Dear Majestic Owners:

As you know, we have all been on stand-by waiting on the official release of the Executive Order that the FL Governor, Ron DeSantis issued late Wednesday. After his press conference, he signed Executive Order 20.122. In that order he extended the vacation rental ban, along with the order to quarantine any travelers from LA or NY for a minimum of 14 days.
 
We know that the restrictions that Governor DeSantis has put on your vacation rental has cost many of you a lot of revenue. Unfortunately, in the Governor’s newest executive order, it has made it even worse. Here is a timeline of the executive orders released pertaining to your vacation rental.
 
3/27/2020  Issued Executive Order 20-87 In this order, he suspended all vacation rental activity for 14 days. In this order, in section 1.B.I, he excludes Hotels, motels, inns, and resorts.
4/10/2020  Issued Executive Order 20-103. In this order, he extended EO 20-87 until 4/30/2020.
4/29/2020  Issued Executive Order 20-111. In this order, he extended EO 20-87 until 5/4/2020.
4/29/2020  Issued Executive Order 20-112. In this order, he extended EO 20-87 through all his Phase 1 roll out. The main issue here is that phase 1 has no end date, making Vacation Rentals suspended indefinitely.
 
All of us at Majestic Beach Towers have been attempting to do what is right through compliance with the Governor’s orders. While we are strong believers in doing everything possible to control the spread of Coronavirus, we at Majestic Beach Towers feel that it is unfair and unreasonable to prohibit owners of condominiums to rent their units, and yet allow hotels to stay open. It is my understanding that local hotels are now filling up because the Panama City beaches have been opened. But, those of us who own rental condos have to remain closed. No data or real reasoning exists why we are the only lodging sector suspended.

In my opinion, either all lodging should be closed, or all lodging should be open. The current policy is helping no one. It does nothing to slow the spread of the virus, and it puts many owners of condominiums at risk of losing their units.
 
We have had a number of Majestic owners ask who they can contact to express their opinion.

Whether you feel that all lodging in Florida should be closed, or if you believe that everything should be opened up, you have the right to be heard.

Here are several contacts that you may find useful:

Governor DeSantis
Phone: (850)717-9337
 
Governors Executive Staff Diane Moulton
 
Also, here is a link to the Re-open Florida Task Force public comment form. I am told that this Task Force was organized by the Governor’s office to provide a forum for property owners to voice their opinion. Out-of-state owners would have to use your condo's address because the form only accepts addresses in Florida. 



PLEASE REMEMBER THAT MAJESTIC SECURITY HAS BEEN INSTRUCTED TO TURN AWAY RENTAL GUESTS UNTIL THE STATE’S POLICY IS CHANGED. THEREFORE, PLEASE DO NOT BOOK YOUR UNITS, WHICH WILL PUT SECURITY AND YOUR GUESTS IN AN UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATION. WE MUST COMPLY WITH THE LAW.
THE BEST THING THAT WE CALL ALL DO RIGHT NOW IS TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT TO TREAT EVERYONE EQUALLY, WHETHER THAT MEANS TO OPEN OR CLOSE FLORIDA TO ALL LODGING.

Jimmy Lewis
President
Majestic Beach Resort Condominium Association, Inc.