Florida SB 236: Rental Assistance for Veterans

Bill Text

236 
Rental Assistance for Veterans 
2025-10-17T05:54:19Z 
Creating the Veterans’ Rental Assistance Grant Program; authorizing the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to provide certain grants to eligible applicants for a specified purpose, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 236 

 By Senator Smith 

 17-00068-26 2026236__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to rental assistance for veterans; 
 3 creating s. 420.54, F.S.; providing legislative 
 4 findings; creating the Veterans’ Rental Assistance 
 5 Grant Program; authorizing the Florida Housing Finance 
 6 Corporation to provide certain grants to eligible 
 7 applicants for a specified purpose; providing 
 8 eligibility requirements for the program; authorizing 
 9 rulemaking; providing an effective date. 
 10 
 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 12 
 13 Section 1. Section 420.54, Florida Statutes, is created to 
 14 read: 
 15 420.54 Veterans’ Rental Assistance Grant Program.— 
 16 (1) The Legislature finds that: 
 17 (a) Honorably discharged veterans have earned and deserve 
 18 the highest level of social welfare support. 
 19 (b) Honorably discharged veterans deserve reasonable access 
 20 to housing. 
 21 (c) Some honorably discharged veterans are only able to 
 22 secure housing through renting. 
 23 (d) Lower-income, honorably discharged veterans may not 
 24 have the financial means to provide a security deposit and first 
 25 and last month’s rent, which many landlords require before 
 26 issuing a lease. 
 27 (e) Providing rental assistance for eligible honorably 
 28 discharged veterans would help eliminate barriers to housing. 
 29 (2) The Veterans’ Rental Assistance Grant Program is 
 30 created to provide security deposit assistance for low-income, 
 31 honorably discharged veterans. 
 32 (3) The Florida Housing Finance Corporation is authorized 
 33 to provide one-time grants under the program from funds of the 
 34 corporation in amounts up to $2,000 to eligible applicants for 
 35 the purpose of assisting in the payment of security deposits for 
 36 rental housing. 
 37 (4) To be eligible to receive a rental assistance grant 
 38 under this section, a person must meet all of the following 
 39 requirements: 
 40 (a) Be an honorably discharged veteran of a branch of the 
 41 United States Armed Forces. A DD-214 form issued at the time of 
 42 separation is required as proof of honorable discharge from a 
 43 branch of the United States Armed Forces. However, if a DD-214 
 44 form is not available, other documentation may be acceptable if 
 45 recognized by the United States Department of Defense or the 
 46 United States Department of Veterans Affairs, as determined by 
 47 the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. 
 48 (b) Be a resident of this state. A Florida driver license 
 49 or Florida identification card is required as proof of 
 50 residency. 
 51 (c) Have an annual household income that is at or below 140 
 52 percent of the area median income. Annual household income must 
 53 be verified in the manner required by the Florida Housing 
 54 Finance Corporation, which may include background checks and a 
 55 review of documentation such as bank statements and W-2 forms. 
 56 (d) Apply to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation in the 
 57 manner prescribed by the corporation. 
 58 (5) The Florida Housing Finance Corporation may adopt rules 
 59 to implement this section. 
 60 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.