“The latest order is limiting who is covered and it’s basically a green light to the court,” said Natalie Maxwell, the director of advocacy and litigation at Three Rivers Legal Services, which offers free representation to low-income residents in North Florida. “The unfortunate part is I don’t think this order clarifies for renters if they are actually protected and what their rights are.”
Maxwell and other lawyers said it’s likely that many tenants will be responsible for proving in court that they were financially harmed by the coronavirus and therefore should have their eviction case frozen. But Florida law sets up a major hurdle: In order to raise that defense, they will be required to deposit the entire amount of unpaid rent to the court within five days of receiving their eviction notice.
Read the rest of the Tampa Bay Times article here: https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2020/08/05/desantis-changes-to-moratorium-mean-fewer-families-protected-from-eviction-foreclosure/