DeSantis extends moratorium on evictions
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday night extended to July 1 a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures sought by thousands of Floridians devastated financially by the coronavirus pandemic.
DeSantis announced the extension without comment via an email sent out shortly before 8 p.m., hours after requests from the news media about the status of the moratorium that had been scheduled to expire on Tuesday.
“I hereby extend Executive Order 20-94, as extended by Executive Order 20-121, until 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 2020,” the executive order reads.
The extension comes amid reports that landlords in Central Florida and across the state were preparing to evict thousands of residents unable to pay their rent because they lost their jobs and income. Orlando has been hit par
ticularly hard because of its heavy dependence on the tourism industry, which has essentially been shut down since mid-March.
Despite the moratorium being in place, some landlords have tried to oust tenants, with 80 eviction cases filed and pending in Orange County alone, the court clerk’s website showed last week.
The governor’s order only prevents evictions from being processed by the courts, the last step needed to issue tenants with what’s known as a “writ of possession.” After that, tenants have 24 hours to move out.
Florida’s unemployment rate has gone from a historic low of 2.8% in February to 12.9% in April. In metro Orlando, the jobless rate for April was even worse at 16.2%.
At the same time, the state’s jobless benefits system has been inundated with claims, and thousands of out of work Floridians have been unable to get benefits, leading to fears of a massive wave of foreclosures and evictions.
State Rep. Ana Eskamani,
D-Orlando, and applauded the move, but bemoaned that it took so long.
“Floridians need to be fully paid with their unemployment benefits before they’re expected to make monthly payments like rent,” Eskamani said in a statement to the Orlando Sentinel. “I have been requesting an extension on this moratorium since April and am glad to see it happen, though the lastminute announcement caused unnecessary anxiety for those still waiting for unemployment benefits.”
Vanessa Keverenge, a community organizer for Organize Florida, said last week that 677 Orange County residents in danger of being kicked out of their homes have reached out to her organization so far. The Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Florida Bar
Association also has reported a spike in evictionrelated calls.
“When this eviction moratorium is over, what do people do?” asked Sharona Barnes, a community leader with Organize Florida. “People are very scared.”