| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to sexual offenders and sexual predators; |
| 3 | creating s. 943.04355, F.S.; requiring a landlord who |
| 4 | knowingly solicits, rents, or leases a dwelling unit to a |
| 5 | sexual offender or sexual predator to verify that |
| 6 | individual's address; requiring that the landlord notify |
| 7 | the sheriff in certain instances; providing definitions; |
| 8 | providing that the Attorney General may enforce the stated |
| 9 | obligations; providing that a circuit court may assess a |
| 10 | civil penalty against a landlord who willfully violates |
| 11 | the required obligations; limiting the amount of the civil |
| 12 | penalty; providing that the Attorney General is entitled |
| 13 | to reasonable attorney's fees and costs if a civil penalty |
| 14 | is assessed; providing an effective date. |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Section 1. Section 943.04355, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 19 | to read: |
| 20 | 943.04355 Dwelling rental or solicitation; sexual |
| 21 | offenders and predators.-- |
| 22 | (1) A landlord who knowingly solicits an individual who is |
| 23 | registered as a sexual offender or a sexual predator to rent or |
| 24 | lease a dwelling unit because of his or her status as a |
| 25 | registered sexual offender or a sexual predator, shall, within 5 |
| 26 | days after the date the individual occupies the dwelling unit as |
| 27 | a tenant, do all of the following: |
| 28 | (a) Conduct a search for the tenant's name in the sexual |
| 29 | offender database. |
| 30 | (b) Confirm that the address of the tenant identified as a |
| 31 | sexual offender or sexual predator is correctly reflected on the |
| 32 | sexual offender database. |
| 33 | (c) Notify the sheriff of the county in which the dwelling |
| 34 | is located if the address of a tenant identified as a sexual |
| 35 | offender or sexual predator is not correctly reflected on the |
| 36 | sexual offender database. |
| 37 | (2) As used in this section, the term: |
| 38 | (a) "Dwelling unit," "landlord," "rent," and "tenant" have |
| 39 | the same meanings as provided in s. 83.43. |
| 40 | (b) "Sexual offender" has the same meaning as provided in |
| 41 | s. 943.0435. |
| 42 | (c) "Sexual offender database" means the database of |
| 43 | registration information regarding sexual predators and sexual |
| 44 | offenders maintained by the department under s. 943.043. |
| 45 | (d) "Sexual predator" has the same meaning as provided in |
| 46 | s. 775.21. |
| 47 | (e) "Solicit" means to initiate contact with a sexual |
| 48 | offender or sexual predator for the purpose of attempting to |
| 49 | rent or lease a dwelling unit, where such sexual offender or |
| 50 | sexual predator has expressed no previous interest in renting or |
| 51 | leasing the dwelling unit. |
| 52 | (3) Any person who willfully violates this section is |
| 53 | liable for a civil penalty that may not exceed $10,000 for each |
| 54 | violation. A civil penalty may be recovered in any action |
| 55 | brought in the circuit court by the Attorney General to enforce |
| 56 | this section. If a civil penalty is assessed against the |
| 57 | landlord, the Attorney General is entitled to recover reasonable |
| 58 | attorney's fees and costs. A civil penalty collected under this |
| 59 | subsection shall accrue to the state and be deposited as |
| 60 | received into the General Revenue Fund unallocated. |
| 61 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |