No evictions until July — but then what?

Hours before a ban on residential evictions was due to expire at midnight June 1, Gov. Ron DeSantis did the right thing and extended the moratorium for another 30 days.

The moratorium applies to people who can’t pay their rent or mortgage. It does not apply to commercial tenants, and never has. The ban is now set to expire at 12:01 a.m. on July 1.

It’s unlikely the governor will grant another extension, though he should consider doing so at least until July 25, when a similar federal moratorium expires. The CARES Act protects people in housing secured by federally backed mortgages, about a third of all mortgages.

With the economy sputtering from the coronavirus shutdown, the governor is in a tough spot. He’s balancing the cries of unemployed Floridians who can’t afford to pay their rent or mortgage with the cries of landlords and lenders who can’t afford to pay their bills because tenants aren’t paying theirs.

But with jobless claims showing Florida’s unemployment rate bouncing as high as 25% — the worst since the Great Depression — DeSantis knows now is not the time to put families on the sidewalks with their possessions.

It’s not as though millions of Floridians have willfully become unemployed and are refusing to pay their rent or mortgage. It’s because they did what they were told.

They obeyed a statewide shelter-in-place order to slow the spread of the coronavirus and keep hospitals from being overwhelmed. And while things have gotten better, ongoing problems with the state’s unemployment compensation system have left many people without the money they’re due to help pay their bills.

Meanwhile, eviction fears are eating away at families who dread a knock on the door by a sheriff ’s deputy. Even before the coronavirus, more than 40 percent of Broward residents were living paycheck to paycheck. The one-time federal stimulus check helped, but household bills recur monthly.

That said, we have heard reports of fully employed renters taking advantage of the moratorium to not pay their rent.

“The wheels of justice for landlords are nearly frozen at this point,” said Jerron Kelley, a Boca Raton attorney.

Economic conditions will only worsen if landlords and lenders are forced into bankruptcy. And landlords aren’t limited to big businesses and banks. Their ranks include people whose income depends on rent from investment properties.

The Florida Apartment Association, a trade group for landlords, urged DeSantis to lift the moratorium and instead provide housing assistance through cities and counties under an existing program known as the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP). A group of six Democratic state legislators suggested the same approach.

“The only way to truly ensure housing security during this time is to provide rental assistance,” the landlords wrote.

DeSantis has yet to address this, which is clearly a better temporary approach. Yes, government budgets are hurting, but government exists to keep us safe. And because the governor — to his credit — rejected his predecessor’s habit of raiding the Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund to pay other bills, housing money is available.

Even before the governor issued the moratorium on evictions, the Florida Supreme Court had effectively halted such proceedings via an emergency order meant to keep state courts operating safely during the pandemic. On March 24, the justices suspended a rule that requires county clerks to issue writs of possession “forthwith.” Such writs are court orders served by sheriff ’s deputies that restore a property’s possession to a landlord and require a tenant to vacate.

Florida landlords want the governor to ask the Supreme Court to clarify the March 24 order. They say it prevents them from removing tenants who are damaging property or dealing drugs. A health emergency should never be a reason to excuse dangerous or illegal behavior.

“In light of the present situation and the difficulties housing providers are experiencing,” they wrote, “we kindly ask you to consider clarifying that evictions for causes other than non-payment of rent can continue under the extension of the moratorium.”

The Broward Sheriff ’s Office stopped enforcing evictions even before the state order. Working with Chief Judge Jack

Tuter of the 17th Judicial Circuit, BSO suspended evictions on March 17. “No one should have to worry about losing their home during this pandemic,” Sheriff Gregory Tony said at the time.

As we think about the financial struggle facing so many families, we reflect on what Ken Langone, a founder of Home Depot, recently told columnist Peggy Noonan.

“We’re not gonna be the same” as we make our way through this pandemic, Langone said. “We’re gonna be challenged like never before, but we will pass the test with flying colors… . Capitalism brought America to the party. It’s what’s gonna get us out of this mess.”

But Langone said a “big readjustment” in business thinking will be needed to get through the crisis.

“If a restaurant reopens with half as many customers due to distancing protocols, the owner will have to hike prices, but that will hurt business. The answer is that the landlord needs to lower the restaurant’s rent, and the landlord’s lenders need to adapt in turn. The financial chain’s gotta be readjusted, concessions up and down the line.”

But who will make such a readjustment happen?