SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans are facing the loss of their homes upon the expiration of a three-month moratorium on mortgage payments that banks offered after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.

Lenders are starting to demand payment from Puerto Ricans still struggling to make ends meet amid continuing power outages and a post-storm economic crisis. Even worse, many people stopped making mortgage payments after the hurricane because they thought the moratorium was automatic, when it was not

Legal experts expect a surge in foreclosures on the island, which already was seeing a sharp rise in foreclosures even before the hurricane as a result of an 11-year-old recession. The number of repossessed homes grew from 2,300 in 2008 to 5,400 in 2016 to an estimated 6,200 last year.