MIAMI.- The Florida Association of Realtors welcomed Governor Ron DeSantis’ veto of bill SB-280, which was intended to regulate advertising platforms that manage vacation properties.
The bill, vetoed this Thursday, June 27, defined an “advertising platform” as an entity that provides an online application, software, website or system to advertise or rent vacation properties, maintaining a market for them and facilitating transactions of rental through reservation or payment systems.
According to Governor DeSantis, the bill, beyond creating new local red tape, would prevent local governments from enforcing existing ordinances, as well as legislating any local measures that would apply exclusively to their vacation rentals.
DeSantis said the provision would preclude virtually all local regulation and did not take into account the specificities of the state’s different regions, noting that the problem of vacation rentals should not be addressed with “a one-size-fits-all solution.”
“We are confident that together we can establish a regulatory framework that supports responsible vacation rental practices and positively contributes to our communities while protecting the rights of homeowners in Florida,” said Gia Arvin, president of Florida Realtor.
The legal initiative intended for these platforms to collect and pay taxes related to rentals.
It required them to be more regulated and required vacation rental properties to have a unique identifier and a valid rental license.
In addition, advertising platforms should remove listings for rentals whose licenses are suspended and provide DBPR with a quarterly list of vacation rentals advertised on their platform.
The vetoed bill provided that DBPR could issue cease-and-desist orders and fine platforms that violated its legal requirements.
SB-80 was approved on March 7. If not vetoed, it would affect platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo, HomeAway, among others.
There are areas of Florida whose tourism-related economy depends largely on the activity of these platforms.
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