Jason Delgado
As concern and worry swelled Tuesday for the thousands of Floridians financially burdened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Ron DeSantis waited until the eviction moratorium’s final hours to inform residents that he would extend the order until Aug. 1.
DeSantis, who first issued an executive order suspending home foreclosures and eviction on April 2 for 45 days, has extended the moratorium now for a third time.
In each instance, the decisions were announced with little time to spare.
The Governor’s radio silence prompted housing activists in Tallahassee to gather outside of his mansion Tuesday afternoon and place an eviction sign near the entrance.
“The tenant Ron DeSantis’s unwillingness to LEAD during this crisis will cause unprecedented HARM & DISPLACEMENT,” the sign read. “We demand the tenant vacate these positions immediately and support a 90-day moratorium extension & direct rental and mortgage relief or those impacted by the COVID-10 pandemic.”
The notice was signed the “The People, A Community In Struggle.”
Without the order, Floridians, some of whom remain out of work, are left at the mercy of landlords and banks.
The order had suspended all statutes “providing for a mortgage foreclosure cause of action.” For evictions, the order only specifies tenants may not be removed for nonpayment, indicating evictions for other reasons will still be in bounds.
The renewal of the moratorium order comes after a Tuesday morning report from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity showed that the amount of new unemployment claims have at least leveled off for a second week in a row.
Out of the total claims filed, state officials said 2.53 million are confirmed as unique claims, which means they weren’t duplicates.
When asked by a reporter if he would extended the moratorium, DeSantis deflected the question by ask if anyone else had a new question.
Here is the text of the executive order:
3 comments
Sonja Fitch
July 1, 2020 at 2:51 pm
Duffus Desantis is criminally negligent ! Duffus Desantis is going to do as the Fing goptrump cult sociopath racist sexist liar and damn TRAITOR tells him to dodo!
Glenn Reihing
July 4, 2020 at 10:40 am
What needs to be done now is for our state lawmakers to use this time to develop a proactive stance on this issue. I would like to suggest this.
DeSantis needs to release the pressure by extending the moratorium on evictions until Oct. 1st NOW. This way it takes the pressure off renters and homeowners for a couple of months. It provides a little breathing room in order for our elected officials to craft better policies.
Develop a working group now that will draft recommendations to the governor for him to approve that will only be good for a 90 day period. By doing this on a quarterly basis the group is able to keep up with any trends that might be happening in the housing/employment market. This will allow the committee to be able to revise any existing policies for the next three month period. It will give renters and landlords peace of mind knowing what the next three months will look likely to make policy proactively instead of reactively. Any changes coming can be sent out to all affected parties involve giving them a “heads up.”
Finally use this group to start looking at and finding solutions to the issues of affordable housing in the state. I personally feel that the only way you are really going to effectively tackle this problem is at the county by county level. But by drafting certain measures at the state level, it will provide a framework for the county.
Warren Gifford
July 6, 2020 at 10:01 pm
Looks like the shoe is on the other foot. Good! I hope every single landlord chokes on their losses, and lose everything and end up homeless on the street! It’s about time they got a taste of their own medicine and start to suffer like they make their tenants suffer.
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