JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Monday, Dec. 5, is the last day for families in Jacksonville struggling to pay rent to apply for some relief.
Neighbors on Jacksonville’s Southside can understand the need for a program like this, since many told Action News Jax they’ve seen their rent spike about $300 a month.
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Some have had to renegotiate salaries while others have had to cut back on groceries and essentials, all to make ends meet.
It’s a situation a lot of folks are in, which is why the City of Jacksonville is reminding everyone to look into emergency rental assistance if they believe they need it.
The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) could cover up to a year of past due rent, plus utility payments for rental households negatively impacted by the pandemic.
Read: Jax announces details on how to apply for emergency rental and utility assistance program
”I honestly didn’t know about that program until right now,” said renter Tyler Souza. “And I think that’s great. That’s super helpful.”
He says he lives in a one bedroom one bathroom apartment, and that he has had to make adjustments in the past year to stretch his budget.
”Definitely feeling the pressure of increasing rent,” he explained.
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”My rent was $1,100 a month and then when I re-signed [my lease], it went up about $350 more,” he pointed out. “Now I’m at $1450, or something like that.”
Souza is far from alone.
A new report by the rental platform Zumper shows rent increases in Jacksonville are among the highest in the nation.
The City of Jacksonville announced last week it received an additional $3.3 million in federal funds for rent and utility help. Here is the number of ERAP applicants as of Friday:
“I think that’s fantastic,” Souza added. “I wanna do more research on that because it’d be helpful to a lot of people in the area.”
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