MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami-Dade County commissioners voted Tuesday on an ordinance to require landlords to give 60-days notice to tenants when rent is increasing by more than 5%.
The move comes at a time the county is facing an affordable housing crisis with rent skyrocketing.
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“It gives residents time to prepare or find a new place to live,” said Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who proposed the ordinance.
Before the meeting, a group of renters and affordable housing advocates demonstrated in front of the government center in downtown Miami, urging commissioners to do more to battle rent costs that are spiraling out of control. Some apartment owners are raising the rent by as much as $1,000 a month.
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Demonstrator Emily Moloney says she received word from her landlord that he’s raising her rent by $750 a month.
“It’s becoming impossible to live here. My family is here. I don’t want to leave but I’m being pushed out” said the tech employee.
Some demonstrators are advocating for rent control to force landlords to keep rent in check.
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But County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says that can’t happen quickly. She says a study is underway on the feasibility of rent control, but it would have to be proved in a referendum vote. The mayor says the earliest that could happen is in 2023.
