South Florida’s affordable housing crisis is well-documented.  With a low-wage economy and some of the highest housing costs in the world, Miami-Dade and Monroe County tenants face the realities of the region’s affordable housing crisis each month when the rent is due.  The affordability crisis has only  increased with the COVID-19 pandemic and related financial crisis with Miami-Dade rents increasing 49% between December 2020 and December 2021.  Increasingly unaffordable rents subject hundreds of thousands of local residents to illegal lock outs and eviction actions for not making full and timely rental payments each month.  Tenant representation is a proven strategy to prevent evictions, and disruptive housing displacement. With the deepening housing crisis and the critical benefit of keeping families stably housed, Legal Services’ advocacy is vital.

Legal Services assists tenants living in private, public, and subsidized housing who are facing eviction, illegal lockout, or are living with serious housing conditions.