Broward offering help with rent problems

County to propose mediation between renters, landlords

Renters facing evictions — and the landlords who want their past-due rent — might soon be invited to mediation. The prize if they agree to settle their differences: some of that money approved last month by the federal government to keep renters in their homes.

That’s how Broward County plans to distribute much of the $59 million in emergency rental assistance funding that the county received on Wednesday. It’s Broward’s share of $25 billion approved by

Congress and the president last month as part of $900 billion in federal COVID-19 relief.

Palm Beach County has received $45.2 million and Miami-Dade County learned that it will be getting $60.8 million, spokespersons for those counties said Friday. Those counties have not announced plans to offer aid for mediation.

Broward Mayor Steve Geller said in an interview that landlords and tenants who agree to settle their cases in mediation — with the goal of keeping tenants in their homes — would receive payments for tenants’ past-due rent and possibly assistance for future rents.

“Many landlords who don’t think they’re ever going to receive what they’re owed are just waiting for tenants’ leases to expire.”

Chief Circuit Judge Jack Tuter

In court cases, mediation is often assigned in hopes that conflicts can be settled informally and confidentially, in a process led by a neutral negotiator.

Chief Circuit Judge Jack Tuter and County Administrator Bertha Henry have been working out details of the program, Geller and Tuter said.

“If it works, it will be kind of a win-win situation for landlords and tenants,” Tuter said.

When the plan gets underway, possibly by mid-February, as many as 15 to 20 mediations could take place simultaneously, Geller said, to address thousands of evictions cases that have been stalled in county court since evictions moratoriums began last spring. Under the proposal, county housing assistance staff members would be on hand during mediation sessions to help ensure tenants are qualified to receive financial assistance to pay past-due bills.

As of Dec. 15, there were 2,772 eviction cases pending in Broward courts, according to a tally provided by Tuter. Many seek to oust tenants who knew about the eviction moratorium but did not know they would still be on the hook for past-due rent, Tuter said.

During the earliest months of the pandemic, the state’s eviction moratorium prohibited Florida courts from processing cases stemming from the tenant’s failure to pay their rent. But an executive order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis in late July allowed such cases to proceed through the courts but barred “final action” of serving tenants with court orders to leave.

DeSantis allowed the state moratorium to expire on Oct. 1, after the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed its own nationwide moratorium — but only for renters who attest in writing that their inability to pay rent is related to the pandemic. Tuter said that in Broward at least, the court system has interpreted the CDC moratorium as preventing final action of ordering tenants to leave.

Although the CDC said Wednesday that it would extend the moratorium through March 31, many landlords have received no assistance and are experiencing financial strain. “It’s untenable to say that we’re going to keep these moratoriums on rents forever,” Geller said. “Landlords have expenses, too. They still have to make mortgage payments. For small-businesspeople with two or three units, this is their retirement fund.”

Since cases have been allowed to proceed, Broward judges have been ordering mediations if tenants claim the pandemic prevented them from paying their rent, Tuter said. In those mediations, though, rental assistance funds were not offered by the county as an enticement for landlords and renters to participate. Meanwhile, the unforeseen length of the emergency — 10 months and counting so far — has provided landlords with an alternative way to expel non-paying tenants.

“Many landlords who don’t think they’re ever going to receive what they’re owed are just waiting for tenants’ leases to expire,” Tuter said, adding that none of the pandemic relief measures forbid expelling tenants because their leases are up.

Going forward, the potential of recovering most of the pastdue money owed will hopefully entice landlords to negotiate with tenants in mediation and let them stay put, he said.

Geller said money will be made available under guidelines established last spring for distribution of federal housing relief money. Qualified tenants would receive 75% of the most recent four months of past-due rent and 60% of past-due amounts for each prior month, up to a year. Officials hope to ensure landlords get their past-due rent within seven to 10 days after mediation sessions. Last year, landlords complained about delays in getting money after their tenants were approved for help, Tuter said.

The county could, if it chose, make full payments for past-due renters. But providing partial payments enables more tenants and landlords to get help, Geller said.

When landlords have a choice of receiving most of what’s owed or pursuing final action and likely recovering nothing but the tenant’s departure, they’re likely to take most of what’s owed, he said. “If it’s me, I’m going to take what the county is offering,” Geller said.

Renters who owe past-due rent but are not being sued for eviction will still be able to apply for assistance through the county’s Family Success Division, Geller said.

Broward’s online application portal has been closed since Dec. 9. Anyone clicking the link to the portal is greeted with a message that “Broward’s Family Success Division is reviewing and assessing claims received and amounts requested to determine next steps to further assist the public.”

The county’s legal staff is currently reviewing federal guidance to determine what documentation will be required from renters seeking a share of the new assistance funds, Geller said. Online applications will be adjusted based on those requirements.