What you are seeing in this post the last minute pleas for help from terrified tenants in Pinellas County, begging the court to halt their impending evictions. In every one of these cases, their cries for mercy went unanswered and an eviction was carried out.
In one emergency motion, a Pinellas Park tenant pleads “I have three kids in the home that I have been working very hard to take care of. I’ve lost two jobs due to COVID and recently started a new job…I’m at my last leg trying to fight for a home for me and my kids.”
According to court records, the tenant and their children were violently thrown out from a property owned by TruAmerica, a California-based corporate landlord. The property is managed by ZRS.
In another emergency motion a St. Pete tenant pleads: “I have nowhere for myself or my grandkids to go we will be homeless because I won’t let my rent man sexually harasse [sic] me and take over my property he is very upset with me…Judge please to not let him do this to myself and my grandchildren”
Court records indicate the tenant and their grandchildren were ultimately made homeless by local landlord Robert L. Simmons Sr.
There have been 5,748 evictions filed in Pinellas since the start of the pandemic, and over 2,600 eviction orders issued in that time.
These aren’t just numbers on a page.
Each of these cases is a family or individual with a story.
Each of these cases is a person who has become, or may become homeless; a future suicide or overdose victim; a child who will spend a lifetime reeling from the pain and trauma of eviction, perpetuating the cycle of inequity and suffering into future generations.
Our laws are written, adjudicated and enforced to protect property and Capital at OUR expense. We need a new system that serves our interests and prioritizes our lives before profits.
We cannot rely on our elected officials to keep us safe. It’s time to organize our neighbors and fight to keep each other safe and take our power back.
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