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Jacksonville presenters back rental registry and ombudsman; legal counsel warns state law limits local power
Summary
University and legal-aid researchers presented data showing 41% of Jacksonville households rent and high eviction filings; Jacksonville Area Legal Aid offered to build a public registry at no cost while city attorneys warned Florida Statute 83.425 preempts many local landlord-tenant regulations.
Council convened a public meeting to discuss proposals aimed at giving renters more information and recourse in Jacksonville, as university researchers and legal-aid attorneys laid out data on rental housing, eviction filings and concentrated ownership.
Katie Renzi, project manager for the JAX Rental Housing Project at the University of North Florida, said the research team has catalogued multifamily properties and rental outcomes and found "we have nearly 179,000 rental households in Jacksonville — about 41% of all households," and that renter incomes have not kept pace with rents. Renzi said the median renter wage is about $22 an hour while fair-market rent for a two-bedroom is roughly $1,600 a month, leaving many renters cost-burdened.
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid attorneys and partners described how the city’s eviction and housing conditions…
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