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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to public lodging and public food 2
service establishments; amending s. 509.013, F.S.; 3
revising definitions; amending s. 509.141, F.S.; 4
revising notification requirements for removing guests 5
from public lodging and public food service 6
establishments; revising penalty provisions; amending 7
s. 509.214, F.S.; authorizing public food service 8
establishments to include an automatic gratuity or 9
service charge in certain circumstances; requiring 10
such establishments to provide specified notice; 11
providing an exception; prohibiting automatic gratuity 12
or service charges in certain circumstances; providing 13
for the computation of automatic or suggested gratuity 14
or service charges; providing construction; providing 15
an effective date. 16
17
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18
19
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) and subsections 20
(11), (12), (14), and (15) of section 509.013, Florida Sta tutes, 21
are amended to read: 22
509.013 Definitions. —As used in this chapter, the term: 23
(4)(a) "Public lodging establishment" includes a transient 24
public lodging establishment as defined in subparagraph 1. and a 25
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nontransient public lodging establishment as defined in 26
subparagraph 2. 27
1. "Transient public lodging establishment" means any 28
unit, group of units, dwelling, building, or group of buildings 29
within a single complex of buildings which is rented to guests 30
more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less 31
than 30 consecutive days or 1 calendar month, whichever is less, 32
or which is advertised or held out to the public as a place 33
regularly rented to guests for periods of less than 30 34
consecutive days. 35
2. "Nontransient public lodging establis hment" means any 36
unit, group of units, dwelling, building, or group of buildings 37
within a single complex of buildings which is rented to guests 38
for periods of at least 30 consecutive days or 1 calendar month, 39
whichever is less, or which is advertised or he ld out to the 40
public as a place regularly rented to guests for periods of at 41
least 30 consecutive days or 1 calendar month. 42
43
License classifications of public lodging establishments, and 44
the definitions therefor, are set out in s. 509.242. For the 45
purpose of licensure, the term does not include condominium 46
common elements as defined in s. 718.103. 47
(11) "Transient establishment" means any public lodging 48
establishment that is rented or leased to guests by an operator 49
for transient occupancy whose intention is that such guests' 50
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occupancy will be temporary . 51
(12) "Transient occupancy" means occupancy that is when it 52
is the intention of the parties that the occupancy will be 53
temporary. The term includes the occupancy of a dwelling unit at 54
a hotel, motel, vacat ion rental, bed and breakfast inn, or 55
timeshare project, as defined in s. 509.242, unless a written 56
rental or lease agreement expressly states that the dwelling 57
unit is the sole residence of the guest There is a rebuttable 58
presumption that, when the dwelli ng unit occupied is not the 59
sole residence of the guest, the occupancy is transient . 60
(14) "Nontransient establishment" means any public lodging 61
establishment that is rented or leased to guests by an operator 62
for nontransient occupancy whose intention is that the dwelling 63
unit occupied will be the sole residence of the guest . 64
(15) "Nontransient occupancy" means occupancy that is not 65
when it is the intention of the parties that the occupancy will 66
not be temporary. The term does not include the occupancy o f a 67
dwelling unit at a hotel, motel, vacation rental, bed and 68
breakfast inn, or timeshare project, as defined in s. 509.242, 69
unless a written rental or lease agreement expressly states that 70
the dwelling unit is the sole residence of the guest There is a 71
rebuttable presumption that, when the dwelling unit occupied is 72
the sole residence of the guest, the occupancy is nontransient . 73
Section 2. Section 509.141, Florida Statutes, is amended 74
to read: 75
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509.141 Refusal of admission and ejection of undesirable 76
guests; notice; procedure; penalties for refusal to leave. — 77
(1) The operator of a any public lodging establishment or 78
public food service establishment may remove or cause to be 79
removed from such establishment, in the manner hereinafter 80
provided for in this section, any guest of the establishment 81
who: 82
(a) who, While on the premises of the establishment, 83
illegally possesses or deals in controlled substances as defined 84
in chapter 893 or is intoxicated, profane, lewd, or brawling; 85
(b) who Indulges in any language or conduct which disturbs 86
the peace and comfort of other guests or which injures the 87
reputation, dignity, or standing of the establishment; 88
(c) who, In the case of a public lodging establishment, 89
fails to make payment of rent at the agreed -upon rental rate by 90
the agreed-upon checkout time specified in writing by the public 91
lodging establishment ; 92
(d) who, In the case of a public lodging establishment, 93
fails to check out by the time specified in writing by the 94
agreed upon in writing by the guest and public lodging 95
establishment at check -in, unless an extension of time is agreed 96
to by the public lodging establishment and guest before prior to 97
checkout; 98
(e) who, In the case of a public food service 99
establishment, fails to make payment for f ood, beverages, or 100
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services; or 101
(f) who, In the opinion of the operator, is a person the 102
continued entertainment of whom would be detrimental to such 103
establishment. 104
105
The admission to, or the removal from, such establishment shall 106
not be based upon race , creed, color, sex, physical disability, 107
or national origin. 108
(2) The operator of a any public lodging establishment or 109
public food service establishment shall notify the such guest 110
that the establishment no longer desires to entertain the guest 111
and shall request that the such guest immediately depart from 112
the establishment. The such notice may be given orally or in 113
writing. An operator of a public lodging establishment that 114
requests that a guest immediately depart due to the guest's 115
failure to check out or pay for the dwelling unit by check -out 116
time must provide the notice in writing via e -mail, text 117
message, or printed paper. The notice is effective upon 118
delivery, whether notice is provided in person or by telephone 119
or e-mail, using the contact informati on provided by the guest, 120
or, with respect to a public lodging establishment, upon 121
delivery to the guest's dwelling unit. If the notice is in 122
writing, it shall be as follows: 123
"You are hereby notified that this establishment no longer 124
desires to entertain you as its guest, and you are requested to 125
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leave at once. To remain after receipt of this notice is a 126
misdemeanor under the laws of this state." 127
If the such guest has paid in advance, the establishment shall, 128
at the time the such notice is given, tender to the such guest 129
the unused portion of the advance payment; however, the 130
establishment may withhold payment for each full day that the 131
guest has been entertained at the establishment for any portion 132
of the 24-hour period of the such day. 133
(3) A Any guest who remains or attempts to remain in any 134
such establishment after a request by the operator to depart 135
under subsection (2) commits being requested to leave is guilty 136
of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in 137
s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 138
(4) If a guest remains any person is illegally on the 139
premises of a any public lodging establishment or public food 140
service establishment after a request by the operator to depart 141
under subsection (2) , the operator of such establishment may 142
call upon a any law enforcement officer of this state for 143
assistance. It is the duty of the such law enforcement officer, 144
upon the request of the such operator, to remove a place under 145
arrest and take into custody for violation of this section any 146
guest who remains on the premises of such an establishment after 147
a request by the operator to depart under subsection (2). 148
(5) A law enforcement officer may place under arrest and 149
take into custody a guest who violates subsection (3) in the 150
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presence of the officer . If a warrant has been issued by the 151
proper judicial officer for the arrest of a any violator of 152
subsection (3), the officer shall serve the warrant, arrest the 153
person, and take the person into custody. Upon arrest, with or 154
without warrant, the guest is will be deemed to have given up 155
any right to occupancy or to have abandoned such right of 156
occupancy of the premises, and the operator of the establishment 157
may then make such premises available to other guests. However, 158
the operator of the establishment shall empl oy all reasonable 159
and proper means to care for any personal property which may be 160
left on the premises by the such guest and shall refund any 161
unused portion of moneys paid by the such guest for the 162
occupancy of the such premises. 163
Section 3. Section 509 .214, Florida Statutes, is amended 164
to read: 165
509.214 Notification of Automatic gratuity or service 166
charge.— 167
(1)(a) A Every public food service establishment may 168
include which includes an automatic gratuity or service charge 169
in the price of food or beverages for parties of six or more 170
guests. the meal 171
(b) A public food service establishment shall include on 172
the food menu, and on the face of every bill provided to a 173
guest, and on the face of every item or receipt required to be 174
signed by a guest the bill provided to the customer notice that 175
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an automatic gratuity or service charge is included. The notice 176
must list the recipient of the gratuity or service charge and 177
the percentage the person or business entity is receiving. 178
(c) A guest is not required to pay an automatic gratuity 179
or service charge pursuant to this subsection if the guest 180
requests not to pay such gratuity or service charge. 181
(2) A public food service establishment may not include an 182
automatic gratuity or service charge in the price of food or 183
beverages for parties of fewer than six guests. 184
(3) If an automatic or suggested gratuity or service 185
charge is based on the price of the food or beverages purchased 186
by a guest, it must be based on the price of the food or 187
beverages before taxes. 188
(4) For purposes of this section, the terms "gratuity" and 189
"service charge" include any type of charge or required payment 190
other than the price of food or beverages. 191
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 192