Landlord Of Broward Apartment Complex Issues COVID Vaccine Mandate
BROWARD (CBSMiami) – Four months after Gov. Ron DeSantis banned vaccine passports, stopping businesses from requiring you to show you've gotten the COVID shot, the pushback persists.
Some residents at a Broward apartment complex say they won't get vaccinated even though their landlord has issued an edict.
The sign on the rental office at Inverrary Village says as of August 15 employees and new tenants must be vaccinated. Existing tenants must prove at least one vaccination before their lease is renewed.
"If I'm not vaccinated and they want me to leave, I'll leave," said tenant Manny Jefferson, who doesn't trust the vaccine.
Resident Carmelia Melliean doesn't want to get vaccinated either.
"If he asks me, I'm moving out, I'm not gonna take the vaccine," she said.
But longtime Inverrary resident Barbara Barrow says she too was hesitant about the vaccine, initially. She changed her mind after doing research and is now fully vaccinated.
She said she appreciates the landlord's view.
"It's a way of making sure all residents and the community are safe," she said.
It's not just Inverrary Village that's affected, but residents at more than 1,000 rental units that the landlord controls in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.
After learning of the requirement, some tenants contacted eviction attorneys. So far there have been no tenant court challenges.
Norwegian Cruise Lines won a court battle last month when a federal judge ruled the company could require passengers to be vaccinated.
But it's not over. The governor's office responded with a statement that reads, in part:
"We disagree with the judge's legal reasoning and will be appealing. A prohibition on vaccine passports does not violate anyone's speech rights."