A Florida state appeals court ruled that a rental control initiative shouldn’t have been on the ballot in the Orlando area, throwing the referendum into confusion because early voting has already started.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court order from September and said the lower court erred when it ruled to allow voters to decide on an “unconstitutional ordinance described by a misleading ballot summary,” Judge Dan Traver wrote in the ruling last week. Traver noted that the summary didn't include criminal penalties for landlords that violated the ordinance.
Orange County, where Orlando is the largest city, declared a housing emergency in August because of high rent growth in the county over the past year. Declaring a housing emergency is what’s required under state law to initiate a referendum.
Rent growth had been among the highest in the country this year, hitting 23.7% in the first quarter year over year. But the pace has been slowing since, falling to 9.4% in the third quarter.
“Moving forward, we remain committed to working alongside state and local policymakers on real solutions that bolster the supply of housing and address the needs of a growing population," Chip Tatum, Florida Apartment Association’s executive vice president, said in a statement.
The Florida Apartment Association and the Association of Florida Realtors sued after the Orange County commission decided to let voters decide whether to approve rent control, arguing that the county’s own analysis acknowledged that the ordinance didn’t meet the state’s narrow definition for a housing emergency.
A lower court ruled that voters should be heard but questioned the constitutionality of the measure and doubted it would stand if passed. The real estate associations appealed that ruling. The higher court agreed that the ordinance isn’t constitutional but that the court should have ruled to prevent the item from being placed on the ballot.
Traver’s ruling said that it wouldn’t “dictate precisely how” relief would be given to the real estate associations if the measure ultimately passes. “We anticipate at a minimum, however, that the results of the ballot initiative will not be certified,” the ruling said.
With the ruling, voting is now tainted going forward because “it’s so publicly acknowledged that their votes won’t count,” Wes Hodge, an aide to Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla, told CoStar News.