Collier County’s 60-day rent notice ordinance back on the table after being passed in October

Collier County’s 60-day rent notice ordinance that forces landlords to inform tenants of large rent increases is back up for discussion just a few months after it was passed.

Advocates of the ordinance are saying asking the county to give the ordinance a chance to work. The measure was passed in late October.

Landlords must give renters a heads-up if they plan to increase the rent by 5% or more in Collier County under the current ordinance.

Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro said, “I just don’t pass anything because it sort of feels good, I mean, it either does something, or it doesn’t.”

LoCastro says the Fair Notice to Tenants Ordinance doesn’t have teeth. It’s one reason he voted against it.

“The question I asked every time is, so what has been the effect?” said LoCastro.

Advocates say there’s no way to measure effectiveness because the county hasn’t given the new ordinance enough attention or time.

“They were supposed to be creating a whole informational a whole informational to give to these landlords and tenants, and they need to follow through with that before they decide to take away an ordinance that they haven’t even given a chance to see,” said Elizabeth Radi, head of the Collier County Tenant Union.

Newly elected commissioner Chris Hall is calling for the ordinance to be re-visited, citing government overreach.

“We want to talk about government overreach when we put a 60-day ordinance on a landlord to have them do what they expect the tenants to do,” Radi said.

The renter-forward ordinance will be one of the first things commissioners discuss in the new year.

“We got almost a month to get organized, and so I will be flabbergasted if, on January 10, we don’t hear enough from both sides to vote and make a decision,” said LoCastro.

LoCastro says the decision would come down to essentially a “No-vote,” where the ordinance would remain in place, or there could be a swing vote, and it could be repealed.