TAMPA -- A Hillsborough County judge is hearing a challenge to a part of Florida's eviction law.
The statute requires anyone challenging their eviction in court to deposit the disputed back rent with the court, otherwise the judge must find a default in favor of the landlord.
Tampa attorney Ryan Torrens argues that the law effectively blocks most renters from accessing the courts, since they don't have the resources to keep paying while they challenge the eviction. This, he says, violates the Florida and U.S. Constitutions. He says the law doesn't require, for example, people suing over mortgage foreclosures to keep paying.
Torrens says that lack of access to the courts is made even worse by skyrocketing rents in the Tampa Bay area and other parts of Florida. He wants a judge to throw out that portion of Florida law, and suggests there could be other remedies to balance the rights of landlords and tenants.
Listen to an interview with Ryan Torrens below:
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