Broward Tenant's Bill of Rights to help as rents continue to rise
LAUDERDALE LAKES - At 71, Katie Adderly never thought she would be packing up and looking for a new home, but she says on April 1st her landlord told her he was raising her rent from $1,350 to $1,900 per month.
"If I had to pay $1,900, I wouldn't have anything left for food, my car or anything," she said.
Adderly is a cancer survivor, a widow, on social security with a pension. Her new home will be smaller and won't be ready until August.
"It's an emergency that's going on around the country," said Rachel Johnson with the advocacy group called Florida Rising.
They helped win passage recently of Broward's Tenant's Bill of Rights.
The bill requires landlords to give renter's a copy of their rights, 60 days' notice for a rent increase, and fully disclose late fees.
"It's a start," said Johnson, but she says the new ordinance doesn't go far enough. Florida Rising will be pressing commissioners to do more.
Johnson thinks there should be a tenant advocacy office, legal help for renters, and landlords be forced to follow the laws on the books.
"Landlords have no accountability and no consequences," says Johnson.
Broward Commissioner Nan Rich who took the lead on the tenant's bill of rights says the long-term solution is more affordable housing in the county.
"It's a catastrophe, you have so many people who don't have housing stability," she said.
The county is using $47 million dollars in federal funding to build 1,025 affordable Housing units over the next few years.
"We are looking at a dedicated source of revenue to build affordable housing in the county," she says.
Renters can find more on the Tenant's Bill of Rights as of Friday at broward.org
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