NBC 6 Responds’ Sasha Jones breaks down the pending eviction numbers and speaks to experts about the potential rental crisis facing Florida.
The Supreme Court blocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from enforcing the federal moratorium on evicting renters.
The ban, put in place earlier this month, was struck down after a group of landlords challenged whether the CDC had the authority to issue such a ban.
The latest moratorium applied only in counties with high rates of coronavirus transmission, like Miami-Dade County and Broward County. It was set to end in October.
“In South Florida, there will be no special eviction protections for renters,” Jeffrey Hittleman says.
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Hittleman is an attorney with the Senior Citizen Law Project at Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida. He says evictions can now continue on through the courts.
Earlier this month, Broward County reported over 2,200 pending evictions. The latest numbers presented to the Miami-Dade Commission show over 4,300 in Miami-Dade.
Hittleman says he anticipates the number of pending evictions to go up.
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“This has created a lot of uncertainty and people who are behind on rent, facing eviction, they are trying to make plans,” Hittleman said.
His advice for renters is to apply for rental assistance.
“Apply for rental assistance. There is rental assistance money out there,” he said.
Federal rental assistance is being distributed by the state and local governments. Miami-Dade County and Broward County have both received around $60 million in federal rental assistance funds so far.
Hittleman says getting the funds can sometimes be a slow process, but it’s one of the last options for renters in need.
“We’ve seen some challenges in doing the application online, getting all the documents that are necessary. We have also seen some challenges in the processing time,” Hittleman said.
NBC 6 Responds previously reported that much of those funds were slow to go out.
As of August 23, Miami-Dade County has paid out around 80% of its funds. While Broward County paid out around 21%, as of August 17.
Broward County told us they have hired additional staff to help process applications. These additional staff will be focusing its efforts on the tenants who submitted applications in April, May, and June, a representative said.
You can find more information on rental assistance in your area below:
Broward County Rental Assistance
