A coalition of consumer advocates is urging state legislators to enact new protections for renters inhabiting foreclosed properties and to support a slew of other bills that would alleviate the financial burdens of the recession.
Accompanied by state Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, and state Rep. Ronald Brise, D-North Miami, the Florida Consumer Coalition voiced support Feb. 17 for a wide spectrum of proposals that would aid consumers. The coalition comprises Florida Legal Services, the Consumer Action Network, the United Way of Florida and others.
Gelber, Democratic candidate for state Attorney General, said identical state Senate and House of Representatives bills would require that renters of foreclosed properties be given at least 90 days, or until their lease ends, to terminate their rent if they have a written contract. If they dont have a written contract, they only have 90 days to terminate the rent.
The bills (SB 606 and HB 415) also make provision for landlords of foreclosed properties to provide credit for renter security deposits.
Michelle Fontaine, a paralegal renting in Tallahassee, said she learned less than two months after signing a year-long lease that that her three-bedroom home was under foreclosure. The property had been in foreclosure before she signed , but she had not been told, she said.
She said that the Senate Bill, which Gelber sponsored, and House bill, which Brise sponsored, should be amended to require landlords to warn renters of foreclosures before they sign a lease.
Im here to support this bill because I should have some kind of notice, she said
Brise asked for support of his bill (HB 409) to raise the amount a head of a family could earn to qualify for a wage garnishment exemption. Heads of family currently qualify for an exemption if they make no more than $500 in disposable earnings weekly. If they make more, they can qualify for an exemption with a written waiver.
The bill would raise the amount to no more than $750 weekly and require that a written waiver be attached to creditor contracts and written in the same language as the contract. Brise said inflation has made the $500 exemption requirement a burden on workers and their families.
Now, were bringing it up to todays standards, he said
Other speakers urged supporting a broad reform of the Public Services Commission that would ban off-the-record ex parte communication between commission staff and businesses , modernizing the state unemployment compensation system and repealing the cap on trust funds to improve investment in affordable housing.
