'We’re stuck in this revolving door': Eviction record hampers some from finding next home

ORLANDO, Fla. - Rents are skyrocketing, and many people are having trouble finding affordable housing around central Florida. Finding a home is even harder for those with an eviction on their record.

Karen Jean-Gilles lives in a Sanford hotel room, working at a desk at arm's reach from the kitchen and the bed. She pays about $2,200 a month to live in the tight quarters with her teen son and dog.

"There are so many other families in this hotel," Jean-Gilles said. "There’s so many from every age of children, from infants to teenagers."

Karen says she was laid off because of the pandemic and evicted when the moratorium was lifted.

"I got another job, great job making great money," Jean-Gilles said. "I make a decent living, and I can’t get a new apartment or home, because I have that eviction that I got during the pandemic."

Making about $65,000 a year working at a law firm, there are plenty of places she can afford, but none will accept her.

At this point, she says she has spent around $1,000 on applications, all of them denied.

"We’re stuck in this revolving door," Jean-Gilles said.

"It’s like a big scarlet "E" unfortunately," said Jeff Hussey, an attorney with Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida. "That’s been around forever, but the pandemic and the wave of evictions and the lack of affordable housing have really brought it to the forefront that we’ve seen."

Right now, Hussey says there's no way to get an eviction off your record.

His advice is to avoid the bigger, corporate apartments.

"Drive around and look for those ‘for rent’ signs, smaller buildings, people’s homes where you can develop a relationship, look eye to eye with the landlord," Hussey said. "Tell them, ‘Look I have an eviction on my record.'"

For now, it seems that might be Karen's only option to move out of her cramped hotel room.

"No one’s paying attention, and I don’t know why," Jean-Gilles said.

Two bills were introduced in the Florida Legislature last year that would let some people get their names taken off eviction court records. Both passed in the Florida House but died in the Florida Senate.