Realtor^® Advocacy Triumphs in Protection of Real Estate Industry

On March 13, lawmakers concluded Florida’s 2026 regular legislative session without passing a state budget, opting to hold a special session for that in April.

Although several Realtor legislative priorities are on hold until the budget process concludes, numerous legislative victories were achieved during the 60-day lawmaking period that will benefit the profession, consumers, property owners and communities throughout Florida.

Significant legislative victories include:

• Protecting consumers and Realtors by maintaining Florida’s existing Real Estate Regulatory Structure and Oversight
• Defending private property rights with stronger laws against people who use fraudulent information to occupy homes and rentals
• Preventing a confusing septic system disclosure at point of sale
• Protecting Realtors from liability in new property tax estimator disclosure

These wins are in addition to numerous other laws passed by lawmakers that impact Realtors and their businesses. Bills passed head to the governor for final approval. 

2026 Florida Realtors Regular Session Legislative Highlights

Maintaining Florida’s Real Estate Regulatory Structure and Oversight to Protect Consumers: For the second year in a row, Florida Realtors successfully prevented the passage of legislation (HB 607) that would have abolished the Florida Real Estate Commission and Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board, replaced all post-licensure and continuing education requirements with an email from DBPR that summarizes the year’s legislative changes, and compromised the state’s “mutual recognition” program that expedites a Florida licensee’s ability to work in other states, and vice versa. These changes would have lessened important statutory consumer protections as well as the value of a real estate license.

Protecting Private Property Rights: Recall previous legislative victories that protect private property rights by combating home, commercial property, and vacation rental squatters. This session, Florida Realtors supported the passage of SB 1293 (sponsored by REALTOR Caucus member Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez and Rep. Sam Greco) which makes it a felony to move into a rental property by using forged documents or a false identity and allows landlords to quickly remove individuals who gained access through fraud. 

2026 Regular Session – Bills that Florida Realtors Made Better

Preventing a Confusing Septic System Disclosure at Point of Sale: HB 1417, a comprehensive Dept. of Environmental Protection bill, originally included well-intended language outlining a septic tank disclosure that was confusing to consumers and would have been difficult to implement. Florida Realtors successfully worked with the bill sponsors to remove the disclosure and give stakeholders an opportunity to draft legislation more meaningful to consumers and will reduce litigation.

Protecting REALTORS from Liability in New Property Tax Estimator Disclosure: SB 856 modernizes an existing property tax disclosure to ensure purchasers understand how much their taxes could rise after the sale-triggered reassessment. The bill requires public facing online property listing platforms and websites to display a prospective purchaser’s estimated property taxes in one of two ways. First, the platforms or websites can provide a link to the property appraiser’s tax estimator or homepage and hide the current owner’s and previous years’ taxes. Alternatively, platforms or websites can provide a property tax estimate using current mileage rates, or a countywide average, based on formulas and data the Florida Department of Revenue publishes. Importantly, the bill holds licensees and other information providers harmless from liability for the accuracy of the information. While this bill has not yet passed, it will likely be included in legislation that will pass during the upcoming budget process. In an earlier version of the bill, the effective date was February 1, 2027.

2026 Budget Special Session – Where Realtor Priorities Stand

Support the Hometown Heroes Housing Program: Initial budget proposals from the House and Senate allocate additional funding for the Hometown Heroes Housing Program. The Senate budget proposal allocates $75 million while the House allocates $50 million.

Support the My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) and My Safe Florida Condo (MSFC) Programs: Both the House and the Senate budget proposals direct the unused balance from last year’s budget be reverted to the 2026-2027 budget. This would amount to $444 million for the MSFH program and $30 million for the MSFC program.

Support the State and Local Government Housing Trust Funds: Both the House and Senate budget proposals would fully fund the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program at $165.7 million and the State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program at $70.8 million.

Continue to Support Water Quality Efforts: Both legislative chambers want to allocate significant amounts of funding for water quality projects and the environment.

• Everglades (House $378 million) (Senate $563 million)
• Rural and Family Lands Program (House $500 million) (Senate $100 million)
• Protecting Florida’s Springs (House $50 million) (Senate $50 million)
• Beach and Inlet Management (House $50 million) (Senate $64 million)
• Water Projects (Senate $148 million)
• Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience Plan (House $100 million) (Senate $100 million)
• Wastewater Grant Program (House $175 million) (Senate $125 million)

2026 Regular Session – Other Bills of Interest

Citizens Property Insurance Commercial Clearinghouse: In an effort to continue depopulating Citizens and returning it the role of insurer of last resort, the legislature passed SB 1028. Citizens has an existing clearinghouse for personal lines coverage, and this bill establishes two new clearinghouses for commercial risk. New and renewing commercial residential and commercial nonresidential policies will be submitted to the clearinghouses and no longer eligible for coverage with Citizens if the policyholder receives an offer of comparable coverage from an authorized insurer or authorized surplus lines insurer within 120% or 115% respectively of Citizens’ premium. There are currently fewer than 1,000 commercial residential multiperil policies and 1,200 commercial non-residential multiperil policies in force with Citizens.

Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal System (OSTDS) Permits: HB 589 attempts to streamline permitting as it relates to building permits and OSTDS construction permits. Under current law, a person may not construct, repair, modify, abandon, or operate an OSTDS without first obtaining a construction permit from the Department of Environmental Protection and before receiving the building/plumbing permit. Unless an owner or builder receives this construction permit for the OSTDS, a municipality may not issue a building or plumbing permit for that building. This bill will allow for the local government to accept proof of an OSTDS construction permit application when applicant is applying for the building permit. This should reduce permitting timelines.

Affordable Housing: HB 1389 is the fourth iteration of 2023’s Live Local Act language. The bill, among other provisions, adds certain lands owned by school districts and religious institutions to the Live Local Act land use mandates. It increases the threshold for local governments to opt out of the Missing Middle tax exemption and allows property owners issued a building permit on or after July 1, 2026, for a Missing Middle development within 4 years before the effective date of a local government’s opt out ordinance to still apply for and receive the exemption. It prohibits discrimination against affordable housing in land use decisions and waives sovereign immunity for governmental entities that violate the Florida Fair Housing Act. The bill did mandate accessory dwelling unit development in single family residential areas, but the language was amended out and did not pass.

Local Housing Assistance Plans: SB 594 provides that a local government’s local housing assistance plan under the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program must include a strategy for providing program funds to mobile homeowners, including lot rental assistance. The bill specifies that lot rental assistance is considered a homeownership activity, while rehabilitation and emergency repairs for mobile homes is considered construction, rehabilitation, or emergency repair of affordable, eligible housing for program fund use. The bill allows local governments to expend funds from their local housing distribution on lot rental assistance for mobile homeowners not to exceed 6 months’ rent and repeals the 20% cap on using SHIP funds on manufactured housing.

2026 Regular Session – Bills That Didn’t Pass

Housing/Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs): SB 48 would have required local governments to allow accessory dwelling units in areas zoned for single-family residential use. These small, self-contained homes built on the same property as a primary residence hold incredible potential to ease Florida’s affordable housing crunch. While SB 48 passed the Senate, the two chambers could not agree on final language before session ended.

Property Tax Relief Legislation: The Florida House proposed eight different property tax relief bills during the 2026 session. Only one, HB 203, passed the full House. It would have placed a constitutional amendment before Florida voters to eliminate non-school property taxes on homestead properties. The bill ultimately failed to pass as there was no Senate companion measure. Lawmakers have indicated that they may hold a special session later this year focused on property tax relief.

HOA/Condominium Association Reforms: A bill that would have allowed HOA parcel owners to dissolve their association did NOT pass this legislative session. While HB 657 passed the Florida House, there was no companion measure in the Senate and ultimately the bill did not move forward. The bill proposed several other changes, including creating a state-funded court process for condo and HOA disputes, and requiring HOAs to automatically update their governing documents to comply with changes in state law.