By Renee Beninate | Published by WEARTV on
Florida’s eviction moratorium is set to expire on September 1, 2020
PENSACOLA, FL — The eviction moratoriums are meant to help tenants struggling to pay their rent during their pandemic, but one landlord says they’re now stuck bearing the burden.
Michael Herring owns more than a dozen rental properties in Pensacola.
Herring says he understands people have been struggling during the pandemic and has some tenants paying a portion of their rent but adds others have not paid any of it over the past six months – leaving him out more than $22,000.
He says some of those tenants are instead using their saved cash to buy new flat screen TVs or clothes.
“How am I supposed to live? How am I supposed to pay my bills? They have a choice. That money they’re receiving, they could give me something, but they don’t give anything.”
~ Michael Herring
Daniel Allen lives in one of Herring’s properties. He says he moved to the area in February, but his job as a chef fell through because of the pandemic. Since then, he’s been living off unemployment checks from the state.
“I tried to give him something and he said if it wasn’t a certain amount, he didn’t want it, just keep it, and I was like ‘Well, okay.’”
Allen thinks landlords should be more sympathetic during this time.
“Might not ever be able to go back to work. We’ve got to deal with our home life, our personal life and people who don’t see things from the eyes of the pandemic.”
Herring wants the governor or President Trump to offer help to landlords. He believes they shouldn’t carry the burden of covering the costs of the lost rent.
“These are on the market right now to sell because I can’t afford to keep them. This is property that my father and my grandfather all worked on and now I have to sell it,” Herring said. “That’s not fair, it’s ridiculous, it’s not right.”
Florida’s eviction moratorium is set to expire on September 1. Renters are expected eventually to pay back the rent they couldn’t cover during the pandemic, but Herring doubts he’ll ever get it all back.
Source: https://weartv.com/news/local/landlords-face-struggles-of-floridas-eviction-moratorium
