The City of Belle Isle, Florida recently passed a new rental licensing ordinance as of 3/3/08.  The actual ordinance can be found online at this link. 

The new ordinance # is 08-03.  It is not nearly as painful as the one passed by Mount Dora recently, but it is still cumbersome.  Basically what it requires is an annual $50 licensing fee.  The property owner is required to make application with the city and provide information about the lease term, the tenants, contact info, and sign a statement acknowledging certain code requirements and fines to keep in compliance.

The idea is to protect the citizens from slumlords, unruly tenants, vacation rentals, etc.  What the regulations and fees also do is raise the cost and burden of rental housing for landlords and indirectly their tenants.  The people that get hit the hardest are of course the poorest of the population, the tenants.

I found out about this resolution on the afternoon of the hearing (last Monday) and the board of Realtors found out about it on the Wednesday after it passed.  You should have heard some of the comments made in the committee meetings I attended. (One of the Belle Isle city commissioners was a member in the meeting and also a Realtor - lots of verbal tomatoes being thrown by colleagues at this person.)

As you can see, laws like this are happening more and more often in local cities and communities. This makes our jobs as Realtors and investors just that much more work.

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold, ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando. Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Tampa, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Ocala, Volusia, and Brevard.

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