On May 3, 2022, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners adopted an ordinance creating Chapter 17, Article XIII of the Code of Miami-Dade County, otherwise to be known as the “Miami-Dade County Tenant’s Bill of Rights.”
The ordinance is intended to protect residential tenants from discrimination and unfair and illegal rental practices and inform tenants of their rights. Under the new ordinance, landlords must provide each tenant with a “Notice of Tenant Rights” no later than 10 days after the commencement or renewal of a tenancy.
The new ordinance also requires the County Mayor to establish a Tenant Information Helpline and website, which would refer tenants to an agency or entity that can provide assistance to the tenant for their particular issue. The hotline will be available in English, Spanish, and Creole.
The ordinance restates and incorporates a prohibition against certain unlawful practices which are presently codified in the Florida Statutes, such as engaging in discriminatory housing practices and terminating or interrupting certain utility services.
Additionally, the ordinance creates other tenant’s rights, such as making it unlawful for any landlord to:
- Fail to timely provide each tenant with a notice of tenant’s rights.
- In a month to month tenancy, fail to provide tenant with a written notice of change in dwelling ownership where such change may result in termination of tenancy.
- Inquire about, consider, or require disclosure from current or future tenants their eviction history when considering a rental application.
- Take an adverse action against a tenant who makes necessary repairs on their own and deducts the cost from their rental payment under certain circumstances.
- Take any adverse action against a tenant in retaliation for the tenant’s use of the Tenant Information Helpline. There will be a rebuttable presumption that an adverse action is retaliatory if it occurs within 60 days after a tenant utilizes the Tenant Information Helpline and no other reasonable basis exists for the adverse action.
[See ordinance for complete list of tenant’s rights]
Furthermore, the ordinance permits tenants to file a civil action for violations, which must occur no later than two years after the alleged violation.
Our firm is exceedingly familiar with these matters, having resolved a multitude of landlord/tenant disputes in our years of practice. If you need help with a landlord/tenant matter, please do not hesitate to schedule a consultation with our office.
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