DeSantis lets moratorium on evictions expire over objections
Ignoring calls from renter advocates, Gov. Ron DeSantis decided Wednesday not to extend the state’s eviction moratorium, arguing it was no longer needed because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a federal eviction ban earlier this month.
The CDC order, which went into effect on Sept. 4, was intended to stop evictions nationwide for virtually all renters. All they have to do is sign a document provided by the CDC and give it to their landlords. It attests they have been financially affected by the pandemic and cannot pay rent, have tried to get government assistance to cover their bills and will become homeless or have to move in with friends or family if they are evicted.
The order also carries consequences, including fines and jail time, for landlords who ignore it.
But advocates worry that renters will be left without any protection if the CDC order, which is supposed to last through December, is overturned. Right now it’s facing federal lawsuits from industry groups, including from the New Civil Liberties Alliance and the National Apartment Association, that believe the CDC doesn’t have the authority to issue it.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance said it “overrules duly enacted state laws across the country that protect landlords from delinquent tenants who break their rental contracts.”
Housing advocates had urged
DeSantis to extend the state’s moratorium in case the CDC order is not upheld.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, wrote a letter to the governor this week saying an extension would “provide a second layer of protection … in the case that the federal protections disappear.”
The CDC order also does not protect homeowners who fall behind on mortgage payments from foreclosure, which had been included in the state directive. However, many homeowners are still covered under previous federal orders for those with federally backed mortgages.
The CDC decree came down after President Trump directed the agency to consider whether a temporary ban on residential evictions was necessary to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus. Drawing on emergency powers the agency had rarely used before, the CDC decided it was, writing in its order that people who are evicted may be forced to double-up with friends or family members, move into homeless shelters or live on the streets, increasing their risk of catching the virus and spreading it to others.
Citing research from the Aspen Institute and Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, the CDC estimated that nationwide as many as 40 million renters could be at risk of eviction.
But even housing experts weren’t sure if the order would apply to Floridians because a state moratorium was already in place. Fred Piccolo, a spokesman for the governor, in an emailed statement said DeSantis had allowed the state moratorium to expire “to avoid any confusion over whether the CDC’s evictions order should apply in a particular circumstance.”
DeSantis first carried out the state moratorium in April, after tenant advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers warned that hundreds of thousands of residents who had lost their jobs because of the virus and now couldn’t afford rent were at risk of being evicted.