Why Florida Was (Almost) A Step Ahead In Emergency Tenant Protections

Analysis (Florida)

Jared Brey
NextCity.org
March 19, 2020
Read the full story.

Tags: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Disaster Recovery, Housing: Eviction

Organizations mentioned/involved: Community Justice Project (FL)


DETAILS

In 2019 the Florida legislature considered but ultimately rejected bill that would have prevented evictions during states of emergency.  Due to COVID-19, Miami-Dade Police Department said it would stop carrying out all evictions during the crisis. And advocates are now pushing for a moratorium on evictions statewide. Now advocacy groups including legal aid providers are  asking the chief judge of the 11th Circuit Court to suspend deadlines for tenants to respond to eviction notices. Without those suspended deadlines, advocates say, even tenants in Miami-Dade County, where police are no longer carrying out evictions, would be at greater risk, because they’d be forced to go to the courthouse to respond to eviction notices within five days.