Title: Public Lodging and Food Service Establishments

Summary: Requiring an applicant for a vacation rental license to provide the Division of Hotels and Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation with certain information; revising penalties for an operator who fails, neglects, or refuses to obtain a license or pay the required license fee, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to public lodging and food service establishments; amending s. 509.241, F.S.; requiring an applicant for a vacation rental license to provide the Division of Hotels and Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation with certain information; amending s. 509.281, F.S.; revising penalties for an operator who fails, neglects, or refuses to obtain a license or pay the required license fee; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 509.241, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 509.241 Licenses required; exceptions.  (2) APPLICATION FOR LICENSE. Each person who plans to open a public lodging establishment or a public food service establishment shall apply for and receive a license from the division before prior to the commencement of operation. (a)  A condominium association, as defined in s. 718.103, which does not own any units classified as vacation rentals or timeshare projects under s. 509.242(1)(c) or (g) is not required to apply for or receive a public lodging establishment license. (b)   An applicant for a license for a vacation rental must provide the division with all of the following information: 1.   Proof of inspection and compliance with county, municipal, building, zoning, and firesafety codes reflecting a change in use from a single-family or multifamily residential dwelling to a transient public lodging establishment. 2.   Proof that the underlying homeowner s insurance policy allows the structure to be used as a transient public lodging establishment. 3.   A signed affidavit from the chief executive of the municipality, or the county if the property is in an unincorporated area, where the property is located confirming that operating a vacation rental at that address is allowed. Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 509.281, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 509.281 Prosecution for violation; duty of state attorney; penalties.  (2) (a)   Except as provided in paragraph (b), any operator who obstructs or hinders any agent of the division in the proper discharge of the agent s duties;who fails, neglects, or refuses to obtain a license or pay the license fee required by law; or who fails or refuses to perform any duty imposed upon it by law or rule commits is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. (b)   Any operator who fails, neglects, or refuses to obtain a license or to pay the license fee required by law commits, for the first offense, a noncriminal violation, punishable as provided in s. 775.083, and for a second or subsequent offense, the operator commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Each day that such establishment is operated in violation of law or rule is a separate offense. Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2023.