Temple Terrace Council votes to ask Hillsborough County to extend its tenant bill-of-rights to the city

The Temple Terrace City Council voted to ask Hillsborough County to apply its tenant bill-of-rights ordinance to the city and directed staff to send a formal letter requesting inclusion, with an explicit request for a 90-day lead-in before county enforcement would begin.

City Manager Carlos Bellia summarized the county ordinance and told the council it contains two principal elements: a required notice-of-rights that landlords must give prospective and current tenants and a non-discrimination provision requiring landlords to consider lawful sources of income, such as Section 8 vouchers. "The ordinance that the county has...basically has two elements to it," Bellia said, explaining required notices, limits on advertising that excludes legal income sources and the county's role in enforcement.

Members of the public spoke both for and against the county ordinance at the council meeting. Eric Kravitz, a Temple Terrace resident and landlord, said most of the county text focuses on landlord notice requirements and estimated the compliance cost to an individual landlord at about "$10 a month." Multiple residents and stakeholders urged caution and more study; other speakers and council members cited rising rents and housing shortages as reasons to join county enforcement rather than try to enforce a local ordinance without dedicated staff.

Mayor Ross framed the issue in the county and regional context, noting rising rents, workforce housing pressure and increased family homelessness countywide. "This ordinance doesn't establish rent controls," Ross said, adding the county ordinance requires notice (for example, 60 days for rent increases greater than 5%) and does not change Chapter 83 eviction procedures. The mayor urged that joining the county ordinance would align Temple Terrace with neighboring jurisdictions and rely on county enforcement capacity.

After public comment and council discussion, Council member motioned to direct staff to draft the letter requesting inclusion in the county ordinance; the motion was seconded and amended to ask that the county provide a 90-day education/enforcement period for Temple Terrace landlords. The amended motion passed by voice vote with no recorded nays.

City staff said joining the county ordinance would trigger county-level public hearings and take approximately six to eight weeks to complete the inclusion process; staff also noted the option for the city later to adopt its own ordinance if county changes became unacceptable. Council members asked staff to include language asking the county for the 90-day lead-in and to coordinate educational outreach for landlords and tenants.