How Florida law makes it hard for Miami tenants to get a break from rent hikes

Miami tenants are hoping for relief from escalating rents and the county is considering freezing housing costs. But Florida law will not make that easy.

On Thursday, the housing committee of the Miami-Dade County Commission advanced a study required before attempting rent control in the Miami area. The study is due within 180 days, so it would likely be 2023 before the county could ask voters to endorse the rent caps.

Should commissioners decide to pass a rent-control ordinance, here’s why the 1977 Florida law could make rent relief difficult:

• Voters must first approve any rent-control ordinance proposed by a local government through a required referendum. The delay could give landlords the chance to preemptively raise rents ahead of voters having their say. “It’s so full of land mines,” said Gina Driscoll, chair of the St. Petersburg City Council, which last month voted against pursuing a rent-control push. “It’s really extremely risky to move forward with that type of measure.”
• Landlords can easily challenge rent-control rules, since local governments have to prove to a judge a housing crisis exists that’s so “grave” it’s a “menace” to the public. “There would be a very high risk we would lose, to be perfectly blunt about it,” St. Petersburg city attorney Joseph Patner said at a February meeting, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
• A time limit allows 12 months of rent control before the process must be repeated. That raises the stakes for court challenges, which could tie up the new rules for large chunks of the allowed time.

“The Legislature has put up a number of roadblocks we’d have to cross,” Terrence Smith, a Miami-Dade assistant county attorney who specializes in housing law, said at Thursday’s hearing before the County Commission’s housing committee.

Commissioner Jean Monestime, the committee’s chairman, said Miami-Dade needs to at least explore measures like rent control to address soaring rents. “This is an appropriate discussion for us to have,” he said. “Because this is what everyone is talking about.”

Rent control is rare across the United States. The National Multifamily Housing Council, an industry group representing apartment buildings, found six states (including California, Maryland and Oregon) and the District of Columbia have some form of rent control — either at the state or local level.

The Florida Apartment Association says rent control will hurt tenants by discouraging developers from building more. “Rent control efforts like a year-long freeze would have the profoundly negative effect of slowing down housing supply,” said Amanda White, head of government affairs for the group.

At Thursday’s hearing, Nadirah Sabir, 54, told commissioners how a recent $100 rent increase multiplied because it applied to the extra month’s rent she had already paid her landlord two years ago as a deposit for her 800-square-foot apartment, as well as to the actual security deposit. “It was hundreds of dollars I unexpectedly owed immediately,” she said. “I don’t feel at home. I feel at risk.”

Miami-Dade’s rent-control measure, which only calls for study at the moment, passed the Public Housing and Community Services committee on a 3 to 2 vote, and needs a final vote before the full commission to move forward.

No votes came from Commissioners René Garcia and Joe Martinez. Both objected to the local government imposing price controls on private building owners. Martinez also said he didn’t want the commission to send a misleading message to renters about price freezes that may not be realistic, given the hurdles ahead.

“I don’t want to give people false hope,” he said.

This article was updated to correct the spelling of the first name of Nadirah Sabir.

This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 5:26 PM.