Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that will require apartment landlords to conduct background checks on employees, a response to the September murder of a Valencia College student.
With the signature, DeSantis finished taking action on all of the bills passed during the 2022 legislative session.
Under the new law, criminal and sexual-offender background checks will be required for apartment-complex employees. Also, tenants will have to be given 24 hours鈥� notice before workers can enter apartments.
The measure (SB 898), known as 鈥淢iya鈥檚 Law,鈥� was crafted after the death of 19-year-old Miya Marcano, who was found dead a week after she went missing from her Orlando apartment. The suspected killer, who later committed suicide, worked as a maintenance worker at Marcano鈥檚 apartment complex.
According to investigators, he used a master key fob to enter Marcano鈥檚 apartment the day she went missing.
鈥淏y signing this legislation, we are making it safer to live in a rental unit and giving renters more peace of mind in their home,鈥� DeSantis said in a prepared statement.
In March, the House and Senate unanimously passed the measure, which was sponsored by Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, and Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood.
鈥淎lthough this legislation will not bring Miya back, it will help save lives and bring a greater sense of security to college students moving into their first apartment, seniors residing in apartment communities, and all the 2 million renters in Florida,鈥� Bartleman said in a statement.
The measure also will ban motels and hotels from charging hourly room rates as a way to try to prevent sex trafficking.
