During Monday’s Osceola County commissioner’s meeting at 1:30pm, county leaders will discuss a “tenants bill of rights,” which is designed to protect people who rent homes in the county by warning them about the risk of possible flooding near their homes. That after Hurricane Ian flooded many areas in the county and displaced residents of the Good Samaritan Society Village in Kissimmee.

The first section of the new ordinance provide tenant’s guidance regarding available community resources, and is designed to protect residential tenants from discrimination and unfair and illegal rental practices and makes it unlawful for a landlord to discriminate against a tenant based on the tenant’s lawful sources of income, including governmental assistance or subsidies.

Additionally, the ordinance requires landlords to provide tenants written notice of late fees before they may be imposed and outlines requirements for the written notice given to tenants.

The second section of the ordinance will require a seller or landlord to disclose (in writing) knowledge of prior flooding on a residential property that is either for sale or rent. Commercial real property or any other real property that is not residential property are exempt from the ordinance.

Under the proposal, if a landlord doesn’t disclose prior flooding, they could be fined up to $5,000.

Commissioners will discuss the ordinance at 1:30 p.m. but will not take a vote today.

Source: Osceola.org