Article Courtesy of The Sun
Sentinel
By Ron Hurtibise
Published
October 4, 2020
Gov. Ron DeSantis has finally allowed his moratorium
on residential evictions to expire, six months after it took effect on
April 2.
In a statement released late Wednesday afternoon, DeSantis noted that
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently imposed a
nationwide order that forbids eviction of tenants who submit a
declaration to their landlords and attest that the COVID-19 crisis has
left them unable to pay their rent.
Allowing the statewide ban to expire, DeSantis said, will “avoid any
confusion over whether the CDC’s evictions order should apply.”
DeSantis has extended the order five times since it was originally set
to expire in mid-May.
The CDC issued its own moratorium on removing renters from their homes
on Sept. 4, reasoning that evictions would increase the spread of
COVID-19. Like the state ban, the CDC’s ban also prohibits removal of
homeowners in foreclosure cases.
Yet, tenants rights advocates in Florida asked DeSantis to extend the
moratorium as a precaution, noting that the CDC’s moratorium faces
several federal court challenges. If any of the challenges succeeds in
invalidating the CDC’s ban, defendants in eviction and foreclosure cases
in Florida would be left unprotected and subject to immediate removal
without a statewide ban remaining in place, they said.
Ida Eskamani, spokeswoman for the Florida Housing Justice Alliance, said
DeSantis' decision to allow the statewide ban to expire was
disappointing. “So many families are struggling,” she said. “Their
unemployment has run out. Other protections are falling away. These
folks have unpaid bills and no place to turn to.”
None of the moratoriums have absolved tenants from paying all past-due
rents that they owe. No matter how long the CDC’s ban remains in place,
tenants will either have to come up with a way to pay in full, or leave
with the unpaid rent and eviction on their credit report. Those negative
marks will make it difficult to find another landlord willing to rent to
them.
Tenants advocates and property owners associations have been seeking
$100 billion in federal money that could be sent directly to landlords
on tenants' behalf. Most analysts believe that prospects are slim that
Congress and the president will agree on any additional relief spending
for victims of the COVID-19 crisis with elections just over a month
away.
Meanwhile, more than 5,000 evictions cases are pending in South Florida
courthouses as landlords await a green light to serve final writs of
possession to force past-due tenants out of their units. Some property
owners have voiced concerns that the ban was being abused by tenants who
had money to at least pay some of what they owed, but opted not to,
knowing they couldn’t be thrown out.
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