Rent

New registration requirements, annual fees and stricter enforcement for residential rental properties in Cape Coral took effect Jan. 1 aimed at increasing accountability and funding code enforcement.The changes, adopted under Ordinance 53-25 and Resolution 279-25 and approved by a City Council vote last year, require all residential rental properties — both long-term and short-term — to register annually with the city. Officials say the updated program allows Cape Coral to better track rental properties, respond to complaints and recover enforcement-related costs.

After protests from landlords and the county’s board of realtors, Collier County commissioners repealed a requirement that landlords raising rents give tenants 60 days notice. Commissioners had approved the ordinance, requiring the notice if rental rates increased by more than 5%.

Port Charlotte used to be one of the more affordable gulf-facing communities in Southwest Florida, but these days the area is facing a shortage of affordable housing that is pushing people out.

State health officials reported 7,569 new cases of COVID-19, Tuesday and 187 new coronavirus-related deaths.The Florida Department of Health released a statement, Sept. 1, explaining that Tuesday's reported single-day increase in cases of the virus is inflated due to delayed reporting of test results from Quest Diagnostics. The Health Department's statement notes that the test reporting dump from Quest includes nearly 75,000 tests, some dating as far back as April.The incident has prompted the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Division of Emergency Management to sever ties with the laboratory company.

Things are changing rapidly as local governments issue executive orders, and then Governor DeSantis issues statewide measures of his own, in an effort to…