Committee approves Homes for Veterans pilot, creates vacancy relief and risk mitigation trust funds

The Senate Committee on Military, Veterans Affairs, Space and Domestic Security on Jan. 27 reported favorably on related bills to incentivize landlords to house veterans experiencing homelessness. Senator Wright presented SB1602, which would create the Homes for Veterans Property Management Incentive Pilot Program within the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) for Brevard, Escambia, Hillsborough and Santa Rosa counties, and SB1604, which would create a Vacancy Relief Trust Fund and a Risk Mitigation Trust Fund within FHFC to support the pilot.

Senator Wright said the pilot would allow landlords to apply to FHFC to receive funds from the Vacancy Relief Trust Fund to hold a vacant dwelling for a veteran for up to 45 days, and to seek payment from the Risk Mitigation Trust Fund to recover property loss beyond deposit money up to $2,000. During consideration the committee adopted an amendment (barcode 925662) clarifying that FHFC must "partner in consultation" with local public housing authorities and case managers (rather than the prior phrasing) and clarified references to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (not the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs).

The committee adopted a technical amendment to SB1602 and a technical amendment to SB1604, then reported both committee substitutes favorably.

Why it matters: Proponents said the program would reduce barriers for landlords to hold units for veterans and create limited financial remedies for property loss, using a pilot structure to test the approach in four counties.

Next steps: Committee substitutes for SB1602 and SB1604 were reported favorably and will proceed to subsequent legislative steps.