ami-Dade Mayor Declares State of Emergency Over Housing Affordability Due to Unprecedented Rent Increases

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava declared a state of emergency over housing affordability as rent continues to skyrocket on Friday.

“Over the last year, we have also become one of the most unaffordable regions in the country,” said Mayor Cava during her press conference.

“I’m putting together a plan called the Building Blocks program, and it will be as a first step. Today, we are announcing a new and additional $13 million into our emergency rental assistance program,” Cava added.

“Our workers, our seniors, our families have been burdened with unprecedented rent increases over 30%, higher than last year. For single mothers, for older adults, for our students, this is simply not an option. It’s not an option for any of us,” Cava continued.

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Miami Herald reported:

Finally declaring a housing affordability crisis, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and her colleagues face the daunting challenge of trying to make homes more affordable for residents.

“We have become the most unaffordable place in the country,” Levine Cava said Friday, noting that’s “what’s different now.” As a first step, the county mayor announced the Building Blocks Program, an effort to use $13.4 million in federal funding for Miami-Dade’s emergency rental assistance program to help tenants struggling to pay rent.

The program’s key pieces are: The county will pay up to $3,000 a month to people behind on their monthly rent payments by up to a year; if your landlord raises the rent between 1% and 20%, the county will assist by covering up to 20% of your monthly payment for three months; and for tenants hit with rent hikes of more than 20%, the county will pay a portion of that increase.

Residents with an income below 80% of the county’s annual median income are eligible. That includes individuals earning less than $50,650, couples earning less than $57,650, families of three earning less than $65,100 and families of four earning less than $72,300.

IAlso, last month the county mayor began requiring property owners to give a 60-day notice, rather than the former 30 days, to tenants when their monthly rents are going to increase by 5% or more.

Read more here.