Florida is the Worst State for Renters—And New Laws Could Trigger a Homelessness Crisis by July
A recent report highlighted in ConsumerAffairs and reported by WCTV confirms what so many Floridians are already feeling. Florida now ranks dead last in the nation for renters. The typical renter is spending more than 37% of their income just to keep a roof over their head, far above what is considered affordable.
Now ask yourself this; if housing is already out of reach for the average Floridian, what does that mean for someone on the registry?
Because layered on top of this crisis are policies like SB 212 and HB 45, which further restrict where a person can live. A new law going into effect July 1st expands residency restrictions for people on the registry and create additional barriers that don’t just limit options, but totally eliminates them.
Here’s the prediction: When you take a population that is already struggling to find housing… Then remove large portions of available housing through legal restrictions… Then add social stigma that discourages landlords from renting to them… You get homelessness.
If Florida is already the worst state in the country for renters, and we simultaneously pass laws that make vast areas off-limits, and we have a lifetime registry with thousands of people being added each year and nobody coming off, we are engineering a situation where people will have nowhere to go.
And when people are forced into homelessness, it doesn’t make communities safer. It makes monitoring harder. It makes stability impossible. It creates exactly the kind of conditions policymakers claim they are trying to prevent.
And unless something changes, come July, we are going to see the consequences unfold in real time. Expect thousands more homeless registrants on our streets.
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None of those lawmakers, absolutely not one, not one single one of them, regardless of their political affiliation cares one bit about us. All they care is, “Well, let’s get one leg up on XX Republican or XX Democrat lawmaker on how tough we can be on crime because they are weak and they haven’t thought about this issue or that to protect children”, and since that mango fruit is hanging very low, it will be easy cake”. In their clustered minds, they think that any and all suffering they barrel down on our families, is due to our own fault and decisions made. They have the intention to “serve and protect” but, who can protect our families, who can protect them from being living in a car, from sleeping in a bathroom floor, from sleeping in a tent out deep in the woods when is cold or hot?…who can protect our families if a vigilante comes to knock on our doors demanding our heads so they stuff us in a suitcase?….Yes, I truly hope that one day we can feel less oppressed, less punished, less restricted. Just like MLK said….” I have a dream…”….well, I have a dream too….the dream of being free from these chains, the dream to not worry of going to prison for some little technical crap, the dream of traveling to places with my family, the dream of not having anymore shame of being ashamed, the dream of working any work I am qualified to perform, the dream to just live, to really, truly live, to be alive, and to truly feel alive.
That’s because lawmakers don’t hear from us.
FAC: Please forgive the advertisement, but this may help someone – so please publish it if you can.
I own two rental units in the Fort Myers area. Needless to say, they are registrant friendly. I am not independently wealthy, however, so I cannot sponsor someone. I need them to have a job (or fixed income) that pays reasonably well. (If I were rich, then I would be much more flexible.)
Anyway, if anyone needs a place, one of the units is open right now. It is an efficiency cottage suitable for one (preferably) or a couple. It is small, but it has a full bathroom with standup shower and a kitchen with an 8 cubic foot refrigerator/freezer, a full sized electric range and a single kitchen sink. It is in pretty good shape and freshly painted. Clean and cozy! It’s in a beautiful, private wooded area yet within walking distance of supermarkets, convenience stores, drug stores etc. And there are 2 city bus stop about a 3 minute walk away also. If you need a place, email FAC and they can pass your info to me, and I will be in touch.