DeSantis considers a moratorium on evictions

TALLAHASSEE – Thousands of Floridians recently laid off due to the coronavirus’ shutdown of the tourism industry are facing looming rent payments April 1, but Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t placed a moratorium on evictions or monthly rental or mortgage payments despite pressure from Democratic state lawmakers.

“Though folks are losing their jobs it doesn’t mean their monthly payments go away,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, who urged DeSantis last week to issue a moratorium. “It’s really important right now … that we don’t see an exodus of people losing their homes. The last thing we need right now is a new homelessness population in Florida.”

Theme parks, hotels, restaurants – the bulk of Central Florida’s tourismdriven economy - are either closed completely or running at limited capacity. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is scrambling to keep up with the spike in unemployment claims, an indicator the hardship many workers are facing.

Authorities in some large counties, including Orange, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough, have said they won’t enforce evictions during the crisis, but other Central Florida counties, including Lake, Osceola and Seminole, haven’t issued similar declarations.

DeSantis said last week that he’d consider the moratorium, saying that those facing hardship through no fault of their own shouldn’t be threatened with eviction or late fees.

“If we’re telling somebody that if you’re sick don’t go into work … and then something happens with their business and they get laid off and then they can’t make the rent payment, those are extraordinary circumstances,” DeSantis said. “So I would be supportive of figuring out what I can do.”

DeSantis has waived some rules for unemployment benefits, such as the requirement to search for work with five employers and the need to file online. He’s also followed federal rules to waive work requirements for welfare payments during the coronavirus crisis. But he hasn’t yet pulled the trigger on a moratorium on rent and mortgage payments or evictions and foreclosures.

DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

Those who are newly out of work will be making decisions about what to do with what could be their last paycheck until the economy rebounds in the coming days, and Democrats have been sounding the alarm about the need for a moratorium on rent payments and evictions sooner rather than later.

House Democratic

Leader Kionne McGhee of Miami called for the moratorium on March 17, urging him to “do whatever it takes to suspend all evictions, foreclosures and utility cut-offs resulting from this COVID-19 crisis.”

Two days later, Sens. Lori Berman, D-Lantana, and Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, included a suspension of foreclosures and evictions on a laundry list of requests of DeSantis. Eskamani followed up Friday with her own letter to DeSantis.

Democrats aren’t the only ones calling for relief from monthly housing payments due to the economic stress of the social distancing, shutdowns and other measures in place to combat the coronavirus.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, DeSantis’ Republican predecessor, called for a moratorium on mortgage, rent, fees and utilities for individuals making less than $75,000 a year and for businesses with less than 250 employees, albeit at the federal level. He’d like to see the payments postponed and paid out over the next 12 months, he wrote in a Fox Business oped last week. County and circuit courts are under orders to only hold “essential” hearings in-person, and so many eviction orders aren’t being processed. But Eskamani said the when the courts reopen, many workers aren’t going to be back on their feet yet, which could lead to a wave of evictions if a moratorium isn’t in place.

“People have a lot of expenses to pay,” Eskamani said. “Hopefully, rent does get paid, but add up medical bills, potentially, child care bills – there’s so many other things that people also need to take care of while they’re balancing out their budgets every week.”

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