Orange County Commissioner Wants to Add Rent Control to November’s Ballot

Emily Bonilla said she constantly receives emails from residents asking for help after their rent increased by $500 or more per month.

Has your rent gone up? For many people in the state of Florida, the answer is a resounding yes.

In Orange County, rent has skyrocketed by approximately 30% over the past year, and that is reason enough for Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla to propose adding rent control to the midterm elections ballot.

Every county in Florida has had its hands tied in the face of the dramatic increase in housing prices because under state law, they cannot impose rent control.

Bonilla said she constantly receives emails from Orange County residents asking for help as they struggle to afford rent payments that have ballooned by $500 to $800 a month.

The rent control Bonilla is proposing would cap rent hikes at 5% per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. For example, if the rent is $1,000, it could only go up a maximum of $50 the following year. 

According to Bonilla, the measure would last for one year and would apply to buildings with at least four units.

County leaders decided on Tuesday to contract a consultant to research rent control before moving forward. They are also expecting the results of a rent control study at the beginning of June. The earliest they could vote to put the measure on the ballot is at the end of June.