Florida Senate - 2017 SB 1594 By Senator Artiles 40-01455-17 20171594__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to military support; amending s. 3 83.49, F.S.; limiting the amount of payment of 4 security deposit and advance rent that a landlord may 5 require of a servicemember tenant; amending s. 83.683, 6 F.S.; requiring a landlord, a condominium association, 7 a cooperative association, or a homeowners’ 8 association to complete the processing of a rental 9 application of a servicemember’s spouse or adult 10 dependents within a specified timeframe; creating s. 11 338.162, F.S.; requiring the Department of 12 Transportation to establish a military discount 13 program for electronic tolling device accounts by a 14 specified date; establishing criteria for eligibility; 15 providing for application of a rebate credit toward 16 qualifying transactions on the registered transponder; 17 specifying restrictions and limitations; authorizing 18 the department to establish military discounts on the 19 initial purchase of a transponder or other electronic 20 tolling device; authorizing the department to adopt 21 rules; providing an effective date. 22 23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24 25 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 83.49, Florida 26 Statutes, is amended to read: 27 83.49 Deposit money or advance rent; duty of landlord and 28 tenant.— 29 (1) Whenever money is deposited or advanced by a tenant on 30 a rental agreement as security for performance of the rental 31 agreement or as advance rent for other than the next immediate 32 rental period, the landlord or the landlord’s agent shall 33 either: 34 (a) Hold the total amount of such money in a separate non 35 interest-bearing account in a Florida banking institution for 36 the benefit of the tenant or tenants. The landlord shall not 37 commingle such moneys with any other funds of the landlord or 38 hypothecate, pledge, or in any other way make use of such moneys 39 until such moneys are actually due the landlord; 40 (b) Hold the total amount of such money in a separate 41 interest-bearing account in a Florida banking institution for 42 the benefit of the tenant or tenants, in which case the tenant 43 shall receive and collect interest in an amount of at least 75 44 percent of the annualized average interest rate payable on such 45 account or interest at the rate of 5 percent per year, simple 46 interest, whichever the landlord elects. The landlord shall not 47 commingle such moneys with any other funds of the landlord or 48 hypothecate, pledge, or in any other way make use of such moneys 49 until such moneys are actually due the landlord; or 50 (c) Post a surety bond, executed by the landlord as 51 principal and a surety company authorized and licensed to do 52 business in the state as surety, with the clerk of the circuit 53 court in the county in which the dwelling unit is located in the 54 total amount of the security deposits and advance rent he or she 55 holds on behalf of the tenants or $50,000, whichever is less. 56 The bond shall be conditioned upon the faithful compliance of 57 the landlord with the provisions of this section and shall run 58 to the Governor for the benefit of any tenant injured by the 59 landlord’s violation of the provisions of this section. In 60 addition to posting the surety bond, the landlord shall pay to 61 the tenant interest at the rate of 5 percent per year, simple 62 interest. A landlord, or the landlord’s agent, engaged in the 63 renting of dwelling units in five or more counties, who holds 64 deposit moneys or advance rent and who is otherwise subject to 65 the provisions of this section, may, in lieu of posting a surety 66 bond in each county, elect to post a surety bond in the form and 67 manner provided in this paragraph with the office of the 68 Secretary of State. The bond shall be in the total amount of the 69 security deposit or advance rent held on behalf of tenants or in 70 the amount of $250,000, whichever is less. The bond shall be 71 conditioned upon the faithful compliance of the landlord with 72 the provisions of this section and shall run to the Governor for 73 the benefit of any tenant injured by the landlord’s violation of 74 this section. In addition to posting a surety bond, the landlord 75 shall pay to the tenant interest on the security deposit or 76 advance rent held on behalf of that tenant at the rate of 5 77 percent per year simple interest. 78 79 If the tenant is a servicemember, the landlord may not require 80 payment of a security deposit and advance rent that exceeds, in 81 the aggregate, the total sum of rent that would be due for a 60 82 day period. 83 Section 2. Section 83.683, Florida Statutes, is amended to 84 read: 85 83.683 Rental application by a servicemember.— 86 (1) If a landlord requires a prospective tenant to complete 87 a rental application before residing in a rental unit, the 88 landlord must complete processing of a rental application 89 submitted by a prospective tenant who is a servicemember, as 90 defined in s. 250.01, within 7 days after submission and must, 91 within that 7-day period, notify the servicemember in writing of 92 an application approval or denial and, if denied, the reason for 93 denial. If the landlord requires the servicemember’s spouse or 94 any adult dependents of the servicemember who are to reside in 95 the same rental unit to submit a rental application, the 96 landlord must process those applications within the same 7-day 97 period. Absent a timely denial of the rental application, the 98 landlord must lease the rental unit to the servicemember if all 99 other terms of the application and lease are complied with. 100 (2) If a condominium association, as defined in chapter 101 718, a cooperative association, as defined in chapter 719, or a 102 homeowners’ association, as defined in chapter 720, requires a 103 prospective tenant of a condominium unit, cooperative unit, or 104 parcel within the association’s control to complete a rental 105 application before residing in a rental unit or parcel, the 106 association must complete processing of a rental application 107 submitted by a prospective tenant who is a servicemember, as 108 defined in s. 250.01, within 7 days after submission and must, 109 within that 7-day period, notify the servicemember in writing of 110 an application approval or denial and, if denied, the reason for 111 denial. If the association requires the servicemember’s spouse 112 or any adult dependents of the servicemember who are to reside 113 in the same unit or parcel to submit a rental application, the 114 association must process those applications within the same 7 115 day period. Absent a timely denial of the rental application, 116 the association must allow the unit or parcel owner to lease the 117 rental unit or parcel to the servicemember and the landlord must 118 lease the rental unit or parcel to the servicemember if all 119 other terms of the application and lease are complied with. 120 (3) The provisions of this section may not be waived or 121 modified by the agreement of the parties under any 122 circumstances. 123 Section 3. Section 338.162, Florida Statutes, is created to 124 read: 125 338.162 Military discount program for electronic tolling 126 device accounts.— 127 (1) By January 1, 2018, the department shall establish a 128 military discount program for accounts for a toll transponder or 129 a similar electronic tolling device held by servicemembers, as 130 defined in s. 250.01, in order to defray commuting costs. 131 (2) In order to establish eligibility for the program, the 132 servicemember must provide a copy of his or her current military 133 identification card and his or her transponder number to the 134 department. The transponder number must be tied to an account 135 that is owned by the servicemember and for which he or she is 136 personally responsible for replenishing account funds. 137 (3) Once the department processes and approves an 138 application, a servicemember must be issued a 50 percent rebate 139 credit if his or her transponder registers 30 or more paid 140 transactions for the calendar month, not including transactions 141 at toll facilities whose revenues are pledged to the repayment 142 of bonds. The rebate credit shall be applied toward transactions 143 that count toward the minimum calendar month threshold. The 144 rebate credit shall appear on the servicemember’s statement the 145 following month if the minimum threshold for qualifying 146 transactions is reached. 147 (4) A rebate credit may not be issued to an account if the 148 account has a zero dollar balance. A servicemember may not 149 register more than one transponder to receive any discounts 150 authorized under this section. A servicemember who registers a 151 transponder for the discount program under this section may not 152 receive any other discounts and rebates applied toward the use 153 of the registered transponder. 154 (5) The department may establish discounts on a 155 servicemember’s initial purchase of a transponder or other 156 similar electronic tolling device. 157 (6) The department may adopt rules to implement and 158 administer this section. 159 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.