TAMPA - Owners of Florida vacation rental property are challenging an executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis prohibiting rentals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The governor “banned vacation rentals while leaving open hotels, resorts, and timeshares,” according to the lawsuit, filed May 7 in U.S. District Court. The governor’s order was constitutionally flawed by “vagueness and overbreadth, arbitrariness, and discriminatory intent,” the complaint alleges.
The initial executive order prohibiting owners of vacation rental property from making new reservations or bookings was issued March 27 and was scheduled to end April 10, the lawsuit said. It was extended twice. On May 4, another executive order 20-112, extended the rental ban for an “unknown duration,” the complaint said.
Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction stopping enforcement of the order while the case is pending.
The central issue, according to the plaintiff’s attorney, Patrick Leduc of Tampa, is that large hotels are being treated differently than vacation rentals, which are typically owned by smaller enterprises or individual property owners.
The lawsuit also challenges the governor's orders prohibiting advertising by vacation rental owners during the coronavirus pandemic. "It's clearly an unconstitutional provision," LeDuc said.
Providing protection from the virus is much more easily accomplished at individual vacation rentals than at a hotel in Orlando with 2,600 rooms, the attorney said. "Where do you think social distancing is easier?" he asked.
Leduc has heard of no reaction from the governor's office as a result of his lawsuit.
"The silence is deafening," he said.
He said he expects the courts to act expeditiously to resolve the issue.