Florida Senate - 2021                                    SB 1102
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       39-01403-21                                           20211102__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to early termination of rental
    3         agreement by a crime victim; creating s. 83.676, F.S.;
    4         defining terms; prohibiting a landlord from evicting a
    5         tenant or terminating a rental agreement because the
    6         tenant or the tenant’s minor child is a victim of
    7         actual or threatened domestic violence, dating
    8         violence, sexual violence, or stalking; specifying
    9         that a rental agreement may not contain certain
   10         provisions; authorizing a victim of such actual or
   11         threatened violence or stalking to terminate a rental
   12         agreement under certain circumstances; requiring
   13         certain documentation and written notice to the
   14         landlord; providing for liability for rent for both
   15         the tenant and the perpetrator, if applicable;
   16         specifying that a tenant does not forfeit certain
   17         money paid to the landlord for terminating a rental
   18         agreement under certain circumstances; requiring a
   19         landlord to change the locks of a dwelling unit within
   20         a specified timeframe under certain circumstances;
   21         authorizing the tenant to change the locks of a
   22         dwelling unit under certain circumstances; prohibiting
   23         certain actions by a landlord under certain
   24         circumstances; providing an effective date.
   25          
   26  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   27  
   28         Section 1. Section 83.676, Florida Statutes, is created to
   29  read:
   30         83.676Early termination of rental agreement by a victim of
   31  domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or
   32  stalking; lock changing.—
   33         (1)As used in this section, the term:
   34         (a)“Dating violence” has the same meaning as in s.
   35  784.046(1)(d).
   36         (b)“Domestic violence” has the same meaning as in s.
   37  741.28.
   38         (c)“Sexual violence” has the same meaning as in s.
   39  784.046(1)(c).
   40         (d)“Stalking” has the same meaning as in s. 784.048.
   41         (2)A landlord may not terminate a rental agreement or
   42  evict a tenant for an incident involving actual or threatened
   43  domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking
   44  if the tenant or the tenant’s minor child is the victim of such
   45  actual or threatened violence or stalking. A rental agreement
   46  may not include a provision deeming that early termination of a
   47  rental agreement because of an incident involving actual or
   48  threatened domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence,
   49  or stalking, in which the tenant or the tenant’s minor child is
   50  a victim and not the perpetrator, is a breach of the rental
   51  agreement.
   52         (3)(a)If a tenant or a tenant’s minor child is a victim of
   53  actual or threatened domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
   54  violence, or stalking during the term of a rental agreement, the
   55  tenant may, without penalty, terminate the rental agreement at
   56  any time by providing the landlord with written notice of the
   57  tenant’s intent to terminate the rental agreement and to vacate
   58  the premises because of such incident. The termination of the
   59  rental agreement is effective immediately upon delivery of the
   60  written notice and documentation specified in paragraph (b), if
   61  applicable, to the landlord.
   62         (b)Unless the landlord notifies the tenant that
   63  documentation is not needed, a notice of termination from the
   64  tenant required under paragraph (a) must be accompanied by
   65  documentation verifying the tenant’s or the tenant’s minor
   66  child’s status as a victim of actual or threatened domestic
   67  violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking and may
   68  include:
   69         1.A copy of an injunction for protection against domestic
   70  violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking issued
   71  to the tenant as victim or as the parent of a minor victim;
   72         2.A copy of an order of no contact or a criminal
   73  conviction entered by a court in a criminal case in which the
   74  defendant was charged with a crime relating to domestic
   75  violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking against
   76  the tenant or the tenant’s minor child;
   77         3.A written verification from a domestic violence center
   78  certified under chapter 39 or a rape crisis center as defined in
   79  s. 794.055 which states that the tenant or the tenant’s minor
   80  child is a victim of actual or threatened domestic violence,
   81  dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking; or
   82         4.A copy of a law enforcement report documenting an
   83  incident of actual or threatened domestic violence, dating
   84  violence, sexual violence, or stalking against the tenant or the
   85  tenant’s minor child.
   86         (c)A notice of termination from the tenant required under
   87  paragraph (a) must be provided by certified mail or hand
   88  delivery to the landlord, a person authorized to receive notices
   89  on behalf of the landlord under s. 83.50, a resident manager, or
   90  the person or entity that collects the rent on behalf of the
   91  landlord.
   92         (d)If a rental agreement with a specific duration is
   93  terminated by a tenant under this subsection less than 30 days
   94  before the end of the rental agreement, the tenant is liable for
   95  the rent for the remaining period of the rental agreement. If a
   96  rental agreement with a specific duration is terminated by a
   97  tenant under this subsection 30 or more days before the end of
   98  the rental agreement, the tenant is liable for prorated rent for
   99  a period of 30 days immediately following delivery of the notice
  100  of termination. After compliance with this paragraph, the tenant
  101  is released from any further obligation to pay rent,
  102  concessions, damages, fees, or penalties, and the landlord is
  103  not entitled to the remedies provided in s. 83.595.
  104         (e)If a rental agreement is terminated by a tenant under
  105  this subsection, the landlord must comply with s. 83.49(3). A
  106  tenant who terminates a rental agreement under this subsection
  107  does not forfeit any deposit money or advance rent paid to the
  108  landlord.
  109         (f)This subsection does not affect a tenant’s liability
  110  for unpaid rent or other amounts owed to the landlord before the
  111  termination of the rental agreement under this subsection.
  112         (g)If the perpetrator of actual or threatened domestic
  113  violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking is also
  114  a tenant under the same rental agreement as the tenant who is a
  115  victim, or whose minor child is a victim, of such actual or
  116  threatened violence or stalking, neither the perpetrator’s
  117  liability for rent nor his or her other obligations under the
  118  rental agreement are terminated under this subsection, and the
  119  landlord is entitled to the rights and remedies provided by this
  120  part against the perpetrator.
  121         (4)(a)A tenant or a tenant’s minor child who is a victim
  122  of actual or threatened domestic violence, dating violence,
  123  sexual violence, or stalking and who wishes to remain in the
  124  dwelling unit may make a written request to the landlord
  125  accompanied by any one of the documents listed in paragraph
  126  (3)(b), and the landlord shall, within 24 hours after receipt of
  127  the request, change the locks of the tenant’s dwelling unit and
  128  provide the tenant with a key to the new locks.
  129         (b)If the landlord fails to change the locks within 24
  130  hours, the tenant may change the locks without the landlord’s
  131  permission, notwithstanding any contrary provision in the rental
  132  agreement or other applicable rules or regulations imposed by
  133  the landlord, if all of the following conditions have been met:
  134         1.The locks are changed in like manner as if the landlord
  135  had changed the locks, with locks of similar or better quality
  136  than the original locks.
  137         2.The landlord is notified within 24 hours after the
  138  changing of the locks.
  139         3.The landlord is provided a key to the new locks within a
  140  reasonable time.
  141         (c)If the locks are changed under this subsection, the
  142  landlord is not liable to any person who does not have access to
  143  the dwelling unit.
  144         (5)A landlord may not refuse to enter into a rental
  145  agreement for a dwelling unit, refuse to negotiate for the
  146  rental of a dwelling unit, make a dwelling unit unavailable, or
  147  retaliate in the rental of a dwelling unit because:
  148         (a)The tenant, prospective tenant, or minor child of the
  149  tenant or prospective tenant is a victim of actual or threatened
  150  domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or
  151  stalking; or
  152         (b)The tenant or prospective tenant has previously
  153  terminated a rental agreement because of an incident involving
  154  actual or threatened domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
  155  violence, or stalking in which the tenant, prospective tenant,
  156  or minor child of the tenant or prospective tenant was a victim.
  157  
  158  However, the landlord may refuse to enter into a rental
  159  agreement, negotiate for the rental of a dwelling unit, or make
  160  a dwelling unit available if the tenant or prospective tenant
  161  fails to comply with the landlord’s request for documentation of
  162  an incident of actual or threatened domestic violence, dating
  163  violence, sexual violence, or stalking that occurred before
  164  termination of a prior rental agreement. A landlord’s request
  165  for documentation is satisfied upon the tenant’s or prospective
  166  tenant’s provision of any one of the documents listed in
  167  paragraph (3)(b).
  168         (6)All information provided to a landlord under
  169  subsections (3), (4), and (5), including the fact that a tenant,
  170  prospective tenant, or a tenant’s or prospective tenant’s minor
  171  child is a victim of actual or threatened domestic violence,
  172  dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking, and including the
  173  tenant’s forwarding address, is confidential. The landlord may
  174  not enter such information into any shared database or provide
  175  the information to any other person or entity, except to the
  176  extent such disclosure is:
  177         (a)Made to a person specified in paragraph (3)(c) solely
  178  for a legitimate business purpose;
  179         (b)Requested, or consented to, in writing by the tenant or
  180  the tenant’s legal guardian;
  181         (c)Required for use in a judicial proceeding; or
  182         (d)Otherwise required by law.
  183         (7)A tenant or prospective tenant, on his or her own
  184  behalf or on behalf of his or her minor child, may file a civil
  185  action against a landlord for a violation of this section. A
  186  landlord who violates subsection (5) or subsection (6) is
  187  civilly liable to the victim for $1,000 for punitive damages,
  188  actual and consequential damages, and court costs, including
  189  reasonable attorney fees, unless the landlord can show that this
  190  was the landlord’s first violation and the violation was not
  191  committed in bad faith. Subsequent or repeated violations that
  192  are not contemporaneous with the initial violation are subject
  193  to separate awards of damages.
  194         (8)The provisions of this section may not be waived or
  195  modified by a rental agreement.
  196         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.