Former Assistant Public Defender Regina Nunnally, an inspirational speaker, author, preacher and lawyer with Community Legal Services, will lead a free “Know Your Rights” workshop for renters on Aug. 26 at Flagler Cares’ Flagler County Village at Palm Coast’s City Marketplace.
The workshop will offer essential information for renters on their legal protections and responsibilities. Nunnally, known in court for her fierce advocacy against all odds and her vivid abilities to explain complex matters, will address common issues tenants face. These include rental repair disputes, the eviction process and how to prevent getting to that point, how to recognize and avoid rental scams, and what rights tenants have whether they have signed a lease or not, among other issues.
Participants will be able to ask questions, present issues they may be having at their rental, and learn of resources to address or prevent problems.
The workshop is at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Room of the Flagler County Village, City Marketplace, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite B304, third floor.
“When a person pays rent to live in a house, apartment, condominium or mobile home, the renter becomes a tenant governed by Florida law. It doesn’t matter whether payment is made weekly, monthly or at other regular periods,” the Florida Bar’s pamphlet on tenants’ rights states. “Also, it doesn’t matter whether the apartment, house, condominium or mobile home is rented from a private person, a corporation or most governmental units. These facts are true even when there is no written ‘lease’ agreement.” Tenants’ rights are outlined in the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act.
“I am well aware of the challenges youth and indigent persons face, especially in the court system. As an attorney, I have been exposed to a variety of complex, unpopular and volatile issues,” Nunnally has written.
A graduate of the University of Florida and Barry University School of Law, Nunnally was an assistant public defender in the felony division of the Seventh Judicial Circuit between 2005 and 2014. The circuit includes Flagler, Volusia, St. Johns and Putnam counties. Nunnally represented countless defendants, mostly in Flagler County, including at more than 60 jury and non-jury trials. She has published numerous legal articles and been a featured speaker and motivational speaker at university panel discussions, on radio and at conferences in Central Florida.
She’s also, incidentally, a black belt in n Tae Kwon Do, and she’s known for her “Nunneryizm” (for example, “Thy shalt not be ignorant,” and “What’s your malfunction?”). Nunneryizm “is a variation of my last name coined by a lawyer colleague,” she wrote on her webpage. “While in court, I would make up my [witty] legal slang while arguing a case to the judge or jury. So, my co-worker coined my slogan as Nunneryizms.”
The workshop, enabled by a CLS grant, is a partnership between Community Legal Services and Flagler Cares. Community Legal Services is a nonprofit law firm that provides free legal assistance and education to eligible Flagler County and Central Florida residents on civil legal matters, empowering them to protect their rights. Flagler Cares is a non-profit that connects people to benefits, direct services or resources through a “no-wrong-door” approach.
“We’re excited to organize this event with Community Legal Services, and hopefully others in the future, to bring much-needed information to our neighbors who are either struggling with a landlord issue currently or just want to be educated more fully about their rights as a tenant,” Flagler Cares CEO Carrie Baird said.
Walk-ins are welcome, or you may reserve your spot here. The workshop is free and open to all.
Roger Wallace says
I hope that the workshop focused as much on the tenant’s responsibilities as as they do on their rights. I was a landlord for over 50 years. You give people a decent place to live at a fair price and it’s a shame how many if them game the system. Not all but some tenants have no sense of responsibility.
They damage a rental and expect the Landlord to repair the damage for free. They’re shocked when they’re held accountable for the damages for whick they’re responsible.
Some tenants expect to be able to pay their rent late or make partial payments as if it’s their right. Others move out in the middle of if the night or at the end of their lease with the rental damaged, filthy or full of trash. They forget about the clause in the lease that defines the condition a rental should be left in at move out.
20 percent if landlords dealt with late rent or damaged property in the last two years. That’s around 9.2 million instances.
If a landlord exercises their rights when rent is late or damages occur some tenants seek to punish the landlord by causing more damage or withholding more rent that is legally due.
I believe that it is because the culture has changed. The degree if lack of responsibility and people’s sense of entitlement gas soared. Parents- teach your children the right path!