MIAMI (WSVN) - Renters in Miami-Dade who are struggling with rising rent prices will no longer be blindsided by increases.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava signed a new bill into law on Thursday that gives residents 60 days notice before their rent increases.
The new measure requires landlords to give tenants a two months’ heads up if the increase is more than 5%.
It also extends the grace period for evictions from 30 days to 60 days.
Levine Cava said these changes were made in an effort to help with the affordable housing crisis.
“Over the past year, we have become one of the most unaffordable cities, where people are struggling every single day to pay their rent and pay their bills, and so we are stifling the opportunity for those who are hurting,” she said.
On Tuesday, residents gathered outside the mayor’s office and rallied against the lack of affordable housing in Miami-Dade.
As a demonstrator sang into a bullhorn, “Miami rent is too damn…”
“High!” demonstrators responded.
“I don’t want to pay it,” the demonstrator with the bullhorn sang.
The new law buys tenants time, but with inflation in the U.S. at a 40-year high, renters need cash: more in their bank accounts and less leaving it.
This is a reprieve renters won’t find in South Florida’s housing market.
“We need some extreme measures. We can’t just make developers do a little bit of affordable housing here and there. We need to do something aggressive,” said a protester at the rally.
7News spoke with some people who said they saw increases of anywhere between $500 and $1,000 in their lease renewal agreements. They said now is the time to see change in Miami-Dade County.
The apartment listing website Redfin ranks South Florida fifth in the country for highest year-to-year rent increase, with tenants paying on average 31% higher costs than in 2021.
A quick search on Apartments.com of a one-bedroom unit in the City of Miami yields results of rent in the $2,000 range.
Ndirah Sabir, one of the organizers of the rally, said people will continue to be forced out if more isn’t done to stabilize rents.
“My family’s been here for generations, you know?” she said. “There’s so many people that make up the character and the flavor of Miami that are not corporate entities, and we’re bleeding them dry, and we’re forcing them to move.”
When asked whether renters can expect more relief in the weeks and months to come, Levine Cava said the county commission is in talks about a referendum that would freeze rents in Miami-Dade.
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