Hialeah residents have received millions of dollars to help with rent. They need more.
Since last March, 440 Hialeah households have requested financial assistance to pay their rent through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). They are all located in five of the city’s 10 ZIP codes — 33010, 33012, 33014, 33016 and 33018 — according to the city’s grants administration office.
Hialeah has received a $7 million from ERAP from the U.S Department of Treasury since the program was created on March 8, 2021. A total of $4.3 million, Roman O. García Jr., the city’s grants administrator, told el Nuevo Herald has been allocated to residents since then.
Of that total amount, $391,000 has been used to provide assistance to 60 households since February, when Mayor Esteban Bovo Jr. explained at a press conference that the city would use federal funds to provide financial assistance to tenants who cannot afford the payments on their homes.
The aid covers three months of rent. And moving expenses would be included in the emergency plan when the tenants have a new place to live.
READ MORE: Here’s how eligible Miami-Dade residents can get emergency rental assistance
Rachel Rubí, a tenant at 1501 W 42nd St, is one of those affected — along with her mother — by high housing costs. Rent in her building was raised by $650 in December 2021. Since then, she has joined the rest of the building’s tenants to demand help from the Miami-Dade County and City of Hialeah authorities.
“We thank the city of Hialeah for helping us pay the rent to Eco Stone Group (the corporation that owns the property), but we believe that they don’t deserve our money after all the trauma they have caused us with the $650 rent increase two days after Christmas in 2021,” Rubí complained.
AREA WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF EVICTION CASES
In the five ZIP codes where the population of tenants who have applied for economic assistance is concentrated, 298 of the 422 eviction cases (70.6%) that city residents have been filed in court, according to a Miami-Dade County evictions report.
Several cases have been dismissed, such as that of Yudet Pérez, a tenant at the 1501 W 42nd St building, who, along with her husband and her daughter, feared being left homeless. However, the eviction file will remain in her record, a precedent that may hinder their ability to relocate.
“The case will always appear in the eviction record, but it will show that it has been dismissed. They could file a motion to make it a confidential record in court. They have the right to do that. Otherwise, a property owner searching their rental history may find this file. Only a few will go into the file to find out the verdict,” explained Jeffrey M. Hearne, attorney and director of litigation at Legal Services of Greater Miami, an organization that provides free civil legal services.
Pérez said she and her family have been stigmatized after exposing her economic situation in the media. She complained that real estate agents, when they recognize her, avoid showing her new units to to move into. For now, she has no other choice than to stay in her apartment, although she does not know how much longer she will be able to live there.
It’s been more than a year since the start of the economic assistance program, yet the crisis has not diminished in Hialeah. For many renters, the future looks uncertain.
“Unfortunately, in Florida we don’t have many protections for tenants. Property owners have no limit on how much they can increase rents,” Hearne noted, adding that “the County is doing a study to determine if the housing emergency could bring about a rent control that limits the increase, but it’s not realistic to think that this path is a solution to the housing crisis in South Florida.”
EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE IN EFFECT UNTIL SEPTEMBER
The program sponsored by Miami-Dade County aims to help families struggling to pay the rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it covers payments for public services and housing stabilization.
Although the assistance program is in effect until Sept. 30, 2022, some tenants claim that financial assistance in Hialeah is no longer considered an emergency because the processing of the applications is not quick enough.
Rubí is one of the beneficiaries of this aid, along with seven other tenants in her building. However, she explained to el Nuevo Herald that her assistance period ended in March and so far she has not received a response from the city regarding its renewal.
“The last time we applied for assistance to pay the rent it was approved right away because they classified our case as an emergency, but this time they don’t consider it as such. Almost a month has passed since the new request and we still have no response,” Rubí explained.
In this regard, the city’s grants administrator assured that “as long as ERAP funds are available, the city will help those who ask us for assistance.” He added that the City “is waiting for news from the Treasury Department to find out if that term will be extended or not.” He did not specify about the reported delays in new applications.
UNHEALTHY LIVING CONDITIONS
Rubí also has issues with the building’s living conditions.
“Our rent went up $650 in 30 days, but our walls are moldy and damp, and there are no fire alarms. The tenants of this building are working-class, disabled and elderly people who don’t deserve this treatment,” said Rubí.
A washer and dryer for 20 families were recently installed in the building, after having eliminated the laundry room during the pandemic, but Rubí stressed that the appliances are in poor condition and are insufficient for the number of people who live in the unit.
On several occasions, el Nuevo Herald has tried to communicate with the real estate company to find out its version of the events, without success.
A “Tenant’s Bill of Rights” would bring new protections throughout Miami-Dade County, including preventing the tenants from being evicted if they pay the repairs that their landlord should pay for.
READ MORE: Tenants could divert rent to pay for neglected repairs under Miami-Dade proposal
Under the proposal, tenants would be protected from eviction if they deduct the cost of property repairs from their rent.
The absence or poor quality of housing maintenance was one of the complaints that tenants shared with the county commissioners during the hearing of the Committee on Public Housing and Community Services on April 14, while the owners warned that the new legislation could cause problems for tenants if not changed.
Although Hearne is cautious about the scope of the bill, he believes that it “would give a stronger protection to tenants to challenge the property owner who is taking advantage of them. The rule would give tenants more options but will not help in rent affordability,” he said.
The legislation also prohibits property owners from asking about prior evictions before deciding whether a prospective tenant would qualify for the rental. If this rule is approved, the bias would end and it would allow people like Yudet Pérez, who was taken to court, to find a better place to live.
HOW TO GET HELP
Residents of the City of Hialeah who need help to pay their rent can apply for financial assistance at the Hialeah Funding Opportunities / Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) website or by calling 305-863-2970.
This story was originally published April 23, 2022 at 1:59 PM.
