ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Rent control is likely not on the horizon for Orange County any time soon, if local leaders follow the recommendations of an analysis conducted by outside consultants on behalf of the county. 

Two anonymous sources provided Spectrum News 13 with copies of the 54-page report, which the county later confirmed was authentic and would be a topic of discussion at next week’s commissioners’ meeting. GAI Consultants completed the report. 

Overall, the report did not support the idea of a temporary, local rent control measure like the one recently proposed by Orange County District 5 Commissioner Emily Bonilla, despite last year’s record-setting rental increases and this year’s uptick in eviction filing rates — both factors acknowledged in the report. 

“The focus on rents, virtually to the exclusion of other housing issues, overlooks the complexity of the current housing crisis and diverts attention away from the importance of a well-funded, continuing, and comprehensive strategic approach,” the report says.

The report also says that if rent control is implemented as described in state law, it may impede "the objective of speeding overall housing deliveries as well as create a number of unintended consequences."

The current rent proposal is the second from Bonilla in two years — commissioners voted down her first proposal, 5-2, in the summer of 2020. Since then, the county’s average rental increases have doubled, Bonilla said in an April press conference.

“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).”

The commissioners are scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 7, at the Orange County Administration Center, located at 201 S. Rosalind Ave. The meeting is open to the public.

This is a developing story. Spectrum News 13 will continue to provide updates.