JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Most people expect their rent to increase yearly, but what would you do if it increased by as much as $300?
That’s the reality for a group of people who live close to Jacksonville Beach.
Instead of moving elsewhere, they’re petitioning against the rent increase.
Residents at Portside at the Beaches, a manufactured home community, were hit with a drastic lot rent increase in June. Some people like Dylan Olson will have their rent increase by as much as 30%.
“I knew that it was gonna go up a little bit, but I thought it would be factored in, you know, 3 to 5 percent a year. I was definitely not expecting a $258 [monthly] increase,” Olson said.
The notice said the reason for the increase was the “prevailing market rent” and the amount was “determined by the community owner.”
That’s not a good enough reason for Olson who’s been rallying his neighbors to fight the price hike.
“I printed out 500 flyers and I went down the names of the list that the community gave me that got the same rent increases. And I handed out over 500 flyers and scheduled a meeting with the community,” Olson said.
Using state law, Olson figured out that he could petition the reasonableness of the increase in the lot rental amount. He just needed roughly 300 signatures from his neighbors to do it.
“Once we have the petition filled out, we get assigned a mediator and they will arrange a meeting with the owner of the community,” Olson said. “They’ll have to sit down and give us the reasons why the rent is going up when none of the conditions in the park have changed.”
Portside at the Beaches is owned by RHP Properties, the nation’s largest private owner and operator of manufactured home communities “providing affordable homes across America.”
“It’s such a huge corporation and you do the math, they’re already making multiple millions of dollars a year and it just seems like they’re, you know, taking from people that can’t afford it,” Olson said.
Dylan still needs 75 signatures by Saturday, July 27, to successfully complete the petition.
If you live at Portside at the Beaches and want to sign the petition, you can reach Olson at dyolson2024@yahoo.com for more information.