JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Imagine living in Florida and earning nearly $100,000 a year working in the hotel industry. Life would be pretty good... until COVID hit. People stopped traveling, jobs were eliminated and now eviction is on your doorstep.
It sounds jarring, but it happened to thousands of Florida residents including a woman that spoke to First Coast News after her life was turned upside down.
"My personal things, my pictures, my jewelry, everything is gone, everything," Josephine Bisono said.
Josephine Bisono used to have a job that paid her nearly six figures. This week she spoke to First Coast News on Zoom from her friend's living room after being evicted.
"The whole pandemic I paid my rent, I paid all of my bills," Bisono said. "It was only for the months of September and October that I needed help with."
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But Bisono did get help in the form of rental assistance. According to documents that she provided to First Coast News, OUR Florida made payments in her name for past due rent and even rent for the months of November and December. That was a total of nearly $6,800, but her landlord still evicted her.
"I don't know what to do, like, what do I do, what happens to me now? I'm not milking the system, I've never been in this situation," Bisono said. "All of the time I spent calling and emailing OUR FL and the landlord still evicted me, is that even legal?"
Now a woman who was struggling to find a job to pay her rent is left to try and find a lawyer to guide her through her rights after being thrown out on the street.
There are resources available to Florida residents who believe they are in a similar situation to Josephine Bisono's. You can be referred to an attorney through the Florida Bar by clicking here or calling: 1-800-342-8011.