Amid crush of unemployment, DeSantis suspends foreclosures, evictions for 45 days

Gov. Ron DeSantis is suspending all evictions and foreclosures in Florida for the next 45 days in an effort to keep people in their homes while Floridians are supposed to be staying inside to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Democrats and tenants’ rights groups have been calling for the governor to stop evictions and foreclosures for weeks. DeSantis said the suspensions were warranted “given the circumstances.”

“I’m not sure you’re going to rent out a lot of new places right now, anyway,” DeSantis said. “But nevertheless, you just don’t know how people act.”

He’s also asking employees from across state government to help the Department of Economic Opportunity answer phone calls on the state’s unemployment assistance hotline.

The state’s unemployment website has been overburdened by a record number of Floridians thrust out of work because of the virus.

DeSantis said the state’s broken unemployment system was his top economic priority at the moment. If people can’t file for unemployment because the system isn’t working, they could have their benefits delayed by weeks and potentially miss out on billions in federal stimulus dollars.

“We’re in a situation where this system is not handling the needs of the people of Florida in an adequate way,” DeSantis said. “We need to do more.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.