13 and Restaurants of the Department of Business and 14 Professional Regulation to be displayed conspicuously 15 to the public inside the licensed establishment; 16 requiring the operator of certain vacation rentals to 17 also display its vacation rental license number and 18 applicable tax account numbers; amending s. 509.242, 19 F.S.; revising the criteria for a public lodging 20 establishment to be classified as a vacation rental; 21 creating s. 509.243, F.S.; requiring advertising 22 platforms to require that persons placing 23 advertisements for vacation rentals include certain 24 information in the advertisements; providing that the 25 advertising platform is not required to verify such 26 information; requiring each advertising platform to 27 quarterly provide the division with certain 28 information regarding vacation rentals in this state 29
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1128 36-01819-20 20201128__ Page 2 of 8 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. listed on the platform; requiring an advertising 30 platform to remove an advertisement or listing under 31 certain conditions and within a specified timeframe; 32 authorizing the division to issue and deliver a notice 33 to cease and desist for certain violations; providing 34 that such notice does not constitute agency action for 35 which a certain hearing may be sought; authorizing the 36 division to file certain proceedings; authorizing the 37 collection of attorney fees and costs under certain 38 circumstances; providing applicability; providing 39 effective dates. 40 41 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 42 43
Section 1. Subsection (17) is added to
section 509.013, 44 Florida Statutes, to read: 45 509.013
Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term: 46 (17) “Advertising platform” means a person who: 47 (
a) Provides an online application, software, website, 48 system, or print advertisement through which a transient public 49 lodging establishment located in this state is advertised or 50 held out to the public as available to rent for transient 51 occupancy; 52 (
b) Provides or maintains a marketplace for the renting by 53 transient occupancy of a vacation rental; or 54 (
c) Provides a reservation or payment system that 55 facilitates a transaction for the renting by transient occupancy 56 of a vacation rental and for which the person collects or 57 receives, directly or indirectly, a fee in connection with the 58
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1128 36-01819-20 20201128__ Page 3 of 8 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. reservation or payment service provided for such transaction. 59 60 The term does not include the multiple listing service or an 61 online or print advertisement of a transient public lodging 62 establishment by a real estate broker or sales associate 63 licensed under
chapter 475; however, a real estate broker or 64 sales associate licensed under
chapter 475 must comply with s. 65 509.243(3). 66
Section 2. Subsection (7) of
section 509.032, Florida 67 Statutes, is amended to read: 68 509.032 Duties.— 69
(7) PREEMPTION AUTHORITY.— 70 (
a) Public lodging establishments and public food service 71 establishments.— 72 1. Preemption.—The regulation of public lodging 73 establishments, including vacation rentals, and public food 74 service establishments, including, but not limited to, 75 sanitation standards, inspections, training and testing of 76 personnel, and matters related to the nutritional content and 77 marketing of foods offered in such establishments, is preempted 78 to the state.
This subparagraph paragraph does not preempt the 79 authority of a local government or local enforcement district to 80 conduct inspections of public lodging and public food service 81 establishments for compliance with the Florida Building Code and 82 the Florida Fire Prevention Code, pursuant to ss. 553.80 and 83 633.206. 84 2.(
b) Vacation rentals.— 85 a. The Legislature finds that: 86 (
I) Property owners who choose to use their property as a 87
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1128 36-01819-20 20201128__ Page 4 of 8 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. vacation rental have constitutionally protected property rights 88 and other rights that must be protected, including the right to 89 use their residential property as a vacation rental; 90 (II) Vacation rentals play a significant, unique, and 91 critical role in this state’s tourism industry, and that role is 92 different from other types of public lodging establishments; 93 (III) There are factors unique to the ownership and 94 operation of a vacation rental; and 95 (IV) Vacation rentals are residential in nature, a 96 residential use, and thus permitted in residential 97 neighborhoods. 98 b.
Except as provided under this subparagraph, the 99 regulation of vacation rentals, including inspection and 100 licensing, is expressly preempted to the state. 101 c. A local law, ordinance, or regulation may regulate 102 activities that arise when a property is used as a vacation 103 rental if the law, ordinance, or regulation applies uniformly to 104 all residential properties without regard to whether the 105 property is used as a vacation rental as defined in s. 509.242, 106 the property is used as a long-term rental subject to
chapter 107 83, or the property owner chooses not to rent the property. 108 However, a local law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit 109 vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of rental 110 of vacation rentals. This sub-subparagraph paragraph does not 111 apply to any local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted on or 112 before June 1, 2011. 113 d. A local law, ordinance, or regulation may not allow or 114 require the inspection or licensing of vacation rentals. 115 e.(
c) This subparagraph paragraph (
b) does not apply to any 116
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1128 36-01819-20 20201128__ Page 5 of 8 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. local law, ordinance, or regulation exclusively relating to 117 property valuation as a criterion for vacation rental if the 118 local law, ordinance, or regulation is required to be approved 119 by the state land planning agency pursuant to an area of 120 critical state concern designation. 121 (
b) Advertising platforms.—The regulation of advertising 122 platforms is preempted to the state and shall be regulated under 123 this chapter. 124
Section 3. Effective January 1, 2021, subsection (3) of 125
section 509.241, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 126 509.241 Licenses required; exceptions.— 127
(3) DISPLAY OF LICENSE.—Any license issued by the division 128 must shall be conspicuously displayed to the public inside in 129 the office or lobby of the licensed establishment. Public food 130 service establishments that which offer catering services must 131 shall display their license number on all advertising for 132 catering services.
The operator of a vacation rental offered for 133 transient occupancy through an advertising platform must also 134 display the vacation rental license number and the applicable 135 Florida sales tax registration and tourist development tax 136 account numbers under which such taxes must be paid for each 137 rental of the property as a vacation rental. 138
Section 4. Paragraph (
c) of subsection (1) of
section 139 509.242, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 140 509.242 Public lodging establishments; classifications.— 141
(1) A public lodging establishment shall be classified as a 142 hotel, motel, nontransient apartment, transient apartment, bed 143 and breakfast inn, timeshare project, or vacation rental if the 144 establishment satisfies the following criteria: 145
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1128 36-01819-20 20201128__ Page 6 of 8 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. (
c) Vacation rental.—A vacation rental is a any unit or 146 group of units in a condominium or cooperative or in an any 147 individually or collectively owned single-family, two-family, 148 three-family, or four-family house or dwelling unit that is also 149 a transient public lodging establishment but that is not a 150 timeshare project. 151
Section 5. Effective January 1, 2021,
section 509.243, 152 Florida Statutes, is created to read: 153 509.243 Advertising platforms.— 154 (1)(
a) An advertising platform must require that a person 155 who places an advertisement for the rental of a vacation rental: 156 1. Include in the advertisement the vacation rental license 157 number and the applicable Florida sales tax registration and 158 tourist development tax account numbers under which such taxes 159 must be paid before the advertisement may be listed; and 160 2. Attest to the best of their knowledge that the license 161 number for the vacation rental property and the applicable tax 162 numbers are current, valid, and accurately stated in the 163 advertisement. 164 (
b) An advertising platform must display the license number 165 and applicable Florida sales tax registration and tourist 166 development tax numbers, but the advertising platform is not 167 required to verify such information. 168
(2) An advertising platform must provide to the division on 169 a quarterly basis, by file transfer protocol or electronic data 170 exchange file, a list of all vacation rental listings in this 171 state on its platform and all of the following information for 172 each listing: 173 (
a) The uniform resource locator for the Internet address 174
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1128 36-01819-20 20201128__ Page 7 of 8 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. of the listing. 175 (
b) The vacation rental license number provided by the 176 owner or operator. 177 (
c) The applicable Florida sales tax registration and 178 tourist development tax numbers under which taxes will be 179 remitted for rentals commenced through the advertisement. 180
(3) An advertising platform must remove from public view an 181 advertisement or listing from its online application, software, 182 website, or system within 15 business days after being notified 183 by the division in writing that the subject advertisement or 184 listing for the rental of a vacation rental located in this 185 state fails to display a valid license number issued by the 186 division. 187
(4) If the division has probable cause to believe that a 188 person not licensed by the division has violated this chapter, 189 or any rule adopted pursuant thereto, the division may issue and 190 deliver to such person a notice to cease and desist from the 191 violation. The issuance of a notice to cease and desist does not 192 constitute agency action for which a hearing under ss. 120.569 193 and 120.57 may be sought.
For the purpose of enforcing a cease 194 and desist notice, the division may file a proceeding in the 195 name of the state seeking the issuance of an injunction or a 196 writ of mandamus against any person who violates any provision 197 of the notice. If the department is required to seek enforcement 198 of the notice for a penalty pursuant to s. 120.569, it is 199 entitled to collect its attorney fees and costs, together with 200 any cost of collection. 201
Section 6. The Legislature does not intend for the 202 application of this act to supersede any current or future 203
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1128 36-01819-20 20201128__ Page 8 of 8 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. declaration or declaration of condominium adopted pursuant to 204
chapter 718, Florida Statutes, cooperative documents adopted 205 pursuant to
chapter 719, Florida Statutes, or declaration of 206 covenants or declaration adopted pursuant to
chapter 720, 207 Florida Statutes. 208