JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The issue of absentee or neglectful landlords continues to be an ongoing problem for many renters across Jacksonville, with residents telling News4JAX they often struggle to get responses when maintenance issues arise.
Now, a Jacksonville city councilman is pushing for a new tool he says could help tenants get answers.
Councilman Jimmy Peluso is working to create what he calls a “Rental Registry,” a system designed to help residents identify who owns a rental property and review a landlord’s history of code violations and other information before signing a lease.
In recent months, the News4JAX I-Team has spoken with dozens of residents who said they weren’t sure who to contact or where to go when they experienced problems in their apartments and felt their landlords were not responding.
Peluso said the goal is to give renters more power and more clarity.
“I want to give people the tools to make sure they’re not trapped anymore,” Peluso said.
Peluso said new developments were announced on Wednesday. Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA), a nonprofit law firm focused on housing justice for low-income residents, will spearhead the rental registry initiative.
According to Peluso, JALA will take on the primary role of housing the registry and maintaining a list of rental properties, including details on how a renter can contact the property owner.
“They have decided that they’re going to take on the main role of actually having the rental registry,” Peluso said. “They’re going to have a list of all the rental properties and how somebody can get in touch with the person who owns the property.”
Peluso said the plans go beyond the registry. For renters dealing with problems such as broken air conditioning or mold and other maintenance issues, he said he’s working toward creating an ombudsman position.
The idea, he said, would be for residents to have someone they can call to help navigate city resources and connect them with departments like Code Compliance.
“One of my big objectives was to get an ombudsman position, somebody who can be called upon by any member of the community saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got an issue in this rental property… where can I go for assistance?’” Peluso said. “Now that ombudsman could get them in touch with someone in code compliance.”
Peluso said the broader goal behind the registry is to create a one-stop shop that makes information and resources easier to access.
“We have a lot of resources within the city of Jacksonville, but they’re in different departments,” Peluso said. “Sometimes you have to do a public records request, so this is just going to make that more freely available… so this could be a one-stop shop that’s easy for folks to get in touch with.”
Peluso said he plans to file a state of housing report in the coming weeks. He also said he wants the rental registry program up and running in about three months.