"Landlords taking advantage of college students" during Coronavirus crisis

As the COVID-19 virus continues to threaten the lives of people around the globe, American citizens are being affected in many ways they did not anticipate being affected by.

This includes students around the country who are living on and off-campus at their respective colleges in order to attend classes

Responding to the issue is Florida Rep. Carlos G. Smith (D) who says that he has received calls from worried students whose complexes are not cooperating with the financial concerns that the students are facing.

In a tweet, the Florida lawmaker shared footage of a 10 Tampa Bay report covering the financial crisis that students are facing in his district and did not hold back from calling out those that are cooperating.

Speaking on the matter, Rep. Smith said that “this is a widespread issue affecting students all over the state of Florida where off-campus corporate landlords are taking advantage during a pandemic [and refusing to allow early lease terminations.]”

In response, along with other state leaders, Rep. Smith directed a letter to complexes requesting that “off-campus housing managers and corporations enact a temporary policy that allows students to terminate their lease early without penalties or fees provided the student has vacated the property and given reasonable advance written notice.”