“Miya’s Law” Signed, Imposes Background Check Requirements

As an update to our earlier post, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 898 into law, which took effect July 1, 2022. “Miya’s Law” is designed to help strengthen residential safety by requiring landlords conduct background checks of prospective employees.

As outlined in the new legislation, the required background check must be performed by a consumer reporting agency in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The screening must include a criminal background check along with a sex offender registry search of all 50 states and D.C.

The law explicitly allows landlords to disqualify someone from an employment opportunity if they were convicted of specific offenses including those involving violence (such as murder, sexual battery, stalking or robbery) or those offenses involving a disregard for the safety of others. The law also requires maintenance of a log accounting for the issuance and return of keys for each dwelling unit.