Renters can look up code enforcement violations at any Jacksonville rental property before signing a lease, using a free online tool that went live Friday.

Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA) launched the registry at JaxStableHousing.org, where tenants can search an address and see three years of city code enforcement records on a map. JALA CEO and President Jim Kowalski and Jacksonville City Council members Jimmy Peluso and Michael Boylan unveiled the tool at a Friday event, News4JAX reported.

Kowalski said the registry makes existing public records easier for renters to access. Florida law does not allow local governments to require landlords to register rental properties, he said, but the tool pulls from municipal code compliance data already on file.

Officials Say Information Gives Renters Leverage

"At the very least, we can give people information," Peluso said. "And with that information, we expect them to say, 'Oh wow, there were cockroaches here two weeks ago. You know what? I'm going to rent somewhere else.'"

Ceiling Collapse Preceded the Registry's Launch

The launch came days after a Jacksonville woman, Jessica Dozier, said part of her apartment ceiling at Calloway Cove Apartments collapsed at about 1:28 a.m. Tuesday while she and her family slept. Dozier told News4JAX she had warned management about the problem roughly 12 hours earlier.

Tool Draws Only From Code Enforcement Data

The registry has limits. It draws only from code enforcement records, so problems that do not rise to a code violation will not appear. Landlords are not required to participate.

Renters Must Still Notify Landlords First

Kowalski said tenants still cannot withhold rent over unsafe conditions without first notifying their landlord and working with city code enforcement, as Florida law requires. JALA operates a tenant clinic that helps renters provide that legally required notice and can represent them in court.

Violations that have been resolved will stay on the registry but will be marked as closed. Kowalski said the goal is to show which landlords fix problems quickly and which do not.

Future Plans May Reveal Property Managers

JALA said future updates could add details about property managers and the companies behind rental properties. Officials at the launch said identifying who manages a property can be difficult when ownership runs through multiple limited liability companies.

Former state Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, who also spoke at the event, called the registry a way to identify landlords who repeatedly fail to meet minimum housing standards.

Cost Burden Affects Majority of Renters

More than half of Jacksonville renters are cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on rent, according to Kowalski. City officials have estimated 90,000 local renters exceed that threshold, according to a Sept. 9 Jacksonville Today report on housing funding.

Where Renters Can Access the Registry

Renters can search the registry at JaxStableHousing.org or contact JALA's tenant clinic at JaxLegalAid.org.