Tenant Holding House Hostage!

[Kayla Oliver-Pratt]

We are dealing with an uncooperative tenant that refuses to move out or pay rent because she is riding on the state-imposed eviction moratorium. The tenant has no legal right to be in possession of the property because her lease has expired on May 15, 2020, and she was given non-renewal notice in February. She asked for an extension to give her time to find a new place and has signed an agreement to vacate by March 31 in lieu of eviction being file. Since then COVID-19 hit and stay at home orders were put in place with everything shutting down. But now that the city is opening again and because of the borrowed time that the moratorium has given she is refusing to move. She is still gainfully employed as an office manager for one of the largest healthcare systems in Orlando, yet refuses to pay her rent. To make matters worse, she has moved unauthorized tenants into the house with illegal activities taking place, has unauthorized dangerous pets (Pit bulldog) on the property, and has city code violations. I notified her that I will be coming to inspect the property and she called the police to prevent me from seeing the damage done to the interior of the property. Hence, upon inspection of the property, I have noted significant property damage as well. I have contacted an attorney for advice and was told to file an Unlawful Detainer lawsuit, but unfortunately, the moratorium is preventing us from exercising our legal rights to do so. The moratorium expires tomorrow at 12 am and the Gov. has not indicated if he will be extending it for another 30 days. I understand that some people are still not back to work and cannot afford to pay any rent, however, there are others taking full advantage of landlords by not paying their rents even though they are employed. Meanwhile, I have a new tenant that's ready to move in and can not because she is holding the property hostage. There seems to be protection for tenants but nothing for landlords, especially the mom and pop landlords that don't have reserves to cover loss rents and are unable to pay the mortgage on the rentals. I am looking for any advice or best approach to this dilemma.