ORLANDO, Fla. --- As Central Floridians agonize over some of the country’s highest rental increases, Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla (District 5) is proposing a local rent control ordinance – for the second time. 

What You Need To Know

  • Orange County commissioners will discuss rent control for the second time since 2020; the first time around, a proposal was shut down by a 5-2 note

  • Florida law precludes local governments from enacting rent control, unless there's a "housing emergency" – and no Florida courts have ever interpreted what that means, according to the Orange County Attorney's office

  • Charter counties do have "broad authority" to adopt ordinances, though, and Orange County could likely require landlords to give tenants sixty days notice before increasing rent by more than 5%

The first time Bonilla proposed a one-year rent freeze in Orange County, it was summer 2020. At that time, Bonilla says, county residents were seeing their rents rise at an average of 15%.

“Now, the average is 30%,” Bonilla said at a press conference Thursday. “If two years ago was not the time to do it … they cannot tell me we are not in a housing emergency now, when it’s double the average [in 2020].”

Back in 2020, commissioners struck down Bonilla’s rent control proposal, 5-2. Now, Bonilla’s hoping commissioners will be more receptive at Tuesday’s board meeting, when the topic is once again slated for discussion. 

At Thursday’s press conference, Bonilla and other local officials urged Orange County residents to email their commissioners ahead of Tuesday’s board meeting – and, if possible, to attend the meeting in person to voice their concerns about spiking rents.

“Our neighbors are facing serious financial hardships,” Bonilla said. “And if we do not provide relief, our Orange County residents are either going to end up homeless, or they’re going to be pushed to another county or another state."

Florida law precludes local governments from enacting rent control measures, unless it’s necessary to eliminate an “existing housing emergency which is so grave as to constitute a serious menace to the general public.” But to date, no Florida courts have interpreted what that phrase actually means, according to a recent memo to Mayor Demings from the county attorney’s office.

According to that memo, “a charter county can likely adopt” an ordinance that would require landlords to give tenants 60 days' notice before increasing rent by more than 5%.

The City of Tampa and Miami-Dade County both recently passed such measures, according to the county attorney’s memo. And advocates are currently pushing for a similar measure in Seminole County, Spectrum News reported.

According to a recent letter sent to commissioners by Mayor Jerry Demings, county staff have been directed to look into whether a local rent control ordinance could be possible, with the goal of presenting their findings to the board in late May or early June. The work may require hiring an outside consultant, Demings wrote.

But Bonilla says more than enough time has already gone by.

“In 2020 I spent six months gathering all the research to bring that to the board,” Bonilla said. “Well, now we’ve had two years and six months. Plenty of time to research this, plenty of time to prove we’re in a housing emergency.”

Although overall, the average rental increase in Orange County is 30%, in some places like Conway, it’s closer to 73%, Bonilla said.

“Orange County residents, they really need relief,” Bonilla said. “And we’re not working fast enough to be able to provide them with that relief.”

Bonilla says she’s included a provision that would only apply the one-year rent control measure to landlords who own dwellings with four or more units.

The commissioners will meet April 5 at 9 a.m. at the county administration center, located at 201 S. Rosalind Ave. The meeting is open to the public.