Jacksonville leaders launch public rental‑registry website to surface code violations

Council member Jimmy Peluso announced a new rental‑registry website on behalf of the city and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid on the morning of the press conference, saying the tool will allow tenants to search properties for code‑compliance violations and eviction information before signing a lease. "You can go in right now, search up a property, especially a rental property, and see if there have been any issues with that property," Peluso said.

Jim Kowalski, executive director and CEO of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA), said JALA loaded three years of Jacksonville code‑enforcement records into the tool and will refresh those records on a regular schedule. "They're all public. They're just hard for normal people to get," Kowalski said, describing the registry as a way to make existing city records more accessible. He emphasized the registry is designed to highlight both repeat offending landlords and responsible managers so renters and the market can respond.

The registry complements the city’s eviction diversion efforts, Kowalski said, and is not intended to substitute for formal enforcement. Panelists stressed that some tenant remedies remain governed by Florida statute: Kowalski noted that certain repair and rent‑withholding options are legal defenses under state law and not created by the database. Former assistant secretary and ex‑state senator Jose Javier Rodriguez framed the tool as a transparency measure that could help enforcement offices pursue repeat offenders, saying: "Before you sign a lease, you should know which landlords are violating code." The event closed with Peluso urging residents to visit jackstablehousing.org for immediate searches and information.