On July 1, 2022 a new Florida law took effect with the hopes of strengthening safety measures surrounding the property management and apartment industries in our state called “Miya’s Law”. The law requires background checks for all prospective employees of property management companies and apartment complex’s as a condition of employment.
What caused this to come into focus? In 2019, Miya Marcano was a 19-year-old Orlando resident who was tragically killed by a maintenance employee of the apartment complex where she resided. This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back related to an increased amount of violence surrounding associations and apartment complex’s around our state.
The specifics surrounding how these background checks are to be conducted are as follows:
- Must be criminal background checks, including searches of sex offender registries in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia.
- Must be performed by a consumer reporting agency in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Prospective employees can be disqualified from hiring if:
- They have ever been convicted of, entered a guilty plea for, or failed to contest felonies or first-degree misdemeanors committed in Florida
- The same applies even if an offense was committed outside of Florida but the crime would be considered as such under Florida law
- Examples of these types of crimes include, but are not limited to: robbery, murder, carjacking, sexual battery, stalking, etc.
It should be noted that this law does exclude those with a proprietary lease in a cooperative apartment and owners of condominium units.
If those affected by this law fail to comply they could be opened up to increased liability or result in non-covered claims by their insurance company(ies). We have been notified that exclusions surrounding this law could be coming down the pike, although we have not noticed this happen just yet. Some insurance companies will also begin asking if a property management company is compliant with this law as a stipulation to offering insurance coverage.
It is always good to remember that from a legal and insurance coverage perspective, ignorance to a change in law is not an excuse for failing to comply with that law or change. Finally, there is no specific date for when these changes are to be applied but it is a best recommendation to begin doing so as soon as is practicable.
If you have further questions or wish to discuss further, please do not hesitate to contact our office @ 561-994-0880.
Written by: Robbie Korth, CIC – President/Owner
Reference Credit: CRC Group – Corey Friedman & Brent Tredway