*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE* Wednesday, June 7, 2022
Media contact: Lizzie Suarez lizzie@miamiworkerscenter.org, 305-759-8717 (ext 109)
Miami, FL – Tenants and families at risk of eviction and displacement in Miami-Dade due to rental price gouging, housing discrimination, and inaccess to affordable housing will be gathering on Saturday, June 11th at Joseph Caleb Center for a “Tenant Assembly”, organized by the Miami Workers Center, an organization led by tenants fighting for protections and power in neighborhoods across Miami-Dade.
WHAT: Gathering of tenants for a Tenant Assembly to discuss issue and solutions of Miami-Dade housing crisis
WHEN: Saturday, June 11th, 2022, 11:00am
WHERE: Joseph Caleb Center, 5400 NW 22nd Ave, Miami, FL 33142
As South Florida leads the nation in housing inaffordability and continues to file evictions, tenants with the Miami Workers Center have been leading the fight for more protections for renters through organizing with neighbors and families and practicing their rights. Tenants with the Miami Workers Center:
- Demanded and won funding for Miami-Dade County’s first ever Office of Housing and Tenant Advocacy in September 2021
- Demanded and won 60-day notice period for rent increases and evictions, passed in March 2022
- Introduced, demanded, and won the “Tenant Bill of Rights” legislation, co-sponsored by Commissioner Jean Monestime and Commissioner Raquel Regalado, which passed unanimously on May 3rd, 2022
The expansion of tenants’ rights and protections is attributed to adopting solutions being brought forth by tenants themselves, who are most impacted by the housing crisis. Ahead of the Mayor’s Housing Summit, where developers plan discuss their approach to the crisis, tenants are holding a Tenant Assembly to discuss housing affordability, safety, accessibility issues and proposed solutions such as a Right to Counsel program to provide legal counsel to tenants facing eviction. Currently, only 2% of tenants are represented in Miami-Dade eviction court, while 90% of landlords have representation.
Statement from Miami Workers Center on the housing crisis, and what action must be taken by Miami-Dade County Commissioners:
“The severity of this housing crisis should not be sugarcoated. Organizers and members of the Miami Workers Center have been holding the most direct and consistent outreach in Miami-Dade to impacted tenants throughout the pandemic. It is those closest to the problem, who have the solutions. Daily and weekly, we receive calls from tenants who are being harassed by their landlord, forced to live in inhumane living conditions, and even being faced with illegal evictions, utility shutoffs, and lockouts. All of this, on top of trying to navigate an impossible rental market, provide for their families and earn a living.
While the supply of affordable housing is certainly and urgently needed, and is one way to address the crisis, what Miami-Dade County Commissioners can do immediately is prevent evictions by enforcing the Tenant Bill of Rights, supporting the study for rent stabilization, and funding of Right to Counsel in the Miami-Dade County Budget. Evictions have devastating impacts on individuals, families, communities, and our county at large; they contribute to public health crises, homelessness, mental health issues, break down the social ties of our communities, and are expensive on the county dollar. We must invest in urgent solutions that have an immediate impact as well as the support of tenants who are most affected.”