Florida SB 1626: Rent Reporting to Credit Reporting Agencies

Bill Text

1626 
Rent Reporting to Credit Reporting Agencies 
2026-01-09T07:57:57Z 
Defining the terms “credit reporting agency” and “rent reporting service”; authorizing a landlord to report a tenant’s rent payment history to credit reporting agencies under certain circumstances; providing requirements for such written consent; requiring a landlord to inform a tenant that he or she is authorized to opt out of rent reporting at any time without penalty; requiring a landlord to provide written notice under certain circumstances, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1626 

 By Senator Bracy Davis 

 15-01267-26 20261626__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to rent reporting to credit reporting 
 3 agencies; creating s. 83.684, F.S.; defining the terms 
 4 “credit reporting agency” and “rent reporting 
 5 service”; authorizing a landlord to report a tenant’s 
 6 rent payment history to credit reporting agencies 
 7 under certain circumstances; requiring a landlord to 
 8 obtain written consent from a tenant to report rent 
 9 payments; providing requirements for such written 
 10 consent; requiring a landlord to inform a tenant that 
 11 he or she is authorized to opt out of rent reporting 
 12 at any time without penalty; requiring a landlord to 
 13 provide written notice under certain circumstances; 
 14 providing notice requirements; authorizing a landlord 
 15 to charge a specified fee for providing rent reporting 
 16 services; providing an exception; prohibiting a 
 17 landlord from taking certain actions; authorizing a 
 18 landlord to stop reporting a tenant’s rental payments 
 19 under certain circumstances; prohibiting a tenant from 
 20 participating in rent reporting for a specified amount 
 21 of time under certain circumstances; prohibiting a 
 22 landlord from taking retaliatory actions if a tenant 
 23 refuses, declines, or opts out of rent reporting; 
 24 providing applicability; providing an effective date. 
 25 
 26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 27 
 28 Section 1. Section 83.684, Florida Statutes, is created to 
 29 read: 
 30 83.684 Rent reporting.— 
 31 (1) As used in this section, the term: 
 32 (a) “Credit reporting agency” means an agency that, for 
 33 monetary fees or dues or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, 
 34 regularly engages, in whole or in part, in the practice of 
 35 assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other 
 36 information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer 
 37 reports to third parties and that uses any means or facility of 
 38 interstate commerce for the purpose of preparing or furnishing 
 39 consumer reports. The term includes agencies such as Equifax, 
 40 Experian, and TransUnion. 
 41 (b) “Rent reporting service” means a third-party service 
 42 that collects, verifies, and reports rent payment information to 
 43 a credit reporting agency. 
 44 (2) A landlord may report a tenant’s rent payment history 
 45 to one or more credit reporting agencies. Rent reporting must be 
 46 conducted through a rent reporting service, or the landlord may 
 47 report directly to one or more credit reporting agencies if the 
 48 landlord complies with all applicable state and federal 
 49 regulations. 
 50 (3)(a) A landlord must obtain written consent to report 
 51 rent payments from a tenant when a rental agreement is executed 
 52 or renewed. 
 53 (b) The written consent must clearly outline the potential 
 54 benefits and risks associated with rent reporting, including the 
 55 possibility of negative reporting if rent payments are not made 
 56 on time. 
 57 (c) A landlord shall inform a tenant that his or her 
 58 consent for rent reporting is voluntary and that the tenant may 
 59 opt out of rent reporting at any time without penalty by mailing 
 60 or delivering to the landlord a true copy of a written notice to 
 61 opt out. 
 62 (d) A landlord must, in accordance with s. 83.56(4), 
 63 provide a tenant with at least 30 days’ written notice if the 
 64 landlord decides to start or stop reporting rent payments. 
 65 (4)(a) If a landlord elects to engage in rent reporting, 
 66 the landlord may require the tenant to pay to the landlord a fee 
 67 for such service. The fee may not exceed the lesser of the 
 68 actual cost to the landlord to provide rent reporting services 
 69 or $10 per month. If the landlord does not incur actual expenses 
 70 relating to rent reporting, the landlord may not charge the 
 71 tenant a fee under this subsection. 
 72 (b) A landlord may not do any of the following: 
 73 1. Report the payment or nonpayment of the fee to a credit 
 74 reporting agency. 
 75 2. Terminate a tenant’s rental agreement because the tenant 
 76 did not pay the fee. 
 77 3. Deduct the amount of the fee from the tenant’s deposit 
 78 money or rent. 
 79 (c) If the fee is unpaid for 30 days or more, the landlord 
 80 may stop reporting