Rising costs of rental housing and even price-gouging are driving Floridians from their homes in numbers that constitute a state of emergency, say 14 Democratic state lawmakers calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to take emergency action on housing.
“In Central Florida, rents have increased by 20 percent since January, in South Florida, rents have risen by an average of 14 percent across the board, and the Tampa Bay region has seen a staggering 24.8 percent increase in rental prices since July, the largest increase in the nation,” says their letter delivered to the governor Thursday. “We are calling on you to use your authority as governor to declare a state of emergency in Florida for housing affordability.”
The letter is signed by Sen. Gary Farmer of Broward County, Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orange County, and 12 other legislators from around the state.
Specifically, they want an emergency declaration that would activate protection against price-gouging – increases of 10 percent or more — retroactively to cover rental increases over the past 12 months.
“During this holiday season, and after the incredible hardships that the pandemic has brought on so many Florida families, we believe that no child should worry that they and their parents will be evicted due to predatory rental price increases,” the letter says.
The Democrats cite data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition showing 40 percent of middle-income households in Florida are “cost-burdened” in terms of housing expense and that 89 percent of poor households pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income for rent.
We are calling on Governor DeSantis to declare a state of emergency in order to crack down on landlords who are taking advantage of the pandemic to engage in price gouging and to ensure we are putting the freedom of our working families to have an affordable place to live first,” Farmer said in a press statement.
“People in our community are hurting due to unconscionable rent hikes they can’t afford, but Governor DeSantis is too busy fighting ‘wokeness’ and running for president to address the real issues facing Floridians,” Smith said in the statement.
The Democrats’ letter notes that state government has removed more than $2.3 billion from the Sadowski trust fund for affordable housing since 2001 for non-housing purposes, over Democratic objections, and that the state has been sluggish in distributing federal COVID-relief funds for rental assistance.
“This has put many people who could be helped on the brink of eviction,” the letter says.
Democrat Nikki Fried, state commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, has long criticized the DeSantis administration over federal assistance funds languishing in state coffers instead of being distributed to families in need.
Nov. 15 was a federal deadline for the few states still sitting on most of its rental-assistance funds to explain how they would pick up the pace or risk losing the money. Fried said Florida was sitting on $660 million in unspent rental-assistance funds at the time and demanded an explanation. The Department of Children and Families said it submitted the state’s response on Nov. 15, pledging to spend the unused funds by January.
Fried questioned how many families may have been evicted in the interim and joined the Democrats in criticizing DeSantis’ administration on its handling of federal rental assistance since he suspended a state moratorium on evictions.
“It seems to be clear to everyone except Governor DeSantis that there is an affordable housing crisis in Florida, reflected in his misguided budget priorities and the failure of his administration to expeditiously disburse federal rental assistance.,” Fried said in a statement for the Phoenix. “At some point, I would hope the governor would actually focus on the everyday issues impacting Floridians, starting with tackling housing affordability in our state.”
–Laura Cassels, Florida Phoenix
Keep Flagler Beautiful says
DeSantis is not “too busy fighting wokeness.” The woke fanatics are too busy trying to think up new ways to impede the governor’s efforts to keep Florida safe, financially robust and untainted by the smash-and-grab thieves who masquerade as activists and go unpunished in leftie states. Florida has many issues challenging its unique way of life, and DeSantis is addressing as many as he can, as fast as he can, but try to keep in mind that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
beachlover says
This is truly a one-sided article, typical democrats complaining about rental costs. Ok let’s talk about the landlords who got no rent for 18 months, or the increases of taxes since the property taxes went up or the major increases in Insurnace cost along with all the increases for maintenance for materials, go to Home Depot and see what lumber costs. Really, how about being a landlord to see the costs involved with evictions and people destroying your properties. I am sick of reading about poor people wanting rent control over properties they don’t own yet vote in all these terrible politicians who increase costs for making a living. Everyone needs to pay and shoulder increases for Bidens inflations policies, you get what you vote for.
Jimbo99 says
Good luck with that, with the pandemic and nothing in Flagler county is going to be affordable housing anymore for a rental. Those new apartments, similar properties rent for around $ 1,500-1,800/month today, what are the rents going to be for when they actually build them ? Go ahead, check the corporations that already have apartments elsewhere ? The lure is a discounted 1st year contract, then once they have you moved in, bend over for the renewal. Anyone getting a rent break is subsidized housing, income restrictions. It’s the game of unaffordable rent & housing, leveraging a roof over your head. And they’ll evict you just the same when you can’t pay. Unaffordable games. As the government continues to feed the rental with subsidized housing, someone has to pay for it all. Do the math too, $ 15/hour x 32 hours x52 weeks= $ 25K gross a year for income. $ 25K/year /12 is $ 2K a month gross. Even if the Government wasn’t taxing your gross income, as much as 3/4 of that gross paycheck is your rent every month. You haven’t paid for power & internet, food or anything else. That’s the new slavery, the wage slavery of America.
This is nothing new, the scamdemic of Covid just continues. anyone that has read my comments on Covid knows how I feel about Healthcare over the last couple of years. They have to keep those ICU rooms full to pay themselves well, so they’ll find another strain of the reason to never cure Covid. Fauci himself is the $ 418K/year proof of that, an 80 year old making that kind of money and all he has is your grandmother’s advice handed down from generations to avoid a virus/cold. It’s a mad scramble this world has become, has been for decades. There’s no labor shortage either. That’s why their building cheap apartments. We’re becoming China with entire living quarters for labor, the worker drones. America is turning to the Communist labor model after it sold out America under W. Bush. They’ve leveraged China, now the rest of the planet has to become the same labor model. Labor is nothing more than mismanaged poverty to perpetuate the human race any more. The nepotism & cronyism will always be paid well. The rest are just bodies to throw at the problems. Connect the dots, it’s that obvious ? And the last unaffordable housing crisis that required a bailout ? Yep, Clinton & his hand off to W Bush who handed that off to Obama. I remember the property flippers of that time. That was the day when a roof over your head became the buy here, pay here used car lots of Real Estate as a shell game. And we now have a mayor that was a part of that gaming era ? It’s why we’re throwing money at splash pads & pickleball courts, when there is unaffordable housing issues. It’s all a tangled web that is interrelated, I wish it were simpler, but it’s not, every wolf is coming after theirs for survival.
Dr. J D Schulze says
I was raised as poor white trash here in Florida. That was before food stamps, AFDC, section 8 housing, and etc. Somehow we survived. However, I have great sympathy with those who cannot afford housing. I do think the government should buildLarge quantities of affordable housing. Those usually come to be known as “the projects”. So the question is, do you want those projects in your backyard? I think we both know the answer, so quit posturing. By the way now you can call me Dr. poor white trash.
Dennis C Rathsam says
I said it in the Obsever many many months ago, when the jackass party was comming after Flagler Homes….Building costs have doubled, lots have tripled in price, any no body want to work! How the hell can you build home for folks with no money? No one in Palm Coast wants section 8 in their part of town, we all know what happens, violence, drugs, murder? Its sad hard working folks, are missing out of the American dream. As Dusty Rhodes once said…You can be anything you want to be in America, Trust in God, and work your ass off.
A.j says
Had enough Dems voted in 2018 we would not have to ask DeSantis for anything as Governor. I truly hope enough Dems. Will vote him out next year. Please Dems. Let us vote him out of office. Then we will not have to ask anything from him as Governor at all. Get my drift,let us vote him out. We must do this. We can do it, will we?
Deborah Coffey says
Yes, we can. Yes, we will.
Crimeariver says
Learn a new skill, get a second job, stop complaining. Nothing meaningful in life is easy. Build your apartments in Volusia county. Keep PC and Flagler beautiful!
Capt says
This serious issue is not only related to Fla, it’s every state. Biden needs to step in and protect those that are actively making their rent payments on time and stop these companies from implementing greed to gain a big payday.
Jimbo99 says
Exactly, finally someone else that comes out and tells it like it is. America was duped in 2020 by Biden-Harris, duped by Pelosi. Anyone else find the scamdemic of Covid that created this inflation, housing crisis a bit too much to believe ? I mean housing crisis, inflated rents, there was a program that nobody seems to qualify for & get for easing the burden of just the rent issues. Funny how Biden can build back better with the stroke of a pen in an economy that has labor shortages, building material shortages & a housing crisis. Look at what Flagler county is building ? An FCSO facility (including additional storage contract), another Hospital, apartments, new homes. Every day is a new real estate deal or announcement to parcel land to build the next unaffordable facility, houses or apartments. Covid is the unauditable healthcare scam. Anyone else see the trillions Biden is pumping the economy with as a bailout that dwarfs anything Bush & Obama has for that transition. The lies are just too absurd to believe anymore.
BTW, the landlords aren’t free of their share of the blame. Most of what is selling right now at inflated prices are run down rentals that landlords benefited from renting & never upkept the structure. Oh. the paint is fresh and a few other things. But the roof is now 20+ years old. It is what it is, those bills are due, the lies are what they are. Anyone really think a home in Palm Coast is worth what the Covid Bubble appreciated them for taxation, that the properties aren’t back to flipping inflation lies. The same lies of nonsense that ended the Bush era in 2008 ?
Nibbles McDribblewad says
We really need to get governors like the great state of California’s Gavin Newsom, or New York’s Pervo Cuomo to show us how to do “inexpensive housing”. Did you know that everyone in California owns their own house? It’s true. They are called “tents”, and many of them have beach and or park views! Some live in units called “the gutter”. These homes are on the water (chunky water, but still, water). They live in a dream like utopia that we Floridians can only hope for. All they have to do is ‘fix’ every 4 hours, and their entire lives are lived in total bliss.
Timothy Patrick Welch says
Hello!! Affordable housing is not a governmental problem.
The wealthy must be feeling pressure from their household contractors and low skilled employees, who are pleading for higher pay… Since the wealthy don’t want to pay any more than is necessary, the solution must come from the government.
The wealthy demand more affordable housing…so they don’t have to pay their people more.
Wake up…