ORLANDO, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday extended his order blocking evictions until August 1.

The inevitable end of the moratorium, however, will likely come with a surge of eviction filings.

A survey of Central Florida counties show hundreds of eviction petitions have been filed with courts across the region. That includes 231 eviction petitions filed in Orange County and 101 signed eviction orders held by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office that can be executed once the moratorium expires.

Jeff Hayward, CEO of Heart of Florida United Way, says the demands seen by the agency leads him to believe the current numbers are a small share of the number of families not making ends meet.

“The reason why eviction filings are so low, we believe hearing from Legal Aid Society, is that landlords are not filing right now because it does not good,” Hayward said, pointing to the governor’s moratorium. “There’s going to be pent up demand once the moratorium runs out.”

Hayward says Central Florida has been hit especially hard.

Orange, Osceola, Lake, and Polk counties lead the state in unemployment rates, where the tourism industry employs hundreds of thousands of residents. Many have had their incomes cut by layoffs and furloughs. That has added demand on groups like Heart of Florida United Way.

Hayward says since April they have received more than 14,000 applications for rental assistance. Providing each one with $1,200 would total more than $7 million, an amount the organization does not have.

HFUW did raise $1.9 million since April, but that too has run dry because of the demand for help, Hayward said.

“Our safety net is not only stretched and it’s not only beginning to fray, it’s breaking in certain areas,” Hayward said.

The challenge for families who are months behind on bills and rent is that they will still have to pay what is owed.

The governor’s moratorium only blocks enforcement of evictions until August 1 as the federal CARES Act also blocks foreclosure actions through August. Neither waives fees, leaving the financial burden on those like Meka King of Apopka.

“I have months of lost income that I’ll never get back,” King said.

King has worked for more than 20 years as a singer and performer at paid gigs and in theme parks.

“We haven’t been able to work from home, COVID hit and that was it for us,” King said. “I went from working one day to zero income the next day.”

King says she has applied for rental assistance through Orange County and applied for unemployment benefits through the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Neither, King says, has provided anything.

With no income, King, like other Floridians, fear what will happen with evictions begin.

“It’s no one’s fault, it’s just hard, it’s difficult for everyone,” King said.

County and state leaders say they are reviewing options to help.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings recently announced the county is receiving $243 million in CARES Act funding as Governor Ron DeSantis said the state would devote $250 million in CARES Act funding to rental and mortgage assistance.

It’s not clear how far that funding will go in providing in the long term.

Many frustrated Floridians continue to point to the state’s broken unemployment system, saying if DEO would provide payments in a timely manner, they would not fall behind on bills.

When asked about this point Wednesday, DeSantis told Spectrum News’ Greg Angel that DEO has paid out more than $8 billion on benefits and progress is being made.

It is progress that many Floridians dispute as they await being paid in full for weeks they’ve been out of work.​