Orange County commissioners vote to continue legal fight for rent control
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who voted in August against putting a rent-control ordinance on the Nov. 8 ballot, switched sides Thursday and joined the majority of county commissioners who decided to continue a legal fight for the disputed measure.
“In my humble opinion at this point, there is a question of legality and I believe that appealing is going to provide some clarity,” he said after voting with commissioners Emily Bonilla, Nicole Wilson, Mayra Uribe and Maribel Gomez-Cordero for further appeal. “The odds are probably not in our favor but I want that clarity and there’s an opportunity for the courts to provide that.”
The vote to take the case to the Florida Supreme Court followed a 90-minute executive session with county legal advisors.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Bonilla, who introduced the measure intended to cap rent hikes for a year.
After the so-called “shade” meeting, allowed by law for a public body to discuss litigation strategy in private, commissioners reconvened in open session to hear public comment — and all 10 speakers who took the microphone advocated for the board to keep fighting.
All cited the overwhelming voter support for the proposed ordinance known on the ballot as “rent stabilization.”
It received 225,979 votes, about 59% of all ballots cast.
“It shows rent is too high in Orange County and we need a solution,” said Cynthia Laurent of Florida Rising, a social-justice group who campaigned for the measure. “We understand that there are other solutions currently being worked on ... but we’re asking that you fight for constituents who not only voted yes for rent stabilization but voted yes to place you as trusted leaders of the community.”
The ordinance would impose a 9.8% cap on rent hikes for potentially 104,000 of the estimated 230,000 multifamily residential rental units in Orange County. The cap matched the percentage rise of the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers in the Southeast over a 12-month span.
If the county wins its appeal, the measure would be in effect for a year.
But if the county loses, taxpayers may have to pay attorney fees for Florida Realtors and the Florida Apartment Association, who sued to knock the rent control ordinance off the ballot. The landlord groups also spent more than $1 million in an unsuccessful campaign to dissuade voters from approving it.
Commissioner Victoria Siplin, whose eight years on the elected board ends next month, voted against the appeal. “I think the language in the state statute is clear and hard to overcome,” she explained. “That has nothing to do with how I personally feel about rent control and our people suffering.”
Imposing controls like a rent cap must conform to a 1977 state law that discourages government interference in rental markets.
Chip Tatum, a spokesperson for the Florida Apartment Association, criticized the board for prolonging the court battle.
“Neither the election results nor the county’s decision to file an appeal to Florida’s Supreme Court change the fact that this flawed and illegal rent control measure has already been invalidated,” he said. “This decision further demonstrates the BCC’s disregard for the law and taxpayer resources.”
It’s unclear how much the county would owe in attorney fees for the landlord groups if the lower court’s decision stands.
But the county plans to argue against the awarding of attorney fees, said Gregory Stewart, special counsel on the case.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled against the county Oct. 27, deciding in a 35-page opinion that the rent-cap ballot summary was misleading to voters facing the issue titled “Rent Stabilization Ordinance to Limit Rent Increase for Certain Residential Rental Units.”
