SARASOTA, Fla. — The pandemic and Hurricane Ian have forced many in our area to take in their family members rent-free to help prevent homelessness and other adverse financial impacts.
However, some of those people, mostly seniors, are now faced with the challenge of getting some of those folks out, according to some local advocates.
One group is helping seniors with a lesser-known option to get unwanted family and friends out. That option is called an unlawful detainer and advocates assisting seniors said referrals from the courthouse of seniors seeking to remove people from their homes have more than doubled in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
"Housing has become completely unaffordable in our Southwest Florida region in large part," said Robin Stover, deputy director for Gulfcoast Legal Services.
Stover said the the pandemic, recent hurricanes and ongoing inflation have increased the burdens on many individuals. Some of those people turned to their family members such as a parent, uncle, aunt or grandparent for assistance with things like housing.
"Once the children, adult children come into the home, they're finding it increasingly difficult to save enough money to move out again," Stover said.
But in many cases where the long-term stay is no longer welcomed, advocates said it creates more problems especially where it is further compounded by other problems.
"Drug dependency, alcohol dependency, dysfunction, criminality. You just can't force them to go. You have to go through a legal process," she said.
One such process involves filing an unlawful detainer. Stover said her organization has seen referrals for assistance grow by 40%.
Stover said many elderly family members have found themselves in such vulnerable situations and in need of such intervention.
Unlike evictions, unlawful detainers work in the absence of a landlord-tenant relationship.
"The only difference is we're not arguing about rent because they're not paying rent. All the judge wants to see is who owns the home," she said.
Through Gulfcoast Legal Services, advocates like Stover hope to raise more awareness about unlawful detainers so seniors know they have options and can get help with the process.
"If you invited somebody into your home, you're allowed to make them leave," Stover said.
Gulfcoast Legal Services works with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and United Way as part of the SHIELD program.
SHIELD is a recently installed program that helps prevent homelessness and provides eviction diversion resources to the community.