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Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla is proposing that a rent control measure be added to the November ballot in a meeting Tuesday.
Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla proposed a rent stabilization measure for November’s ballot during a recent meeting.
Rent control is illegal in Florida except in instances of “grave emergency.” The law is unclear about what constitutes such an emergency. Bonilla argued during the meeting on Tuesday that Orange County has reached that point, and proposed a 5% cap on year-over-year increases in rent.
“Wouldn’t it be great to be the first to do the right thing for the people of Orange County?” Bonilla said.
Bonilla hopes to send the question to Orange County voters. If adopted by voters, the measure would cap rent increases for landlords who own more than four units. While a 5% increase in rent is already high year-over-year, it’s nothing compared to recent moves in the Orange County rental market.Bonillas sa The county’s rental properties saw an average of 30% raise in rent in 2021.
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Ahead of the meeting, Bonilla noted the year-over-year profits of three publicly traded companies that own apartment communities in Orange County. Blue Rock Residential went up 1,295% while the Camden Property Trust went up 526% and the Preferred Apartment Communities went up 425%.
At the meeting, residents and landlords squared off to give their side of the housing crisis. Several homeless residents and others who have seen their rent increase by astronomical amounts shared their stories. The least self-aware landlords on Earth were also there.
“Haven’t landlords suffered enough?” said landlord Matthew Zaccarino. “This idea, this popular idea to screw your landlord will not screw your landlord if that’s your goal is to screw your landlords. It will screw tenants.”
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Representatives of the housing industry already have rent control counterarguments ready to go. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Apartment Association of Greater Orlando spokeswoman Trinity Kutschinski said that the board may fall “prey to failed policies such as rent control.”
“Rent control would exacerbate Orange County’s housing shortage by driving new investment in housing construction and business elsewhere,” Kutschinski said. “Orange County should instead focus on identifying real solutions, including removing barriers to housing construction.”
Bonilla proposed freezing rents for a year during the first wave of COVID-19 infections about two years ago. The proposal failed by a 5-2 vote, with Bonilla and Maribel Gómez Cordero voting yes.
The commission ultimately pushed the question of a rent control ballot initiative to June 7. In the meantime, they hope to hire a consultant to weigh the effects of potential rent control.
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