Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Thursday afternoon, extending relief for those struggling with evictions for foreclosures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While speaking at a news conference in Miami-Dade County, the governor stated that the order will run until June 2. The original order was only meant to run for a period of 45 days, and would’ve expired this coming Sunday.
In order to provide much needed #COVID19 support to Floridians, today I signed an Executive Order that extends mortgage foreclosure and eviction relief until June 2. See the Executive Order here – https://t.co/fo1arg2wdx
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 14, 2020
The announcement comes after Florida Democrats, specifically State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, pressured the governor to extend the moratorium.
“[Gov. Ron DeSantis] NO CHOICE but to extend the eviction moratorium beyond 5/17. Why? Because 700K+ Floridians haven't gotten a single penny in unemployment benefits & can't pay rent as a direct result of HIS [Florida Department of Economic Opportunity]’s failures. It's his moral obligation," tweeted Smith.
DeSanti then teased today’s order yesterday in Tallahassee.
“I think we're going to do it through the end of the month,” said DeSantis to reporters. “We'll have an announcement on that, I think, pretty soon.”
Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that 222,000 first-time unemployment claims were filed last week in Florida.
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This article appears in May 14-20, 2020.