[RPPTL Leasing Committee] Residential Evictions After Desantis Amendment

[Mike Davis]

I don’t have any info on Broward, but as to the 19th Circuit, our information is

“...the judges in all four counties in this circuit met, and are treating this extension a little different.  The courts are requiring the tenant to respond in the lawsuit, with an affirmative defense, that they cannot pay because of Covid, to continue to benefit from Governor's moratorium.  It is no longer an automatic stay, and all evictions will now proceed, unless the eviction is solely about not paying AND the defendant files an answer that includes a Covid defense, or one of the other standard defenses.

I, the judge, will make this determination. Therefore, the Clerk will now accept and process all evictions like normal.  Likewise, the Sheriff will accept and process all writs like normal.

Many landlords were not even filing, and Judges were not evicting if they did, even if the tenant did nothing (defaulted) after a 3 day notice.  Now eviction suits can be filed, and the tenant will be evicted, if they do not respond to the summons.  Any that were held somewhere in the middle are also entitled to get final judgments immediately, although it make take a little time to weed through the backlog.
Edmond Alonzo
County Judge
19th Judicial Circuit Court”

Mike Davis
The MGFD Law Firm PA

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 11, 2020, at 9:59 AM, Scott Frank <sfrank at saflaw.com> wrote:


Good morning all.

So I do not do residential evictions, but a multi-family client asked me what the courts are doing now that Desantis amended the eviction moratorium order.  As I read the amendment, the logical interpretation would be that landlords are free to file and pursue non-payment evictions, but that that the tenants have a new defense of COVID-related hardship.

Am I reading this right?  But more importantly than my interpretation, how are the County Clerks and Judges interpreting this?  Are they accepting complaints and issuing summonses?  Are they allowing judgments to issue?  And if you have come across any COVID-related defenses, how strict are judges being with regard to allowing or disallowing the defense?

Happy to hear any experiences you have had.  Thanks.


Scott A. Frank
Attorney at Law

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