Miami Beach law would require 60-day notice before landlords raise rents
A proposed ordinance would require Miami Beach landlords to notify tenants 60 days before raising the rent by more than 5%, or risk a possible $500 fine.
Miami Beach renters worried about being priced out amid surging rent costs may soon get some relief — or at least some advance notice of an increasing monthly bill.
The City Commission is expected to vote Wednesday
on a proposed ordinance requiring that landlords give 60 days notice before raising the rent by more than 5%.
If the measure is passed into law, renters would be able to report violations to Code Compliance.
The ordinance itself does not carry a specific penalty for landlords who don’t follow the law, but the city’s rental housing code provides for a maximum $500 fine.
Violations also carry the threat of 60 days in jail, but that’s unlikely, Chief Deputy City Attorney Robert Rosenwald said Friday. Tenants could also use the new law to form the grounds of a lawsuit against their landlord or to defend against an eviction notice, he said.
“I can’t imagine anyone being arrested for this,” he said.
Commissioner Alex Fernandez, who sponsored the ordinance, said the state has authority over most landlord-tenant issues, but he wants the city to take some action to help struggling residents.
“This is the low-hanging fruit and something that we could do immediately,” Fernandez said in an interview Friday.
Studies have shown that apartment rents are soaring in South Florida, with some communities seeing rent hikes of 34% in December compared to 2020. Tenants of one Hialeah building held a protest last month denouncing rent increases of up to $650.
Florida law prohibits municipalities from imposing price controls on most private businesses, but it does allow them to impose rent controls in certain conditions.
State statute says a local government can stabilize rent prices, but only for a 1-year period and if voters
approve it in a referendum.
The municipality would have to determine that there is a “housing emergency so grave as to constitute a serious menace to the general public.”
Local governments can only extend rent-control measures one year at a time, and only if they repeat the entire process laid out in the law, including the staging of another referendum.
The St. Petersburg City Council voted in December to explore how the city could declare a housing state of emergency and cap rent prices for one year.
There are restrictions on what types of properties may be included in local rent-control legislation. The law, for instance, exempts rentals used as a “seasonal or tourist” unit or as a “second housing unit” and includes language about “luxury” apartments.
Attorney Alana Greer, the director and co-founder of the Miami-based Community Justice Project, said that while some politicians in Florida believe the state preempts their authority on rent stabilization, it is not impossible under the law.
“It’s really clear that everyday Miamians are facing an extreme housing crisis and it’s vital that our elected officials have all the tools at their disposal to make sure we can keep calling this community our home,” she said.
Florida law also states that landlords can’t be required to give more than 60 days’ notice before terminating a lease.
Fernandez said he will request that the city inform residents and landlords about the ordinance if it is passed. While he said he supports creating more affordable housing through partnerships with private developers, Fernandez said he wants to “make sure existing housing remains accessible to the workforce.”
“Right now our residents are in a housing crisis,” he said.
One of those residents, Ivelyn Sanchez, said in an interview Friday that she is trying to find a new apartment on the Beach but nothing is in her price range.
Sanchez, who lives in South Beach, said her landlord plans to sell the $1,300-a-month apartment unit she currently rents with her partner.
All the units she has found are priced between $1,500 and $1,700 a month, which she said is not sustainable even on two paychecks. If they can’t find a new apartment, Sanchez said she will be forced to move back in with her parents and live apart from her partner.
Sanchez works as an administrative assistant and is a member of the advocacy group Miami Workers Center, which connects tenants with eviction attorneys and works to create affordable housing.
The new ordinance wouldn’t help her situation, but she said it’s a start. Other municipalities may adopt the city’s model, and other politicians may realize they can do more to help residents, she said.
“It’s pretty common sense to me,” she said. “It’s great but I think politicians can be doing so much more for residents and constituents. It’s just a modicum of rental protection.”
The City Commission approved Fernandez’s proposal unanimously in a preliminary vote in January, so the legislation would become law if the vote passes Wednesday.