Miami is one of the most expensive cities in the country, with a median household income of nearly $ 90,000, compared to $ 68,000 for the country.
It’s no surprise that the housing market is targeting the city’s wealthiest residents, causing a huge shortage of affordable housing that disproportionately affects low-wage workers, Kresge reported .
Consequently, Miami has earned the distinction of being the American city with the highest number of employed adults who are “burdened by the cost of housing,” meaning that residents spend more than 30% of their income on housing. sometimes more than 85% in housing, crossing that ominous dividing line between housing that is affordable and that which is not.
The city’s housing shortage is compounded by a widespread disregard for tenant rights, says Santra Denis, executive director of the Miami Workers Center, a nonprofit that seeks to strengthen the power of tenants and of low-wage workers, and a member of the Kresge Foundation’s cohort of beneficiaries, Advancing Health Equity Through Housing.
“Currently, there is no central office in Miami-Dade County for tenants to report problems they have with their landlord. So it’s the wild, wild west in terms of tenant protection in South Florida, ”he explains.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Miami Worker Center staff have knocked on the doors of more than 2,000 tenants most vulnerable to eviction, abuse and displacement to better understand their experiences and needs.
To strengthen tenant protections, the Miami Worker Centers have launched a campaign for a Tenant Bill of Rights.
