How Corporate Slumlords Ate Your Lunch Money
“Milker Investors” Jacksonville’s Corporate Slum Landlords May 22, 2026 By Sherry Magill David Jaffee and Katie Renzi’s study of Duval County’s
JALA welcomes Emily Taylor-Hernandez as the JWLA Kathy Para Student Intern
Emily Taylor-Hernandez, a pre-law student at Syracuse University, has been selected to serve as the JWLA Kathy Para Student Intern this summer in the Family Law & Victim Advocacy Unit at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. A resident of Fleming Island, Taylor-Hernandez is majoring in forensic Science and psychology, and she is a member of the Kappa Alpha Pi Pre-Law and Pre-Government Professional Fraternity, the Psi Chi National Honor Society, and the Pre-Law Society, among other student organizations. She was the recipient of the Community Service Award at Episcopal School of Jacksonville, and she said more than 600 hours of volunteer work has shaped her perspective. “Volunteering has not only taught me how rewarding service can be but how I can use my voice to advocate for others” she said.
Sealing & Expungement Fair
Sealing & Expungement Fair Saturday, June 27 Hosted by: Jacksonville Area Legal Aid
JALA and the City of Jacksonville save the home of a cancer patient from foreclosure
“Lynda” came to JALA after getting behind on her mortgage due to a prolonged battle with stage 4 cancer. She had applied for a modification with her mortgage company but was informed that she had already exhausted all applicable modifications. She had also applied for Social Security disability but was faced with a five- month waiting period. In the meantime, she was worried about losing her home, where she had lived for the last 20 years. Carmen Curtis-Skowronski, a HUD Certified Housing Counselor at JALA, helped Lynda obtain over $10,000 from the City of Jacksonville Foreclosure Intervention Program to bring her mortgage current, and now she is no longer in fear of foreclosure.
Councilman pushes to bring rental registry to Jacksonville. What it could mean for renters
The issue of absentee or neglectful landlords continues to be an ongoing problem for many renters across Jacksonville, with residents telling News4JAX they often struggle to get responses when maintenance issues arise. Now, a Jacksonville city councilman is pushing for a new tool he says could help tenants get answers. Councilman Jimmy Peluso is working to create what he calls a “Rental Registry,” a system designed to help residents identify who owns a rental property and review a landlord’s history of code violations and other information before signing a lease. In recent months, the News4JAX I-Team has spoken with dozens of residents who said they weren’t sure who to contact or where to go when they experienced problems in their apartments and felt their landlords were not responding. Peluso said the goal is to give renters more power and more clarity. “I want to give people the tools to make sure they’re not trapped anymore,” Peluso said.
Pajcic & Pajcic to receive commendation for pro bono work – The Florida Bar
The Law Firm of Pajcic & Pajcic — a Jacksonville-based law firm that has made pro bono service an integral part of
Jacksonville, Florida’s Eviction Diversion Program Increased Housing Stability for Participants
In October, the Jacksonville, Florida City Council’s Neighborhoods Committee heard from facilitators of the city’s Eviction Diversion Program, who reported on the program's outcomes. The Jacksonville Eviction Diversion Program, established in January 2024, operates by providing landlords with payment for up to three months of past-due rent to avoid filing an eviction or to withdraw a filing against an eligible household that has applied for assistance through the program. The program’s primary goals are to reduce evictions and keep participants housed for at least six months. Melanie Patz, CEO of United Way of Northeast Florida, one of the organizations implementing the program, shared that of the 383 families that participated in the program since its inception, 84% remained stably housed six months after receiving assistance. Melanie added that the program has saved the city roughly $5.2 million in spending programs supporting unhoused individuals, compared to the $1.8 million spent by the program thus far.
Commentary: Lawyers should be required to give back
The importance of pro bono legal work has increased and will continue to do so. By Stacey DeVall | Jacksonville Area Legal Aid deputy pro bono director | November 6, 2025 “Have-tos before want-tos.” That is a pretty common saying in my house. My kids always want to do the fun things first—the activities that bring instant joy—before tackling homework, laundry or dishes. I get it. But without tending to the “have-tos,” the foundation crumbles. We fail ourselves and our communities. The same principle applies to our profession. Many lawyers think about pro bono work as a “want to.” They really want to help the community, and they want to be able to report it to the Bar and they want to put it on their website. But what if we reframed pro bono not as a “want to” but rather as a “have to,” because in reality, it is.
Jacksonville Florida – FOOD ASSISTANCE RESOURCES
Find Food Pantries Near You Website: https://www.foodpantries.org Mandarin Food Bank Phone: (904)292-1675 Address: 11730 Old St. Augustine Road, Jacksonville, FL 32258 Website:
Runners, walkers and bikers can support Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s Shelter for Elders initiative through the Nov. 22-23 Freed to Run
Gunster Shareholder and endurance runner Mike Freed and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid – joined by several event directors from the Northeast Florida community – are gearing up for the Freed to Run Challenge Nov. 22-23 to benefit JALA’s Shelter for Elders endowment, which supports housing-related legal assistance for indigent seniors. “We are thrilled with the success of Freed To Run and can’t wait to continue to build on it,” Freed said. Individual runners, relay teams, walkers and bikers will raise funds for the endowment through peer-to-peer fundraising based on a challenge to complete as many half-mile laps around the Duval County Courthouse as they can in a period of either 12 or 24 hours. Other options are to run a 5k or to bike from the St. Johns County Courthouse to the Duval County Courthouse. Those businesses, organizations and individuals wanting to participate, donate to the endowment or lend their in-kind support to the event can contact the appropriate director: