Over 1 in 10 Pinellas Renter Households are Currently Behind on Rent

As the CDC moratorium is set to expire this weekend on Saturday, July 31st, we are bracing for a possible spike in evictions here in Pinellas county. 

There are currently 2,130 open eviction cases in the county dating back to January of last year, according to data we’ve collected from the Pinellas Clerk’s website. The expiration of the moratorium may allow some of these cases to proceed, and there may be a spike in new eviction filings as the moratorium has likely discouraged many landlords from filing evictions to begin with. 

Pictured is data from a recent NYT editorial. 

According to this estimate, 14.7% of rental households are behind on rent in the US, with tenants owing an average of $3,800 in back rent. Over 1 in 10 Pinellas county rental households are behind on rent, owing $4,115 on average in back rent. Despite receiving $21.4 million from the federal government for emergency rental assistance, the Pinellas ERA only managed to distribute just $2.2 million to struggling tenants last month. It’s clear that this assistance isn’t getting out quick enough, and removing the moratorium before these funds are fully distributed will likely result in an unnecessary, fully preventable spike in evictions here in Pinellas county. 

Additionally, we are seeing a massive surge in new COVID-19 cases here in the state of Florida, with daily case totals now around what they were in January. Evictions and housing insecurity during so-called “normal” times are public health crisis; during a global pandemic this amounts to nothing short of a public health catastrophe. 

One study from UCLA showed that there were more than 10,000 preventable COVID-19 deaths before the establishment of the CDC moratorium last September. With totals surging once again there will likely be countless cases of preventable death, illness and trauma directly caused by our system’s violent and barbaric prioritization of profits over human lives. 

Housing is a fundamental human right that should be guaranteed. We must continue to work to shift our societies’ view of housing away from a regular commodity that can be withheld, and instead as a basic necessity that should be unconditionally afforded to all. 

As uncertain as the future may appear, we must continue to struggle alongside vulnerable tenants here in St. Pete and work to wrest power away from big real estate and back into the hands of regular folks who make up the backbone of our city. 

When we fight together, we win together. 

✊All power to the tenants! 

✊All power to the workers! 

✊All power to the people!

Press conference today at the Paradise Apartments

Terrence Gordon (pictured) was one of the residents facing eviction by Council Member Robert Blackmon.
 
Terrence, 62, told reporters “I’ve been homeless before, I don’t want to be homeless again”
This is the lived experience of countless individuals and families here in Pinellas county. Those experiencing the fear and trauma of eviction here on a daily basis are suffering in silence.
It goes beyond Robert Blackmon’s errors.
 
It goes beyond individual slumlords and gentrifiers.
 
Housing insecurity and homelessness represent deep moral failures of our society and of our Capitalist economic system. It is a failed system that has never, and will never, provide for the most vulnerable.
We need guaranteed housing here in the Sunshine City and in cities across the country.
 
Not affordable.
 
Not attainable.
 
Guaranteed.

Anything less is an injustice, and our Union will continue to struggle alongside our friends in neighbors against the exploitation and violence of landlordism.

All power to the tenants! All power to the people!

 The St. Petersburg Tenants’ Union and Florida Rising stand in solidarity with Paradise Apartments residents facing eviction by Robert G. Blackmon

On April 30, 2021, St. Petersburg City Council member Robert G. Blackmon purchased a 10-unit rental property at 330 45th Ave. S, known as the Paradise Apartments. Notices of non-renewal were issued to two tenants just 12 days later on May 11, giving them less than three weeks to vacate their homes. Another tenant was served a three-day notice for non-payment of rent. According to several residents, another tenant of 17 years was given just two weeks to move under Councilmember Blackmon’s management, and voluntarily complied. The eviction complaints for the other three residents were officially filed in Pinellas court on June 14. One case has already reached a final judgement, which opens the door for a writ of possession, or final eviction order, to be issued at any time.

Members of the St. Petersburg Tenants’ Union arrived at the location on June 20 to conduct an investigation. Through our observations and conversations with tenants, organizers were made aware of several critical maintenance failures involving the building's plumbing, electrical systems, and appliances. Organizers returned two days later with a letter demanding that these maintenance issues be rectified and that all evictions be voluntarily dismissed by Councilmember Blackmon. Organizers observed maintenance workers scrambling to make repairs, and residents informed us that the property manager, Carolee Blackmon, was aware of the activists’ presence and was "very unhappy". 

The demand letter was signed by four residents in total, and was co-signed by the Tampa Bay chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Pinellas Democratic Socialists of America, Rev. Andy Oliver of Allendale Methodist Church, and the Pinellas Democrats. Upon failing to receive the requested written response, an organizer was able to speak directly with Councilmember Blackmon, along with his mother, Carolee, who handles the day-to-day operations of Blackmon Properties.

Several activists spoke at length with Carolee, who insisted that it was not their "intention" to evict anybody. It should be noted that a writ of possession was served and a resident was recently evicted at another Blackmon Properties facility in West St. Petersburg on June 22, 2021. 

There were many contradictions present between what organizers heard from residents and the claims made by Carolee Blackmon. Based on these conversations, it is our belief that there was little, if any, effort exercised on the part of Blackmon Properties to improve conditions and work with residents who had been behind on rent prior to the involvement of the Tenants’ Union. Efforts have been made by Blackmon Properties to improve conditions, but there are still many unaddressed issues. On July 9, Carolee Blackmon informed us she had instructed their attorney to dismiss the three cases no later than July 16th. We consider this a major victory that can be directly attributed to the efforts of our Union and to collective tenant power. However, our work at the Paradise Apartments is far from over.

We believe, unequivocally, that housing is not a commodity, but a fundamental human right. Housing insecurity has been directly linked to reduced quality of life, systemic inequity, mental health trauma, and premature death. Any system which elevates the so-called property “rights” of career landlords and corporations above the right to safe, guaranteed housing for all residents is inimical to the values of a democratic society. 

The Sunshine City is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis of immense proportions. More than one-third of Pinellas families currently pay in excess of 40% of their income on rent. This puts low-income tenants at a major disadvantage in the rental market. It is, therefore, reasonable to believe that residents at the Paradise Apartments may not be able to secure stable housing if evicted and thrown suddenly into such a market.

Furthermore, we are still in a national state of emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dozens of new deaths and hundreds of new cases are still reported in our state each week, while less than half of all Floridians are fully vaccinated. Given these facts, we believe that Councilmember Blackmon's attempts to evict these tenants have the potential for deadly consequences. A recent study from UCLA estimated there have been roughly 10,000 additional Covid deaths due to evictions during the pandemic; more than three times the number of Americans killed on September 11. Adding to this urgency is the fact that the CDC has noted that members of the black community are twice as likely to die from Covid-19, and nearly three times as likely to be hospitalized because of the virus. It should be noted that all residents facing eviction at the Paradise Apartments are black.

We are calling on Councilmember Blackmon to unconditionally dismiss all eviction cases at the Paradise Apartments by Friday, July 16th as was promised. We also call for repairs and renovations to be completed in full, and for all tenants to be given the opportunity to sign long-term leases to lock in current rent prices, enabling them to continue to live at the property for years to come. We ask Councilmember Blackmon to do the right thing and be a champion for the people of St. Pete, not a champion for his personal enrichment. We will continue to struggle against the exploitation of these vulnerable tenants until our demands are met in full.

All power to the tenants! All power to the workers! All power to the people!