New regulations would change the way rental property owners operate their business

It’s hard enough to find a place you can afford, and when you finally do, you need it to be a safe place. To help with that, the City of Fort Myers is stepping in to take the first step to rein in rentals.

Fort Myers came up with a list of proposed new safety regulations for rental properties to protect you against poor living conditions like overcrowding or bad plumbing.

Some of the proposed changes are:

• A registry for all residential rental properties in the city
• Agents who run the rental properties need to live in one of five counties in Southwest Florida, that way they can be close by if they are needed.
• It falls on the property owners to pay for inspections and regular inspections will be done based on any violations. (The more serious the violations the more frequent the inspections.)
• Agents who don’t follow the rules will be fined.

Both renters and realtors in the area are happy to hear of the strict rules, especially with the cost of the rent.

Before any of this can happen the city wants to hold a public meeting. If council gives them the go-ahead, that meeting is planned for February 18.