Florida’s new Miya’s Law, Fla. Stat. 83.515, imposes background screening and other specific requirements on landlords regarding their employees who work in apartments that can be classified as “nontransient” or “transient.”

Miya’s Law is named after Miya Marcano, who was killed in her apartment by a maintenance worker having access to her apartment.

Coverage

A nontransient apartment building or complex of buildings advertises at least 75 percent of its units to renters for stays longer than a month (i.e., a typical apartment building). See Chapter 509.242, Florida Statutes. A transient apartment building or building complex advertises more than 25 percent of its units to tenants for stays less than a month. An apartment building or complex must actually rent out its units for the shorter duration at least four times per year — not merely advertise as such — to qualify as transient.

Requirements

Miya’s Law requires landlords of nontransient and transient apartment buildings to perform background screenings on employees as a condition of employment.

Effective July 1, 2022, the background screening must be performed in accordance with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (and applicable state law, if the candidate resides outside of Florida) and must include a search of all criminal, sex offender, and sexual predator registries from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

The law allows a landlord to disqualify an applicant who has: (i) been convicted of; (ii) been found guilty...

Read Full Story: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/miya-s-law-florida-landlords-must-8580712/