ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With less than two weeks before Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 45-day eviction moratorium expires, a Pinellas County attorney said his office is preparing to handle a spike in eviction proceedings that could overwhelm the local economy and housing market.
“Basically what's going to happen is it's going to be an extreme economic disruption to everyone,” said William Peña-Wells, an attorney with Gulfcoast Legal Services. “The courts are going to be overloaded. People are going to be overloaded.
"The economic disruption is going to be magnified because a lot of people, people who would not ordinarily be considering themselves a subject to eviction in their lifetime, are going to be having some serious issues of making their rent and paying their bills and facing the evictions that they are going to be served with.”
COVID-19 coronavirus is at the root of the problem. The global spread of the virus forced the slowdown or shutdown of numerous industries, leading to furloughs and job losses worldwide.
“With the pandemic, no one has been able to keep up their sources of income. People have been losing their jobs and have no money to pay their rent…” Peña-Wells said. “…It's going to be very hard for them to work to get back to pre-COVID financial situations very quickly, so we're going to be seeing a lot of disruption in the economic stream going through the summer.”
Shelby Mahoney said he has been helping a friend whose landlord threatened eviction during the statewide moratorium. Mahoney’s friend had just lost her job due to COVID-19 and was unable to make rent on time but communicated her shortfall with her landlord, asking for a payment arrangement.
The issue has not yet been resolved.
"He gave her a notice…saying that she had to be out within ten days…or else the eviction process would have to begin,” she said. “It's not fun ever to not be able to get work. And you want to be able to get help from the government and you can't, and you think that maybe you're going to lose your home when you have nowhere else to go.
"It’s a very scary time for everyone.”
According to Gulfcoast Legal Services, in April 2019, 463 “delinquent tenant, eviction and unlawful detainer” lawsuits were filed. For April 2018 and 2017, the numbers were 458 and 434, respectively. For April 2020, that number was 115, due to the moratorium.
Pena-Wells said this will lead to a spike after the moratorium is lifted on May 17.
“Per the data, after May 17, 2020, we can expect to see a 639 percent increase or more in ‘delinquent tenant, eviction, and unlawful detainer’ lawsuits filed, in comparison to the number filed in April 2020,” Peña-Wells said.
For tenants facing eviction, Peña-Wells has the following advice: “The best thing before you have an eviction is to talk to your landlord or management company, and to try to make them understand your financial situation, because everybody knows how hard it is for everyone to make ends meet these days, and eviction is a last resort,” he said.
“So, basically, communicate, communicate, communicate, and try to work things out in this unique and very terrifying situation.”
If tenants are not able to work out an agreement with their landlord, Peña-Wells suggests contacting an attorney who can assist in the matter. Gulfcoast Legal Services specializes in assisting low-income residents.
For more resources, click here.
Emerald Morrow is a reporter with 10News WTSP. Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. You can also email her at emorrow@wtsp.com.
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