Short-term vacation rentals continue to draw negative headlines in Florida—from stories about cocaine smuggling to child sex trafficking. That’s to say nothing of the everyday nuisance complaints by Florida residents forced to live with loud, late-night parties from their short-term neighbors letting loose on their vacations.
No wonder a recent poll conducted by Florida Politics found 75% of Floridians want their city or county to write the rules on short-term vacation rentals. Unfortunately, Florida’s legislature has already preempted Home Rule for companies like Airbnb and a new bill (HB 1011 and SB 1128) threatens to preempt local control even further.
HB 1011 and SB 1128 would remove local governments’ authority to effectively regulate short-term rentals and protect the private property rights of homeowners impacted by repeat offender party houses. In taking away local governments’ ability to enforce rules, the bills would also give developers more motivation to build short-term rental “hotel houses” in residential neighborhoods, ruining the character and charm of our communities.
With 7 out of 10 Florida voters in favor of letting locals decide on short-term rentals, HB 1011 and SB 1128 are bound to draw ire.