House panel votes up bill to protect affordable housing tenants from mid-lease rent increases

More protection for affordable housing tenants could be coming to Florida through advancing legislation.

Members of the House Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee just voted 15-0 for HB 365, which would bar landlords who receive federal, state or local incentives from raising rents mid-lease on affordable units.

The restriction would apply only to rental agreements of 13 months or less executed on or after July 1, 2026. Landlords would still be able to hike rents if federal rules mandate that they must do so to remain eligible for affordable housing incentives.

“This will strike a balance by protecting tenants from unexpected rental increase while also safeguarding landlords from being locked into long-term rents that fall below affordable housing rates,” said Lake Worth Beach Democratic Rep. Debra Tendrich, the bill’s sponsor.

HB 365 and its Senate analog (SB 382) by West Palm Beach Democratic Sen. Mack Bernard are designed to close what Tendrich described as a “loophole” in affordable housing contracts that today allow landlords to increase rents when Florida releases its annual affordable housing rates. That makes it different from other long-term leases, which come with locked-in rates.

“These individuals are given an option to either sign this lease … or become homeless,” Tendrich said.

It’s a personal issue for the freshman lawmaker. Tendrich moved to Florida in 2012 to escape what she described as a “domestic violence situation,” with only her daughter and a suitcase.

“Once the bruises healed, I was able to find a job and I was able to secure housing, (and) the biggest factor in my journey to where I am now was housing stability, knowing what my monthly expenses would be, and being able to account for my budget month-to-month was really the foundation that I used to rebuild my life,” she said. “If I was given an unexpected rent increase, it would have flipped my world upside-down.”

Palm Beach County, AARP Florida and a slew of affordable housing advocacy organizations support the change. A representative from PEN America signaled opposition to it.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle praised HB 365 in its first committee stop Thursday. Jacksonville Democratic Rep. Kimberly Daniels called it “fair” and “balanced,” adding that she planned to add her name as a sponsor of the bill.

Placida Republican Rep. Danny Nix, a commercial Realtor, said he liked the bill too, but noted that what Tendrich called a “loophole” was originally done to guarantee developers that build affordable units see a return on their investment.

“It wasn’t put in for negative impact,” he said. “It was put in as a positive way to bring developers back into this … opportunity.”

HB 365, which cleared its first committee stop last week with unanimous support too, will next go to the House Commerce Committee, after which it would go to the floor.

SB 382 advanced through its first committee Tuesday on an 11-0 vote and will next be taken up by the Senate Community Affairs Committee, its penultimate stop in the chamber.

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