Jesse Scheckner
A bill designed to strengthen the rights of hotel and motel owners when dealing with uncooperative guests is ready for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature after clearing its final hurdle in the Legislature.
The Senate cast a final 35-2 vote for a House-amended version of SB 606, which aims to help motels and hotels assert their private property rights by clarifying language in state statutes.
Current Florida law lacks clarity for how hotel and motel owners can remove guests who have not paid their bills, the measure’s sponsor, Ormond Beach Republican Sen. Tom Leek, explained when discussing the bill last month.
“Because the language of the statute isn’t clear, public lodging establishment owners may be unable to remove non-paying guests because they are claiming the lodging establishment is their sole residence,” he said.
Due to that, he continued, hotel and motel owners are often forced to go through the same process to remove squatter guests as landlords to remove someone who has not paid for their property.
“This is a lengthy process and can be a significant financial burden.”
SB 606 clarifies the definitions of transient occupancy and nontransient occupancy, providing that transient occupancy is a stay of less than 30 days, while nontransient occupancy is a stay of 30 days or longer.
It removes a mandatory arrest and criminal penalty for individuals who are removed from a public lodging establishment or public food service establishment, as law enforcement would be given the discretion about whether to arrest a noncompliant guest.
The measure, effective July 1, also clarifies issues regarding check-out time and expands how a statutorily required notice can be delivered to the guest by including phone calls, text and emails.
The bill passed Thursday with an amendment by its House sponsor, Newberry Republican Rep. Chad Johnson, that requires hotel and motel owners to provide guests with a written notice — by text, email or printed paper — informing them that they need to leave because they failed to check out or pay for their unit by checkout time.
The amendment also added language requiring public food establishments that include an operational component in their sales to clearly notify customers in writing that they do so and the price. That requirement doesn’t apply to dining plans, packages or fixed-price meals.
Democratic Sens. Rosalind Osgood of Tamarac and Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orlando voted against SB 606, which also received nine “no” votes in the House.
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Andrew Powell of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
