Orange County commissioners to consider rent control ordinance today | Orlando Area News | Orlando

With the cost of housing getting ever more unaffordable in Orlando, county commissioners are weighing an ordinance that would start the ball rolling on rent control.

The ordinance would push the question of rent control to voters, asking if they would like to set limits on year-over-year rent hikes for the next year on certain times of Orlando rental property. The measure is contested by landlords, for obvious reasons, and rental advocates who argue that the ordinance doesn’t go far enough.

“The bill, as it is currently written, does not stabilize rent, excludes many renters and would not provide any strong enforcement mechanisms should landlords violate the law,” advocacy groups  Florida For All, Florida Rising and Central Florida Jobs  shared in a joint press release.

Many specifics of the ordinance are still up  to be discussed at the commission’s regular meeting on Tuesday.  It is unknown whether the ordinance will include new rental units, what the exact limit on increases will be, when the law would take effect and how the county would go about enforcing the measure. It’s unclear whether any rent stabilization ordinances would stand up to challenges under Florida law.

The clock is ticking as ballot language needs to be put together before the month of August is out, in order to be on the ballot in November. There’s also the small matter of the average Orlandoan currently being crushed by the unprecedented spikes in area housing.