Coalition of renters and advocates have opposed the bill and urge Governor DeSeantis to defend local freedoms and renters by vetoing HB1417 – Predatory Landlords Protection Act

TALLAHASSEE —  Today with a 29-8 vote, the Florida Senate passed HB1417, the Predatory Landlords Protection Act, which would ban local renter protections. After the rejection of more than two dozen pro-consumer amendments filed by House Democrats, the Florida House passed the bill last week by a vote of 81-33, with bipartisan opposition. Following passage today, the legislation will soon be sent to the Governor’s desk for his veto or signature. 

Florida For All alongside a coalition of renters, workers, and community organizations urge the Governor’s veto of this predatory legislation.

Ruth Moreno, Deputy Director of Florida For All, offered the following statement on the passage of the bill and urging the Governor’s veto, “As Floridians work with their local leaders to pass common sense local solutions to the housing affordability crisis, corporate landlords backed by private equity firms are pushing this corporate statewide mandate that undermines local freedoms and bans common sense renter protections already in place across the state. The Governor has a clear choice. If Governor DeSantis truly wants to hold corporations accountable and defend our freedoms, he would veto HB1417, and support legislation like the Keep Floridians House Act, SB1658/HB 1407“. 

HB1417 would ban local solutions to the housing crisis across the state. These solutions have broad, bipartisan support and have been passed by several counties and municipalities. Safeguards for tenants erased by this state mandate include consumer protections in Naples, Islamorada, Gainesville, Tampa, Hillsborough, and St. Petersburg that simply require landlords to inform renters of their rights. Also banned would be elements from the Orange County and Miami-Dade County Tenants Bill of Rights laws and support offered by local tenant services offices. This predatory state mandate is backed by deep-pocketed corporations who continue to inflate rents across the state to profit off of desperate renters. 

This is one of many predatory bills targeting consumers, renters and workers moving through the legislature this session. Learn more about how greedy corporations, multinational investors, and the ultra-wealthy are raking in record profits while Floridians are being priced out of the state, in Florida for All’s Priced Out of Paradise corporate greed report here.