Maxwell Frost pushes to eliminate junk fees from landlords

Rep. Maxwell Frost holds a press conference at the House Triangle. Photo by Jacob Ogles.

Rent costs enough in Florida. U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost said tenants don’t need to be slapped with more hidden fees.

At a news conference on Capitol Hill, the Orlando Democrat announced legislation demanding more transparency from landlords. The End Junk Fees for Renters Act took inspiration partly from fees charged on Florida tenants even for them to send an email about deficiencies with a property.

“In my hometown of Central Florida, we have one of the worst housing affordability problems in the entire country, per capita,” Frost said. “So, this is a problem that is very specific to Central Florida, but also people across the country.”

He introduced the bill with U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a California Democrat and co-founder of the Congressional Renters Caucus. He said it’s important for tenants to have a voice on policy.

Frost and Gomez both share a similar story of their first days working as members of Congress. Frost revealed after he won election following a finance-draining campaign, the 26-year-old couldn’t find an apartment that would let him stay because of bad credit. While he has since found a place, he spent his first weeks on the job “couch surfing.”

Gomez, meanwhile, said he slept in his office until he could afford a unit in the D.C. real estate market.

“I had to sleep on the couch when I first got here because a lot of members of Congress, a few of us, don’t have the necessary resources to buy a house,” he said, “and sometimes even to have enough money to rent, especially when they’re charging first month’s-last month’s rent and the security deposit.”

Frost said the bill was crafted after reports of numerous hidden fees striking his constituents. Those included property charges of $175 if tenants wanted their units tested for mold, or $50 just to have an email read by a landlord.

The Congressman said while property owners have the right to make a profit off their investment, they should not be allowed to slam tenants with additional junk fees.

“We have to put an end to the profiteering and corruption, and we need to usher in transparency,” he said.

“They deserve to know the history of how rent increases have impacted the people, and renters deserve to live with dignity. They deserve to know the full cost of an apartment up front and they deserve to have the power to drive costs down as well.”

He also recalled being unable to stay in an apartment himself during the campaign after a landlord increased rent by 33% in a single month. Of course, nothing in the bill necessarily stops rents from going up, but if landlords try and charge for unnecessary services, the new legislation would require an itemized disclosure similar to when purchasing a car.

The bill is being led by Democrats in a GOP-controlled House, but Gomez expressed hope he could attract Republican support. He noted most evictions take place in red cities or counties, where few tenant protections are explicitly written into law.

Frost hinted at more renter-friendly legislation in the near future. Protections are especially important in Florida, he noted, where landlords successfully challenged an Orange County rent control referendum in court and where the Florida Legislature limited the ability to pass local controls on landlords.

“Voters went to the ballot box and over 60% of voters in Orange County said yes to rent stabilization. Then the state Legislature right after moved and did the work to strike that down through litigation. And now it’s not the law of Orange County because of that,” Frost said.

“We’ve seen time and time again in different states, especially states run by Republicans like in the state of Florida because they want to subvert democracy and the will of the people. That’s why we have to work hard up here and pass federal legislation to protect renters, because at least in Florida, we can’t depend on Tallahassee to do any other protections.”