Local

COVID-19 leads to eviction spikes in Manatee. Here’s who can help you save your home

By James A. Jones Jr.

Updated December 4, 2020 8:54 AM

Manatee

Even though the first COVID-19 vaccines may soon become available for health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, the misery caused by the pandemic is far from over.

An epidemic of evictions and foreclosures, resulting from the economic effects of the pandemic, is already hitting the Manatee County court system, and overwhelming the agencies trying to help people avoid homelessness.

A state moratorium on evictions and foreclosures provided cover since April for Floridians who lost their jobs, or were otherwise economically hurt by the pandemic. But Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed the moratorium to expire Sept. 30, and the Manatee County Clerk of Court has seen a rush of filings.

At Turning Points, a nonprofit that helps the homeless, and those one paycheck away from becoming homeless, the requests for help ramped up after the moratorium expired.

“Ninety nine percent of it is rentals,” said Andy Guyre, housing program manager at Turning Points.

“When the moratorium started in April, the requests for help in May, June, and July, were very slow. And then in October we got very busy,” he said.

When Turning Points opens its online registration for housing assistance each Monday, it receives 85 to 100 requests within the first five minutes, and that’s about a week’s worth of work, Guyre said.

“It’s unsustainable,” he said, adding that he hopes that the demand slackens by spring.

In the interim, Turning Points is referring some of those who request help to Goodwill and CareerSource Suncoast for assistance in finding a job.

In the last full full fiscal year prior to the pandemic, 2018-2019, the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court saw the filing of 2,045 eviction cases and 333 homestead mortgage foreclosure cases.

During the 2019-2020 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the Manatee County Clerk’s office saw filings fall to 1,425 eviction cases and 165 homestead mortgage foreclosures, a decline attributed to the moratorium.

From April to July 2020, evictions fell to 29 a month, but gained momentum in August and September, averaging 136 a month. In the first two months of fiscal 2020-2021, September and October, there have been 340 evictions, an average of 170 a month.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, which serves eviction notices, has seen evictions increasing as well.

“We expect that our office will receive a significant number of evictions after the first of the year. We respond to evictions with a minimum two deputies due to the high chance of resistance and the high-liability nature of them,” Randy Warren, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, said in an email.

The sheriff’s office stopped executing evictions on April 7, and did not write another until July, when there were seven.

“In July, evictions could proceed only under strict state-mandated criteria. Since that time, some restrictions have been lifted. The CDC eviction restrictions were implemented on Sept. 1. We ran into several instances where landlords paid for the eviction and when we showed up, we could not proceed due to the tenant meeting the CDC criteria,” Warren said.

In August, the the sheriff’s office served 55 eviction notices, followed by 84 in September, 96 in October, and 83 in November.

The human cost of evictions

Among organizations offering assistance to renters facing eviction are Turning Points, Step Up Suncoast, and Gulfcoast Legal Services. At Turning Points, the application portal is https://tpmanatee.org/rent-and-utility-assistance/. Applicants must document financial sustainability, verify that they have been a resident in Manatee County for at least one month, and meet eligibility guidelines.

“All applications must be submitted through this site to be considered for assistance. The application process opens every Monday morning at 9 a.m. It is turned off as soon as the case managers’ appointments are filled, which is now usually in five minutes or less,” the website advises.

Jill Gass, development director at Step Up Suncoast, said that like Turning Points, her nonprofit has received funding assistance from Manatee CARES, and Season of Sharing, as well as the Department of Economic Opportunity. Step Up also offers a low-income heating and energy assistance program.

The maximum amount of funding that Step Up Suncoast and Turning Points are able to provide to a household is $1,800. But many applicants are requesting between $5,000 and $6,000, Gass said.

“A lot of folks who are reaching out never had to before. It is a very different kind of client. A lot of people thought their job would come back to them and they wouldn’t need to ask for help,” Gass said. “We are very concerned about the end of the month.”

Unless extending, federal CARES funding expires Dec. 31, along with the CDC moratorium on evictions.

Anyone seeking help at Step Up Suncoast may apply at https://stepupsuncoast.org/, or by calling 941-827-2887.

Agencies are overwhelmed because of the sheer magnitude of the problem, and half of all Florida renters are concerned about being evicted, according to a Census Bureau report, said Doug Griesenauer, director of workforce development and financial stability for the United Way of the Suncoast.

“We are trying to work on advocacy to see if we can get ahead of this. We are talking about a lot of peoples’ lives.They are worried about their jobs, about putting food on the table, about their kids,” Griesenauer said.

The United Way often directs clients facing eviction to dial 211 for referrals and connection to appropriate agencies and community organizations. United Way also suggest callers reach out to Gulfcoast Legal Services at 941-746-6151 or https://gulfcoastlegal.org/request-assistance to find out their legal rights, Griesenauer said.

The Salvation Army has also been getting many calls from tenants worried about being evicted, said Kelly French, director of community relations and development for the Salvation Army.

Using CARES Act money distributed by local government, the Salvation Army has been able to assist about 200 families.

The need as so great that the Salvation Army added staff to keep up with applications.

“We were drowning in applications at first. Now we have a good system, but not a money left. We are hoping there will be more after the first of the year,” French said.

Help can be requested from the Salvation Army at 941-748-5110 or www.salvationarmybradenton.org.

Gary Crawford serves on the board of directors of Christian Care Alliance of Manatee, formerly known as Manatee Religious Services, which is also grappling with damage caused by the pandemic.

“We are up against something that we don’t even know the magnitude of,” Crawford said.

Christian Care Alliance has traditionally served as a vetting agency for applicants seeking aid from area churches.

Churches are among those feeling the economic impact of the pandemic, with attendance and donations down.

“We are beginning to meet with Christian organizations in the area to try to form a coalition to find ways to help. This is a God-size problem,” Crawford said.

A central clearing house

For the better part of six months, Manatee County government has been the primary local distributor of CARES Act funding from the state and federal government.

“You can track all of the latest totals on our CARES Funding Dashboard where you’ll find that more than $37 million in assistance has been approved across the community. Every dollar that’s been disbursed has been with the intent of benefiting Manatee County residents, whether by keeping them in their home with mortgage/rent assistance or by keeping them employed through assistance to local businesses for losses from the pandemic,” Nick Azzara, Manatee County government’s information outreach manager, said in an email Thursday.

CARES funding has been approved for an extensive network of local non-profit agencies that help with mortgage assistance, utility payments and more.

The county received additional funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that has been allocated to help mitigate the impact of foreclosures and evictions. The county has received a second round of HUD funding that officials will take to the county commission after the New Year with a recommendation to use the funding for additional rental assistance, Azzara said.

“Local agencies that have received CARES Act funding can continue to distribute assistance well beyond the federal government-imposed deadline of Dec. 30 for the County to disburse CARES funds. For that reason, we’ll be starting a social media campaign in coming weeks to let the community know about these local resources where they can find help. Many of those resources are listed on a special section of our website,” Azzara said.