Ad campaign launched to convince Orange County residents to vote 'no' on rent stabilization

ORLANDO, Fla. - A new television ad is trying to convince Orange County voters to vote "no" on the rent stabilization ordinance, this November. It’s a commercial that the political action committee Floridians for Housing Opportunity is running all over central Florida. A spokesperson for the political action committee behind the ad says they want to educate voters on the ballot measure.

"Rent control is a failed policy that we've seen across the nation in some of the most high cost-of-living cities in our country," says Dana Loncar, spokesperson for Floridians for Housing Opportunity.

The ad states that passing the measure will mean worse outcomes for Orange County renters. Loncar says building more housing is the answer. "Adding supply to the housing market in our community overall will do a lot to help with the supply and affordability of housing."

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But new homes aren't built overnight. Florida Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, who supports the measure, says renters need a break. "Rents have been rising at rate that's higher than everywhere else in the nation and this rent stabilization ordinance is going to offer some temporary relief."

If passed, the rent stabilization measure would cap many rents in the county to the rise in the consumer price index for one year. Smith says people in Orange County have been seeing rents rise by up to 40 percent and something needs to be done that helps now. "These attacks against the rent stabilization ordinance is just using fear tactics to protect their own profits."