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SWFL Attorney Answers Renters' Post-Irma Questions

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A man signs documents

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, homeowners are wading through the muck of insurance claims, contractors and mold mitigation.

But, as a region known for its lack of affordable housing, Southwest Florida has a fair number of rental housing units, meaning many of the homes damaged by the storm were occupied by people who aren’t the owners of the dwelling.
 

Collier County Attorney Patrick Neale joins Gulf Coast Live to talk about renters' rights and what you need to do if you’re not seeing repairs happen at your apartment, condo or rental house.

This Saturday, Oct. 14, there will also be a pro-bono clinic for the victims of Hurricane Irma at the Legal Aid Services of Collier County.

Rachel Iacovone is a reporter and associate producer of Gulf Coast Live for WGCU News. Rachel came to WGCU as an intern in 2016, during the presidential race. She went on to cover Florida Gulf Coast University students at President Donald Trump's inauguration on Capitol Hill and Southwest Floridians in attendance at the following day's Women's March on Washington.Rachel was first contacted by WGCU when she was managing editor of FGCU's student-run media group, Eagle News. She helped take Eagle News from a weekly newspaper to a daily online publication with TV and radio branches within two years, winning the 2016 Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award for Best Use of Multimedia in a cross-platform series she led for National Coming Out Day. She also won the Mark of Excellence Award for Feature Writing for her five-month coverage of an FGCU student's transition from male to female.As a WGCU reporter, she produced the first radio story in WGCU's Curious Gulf Coast project, which answered the question: Does SWFL Have More Cases of Pediatric Cancer?Rachel graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a bachelor's degree in journalism.