An open source software platform developed by a legal aid attorney in Pennsylvania, expertise from lawyers at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid and other legal aid housing attorneys around the state, and a lot of keyboard time for a JALA paralegal and summer intern have resulted in a do-it-yourself eviction response program for Florida residential tenants.

The program is linked to by The Florida Bar’s website and by legal aid offices around the state as the state faces an escalating number of evictions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic recession.

“The main thing we’re focused on with FloridaEvictionHelp.org [the website for the DIY process] are two tools,” said Jim Kowalski, executive director of JALA. “The first tool is an answer builder for pro se eviction tenants that enables them to construct the answer [to an eviction action], affirmative defenses, especially the affirmative defenses that relate to the Center for Disease Control declaration.”