People are still being evicted, and it has to stop
The state’s eviction moratorium expired Oct. 1 and the Tenant Safe Harbor act has been falsely expounded as adequate protection for tenants. Since Oct. 1, filings and execution of evictions have resumed within the Capital Region, while our COVID -19 numbers continue to rise.
Evictions have been executed in Troy, Albany and Cohoes over the past two months, and they are not isolated in nature or number. The system is resuming. Albany is moving between 60 and 90 eviction filings per week through the courts, even in the face of a temporary moratorium by Mayor Kathy Sheehan through executive order. Local will is to keep people housed in the interest of public health and safety, yet the state continues to not respond adequately to the needs of people during this pandemic.
We urgently need the Emergency Housing Stability and Tenant Displacement Act (S8667/A10827). This would provide for a true eviction moratorium for a year post-state of emergency, which ensures that people stay housed during a public health crisis and stay housed while a solution to the housing crisis is implemented in a just and equitable manner. It is unconscionable for elected officials to allow homelessness and evictions to continue to put thousands of people at grave risk of infection from COVID -19.
At United Tenants of Albany, we received nearly 900 calls on our hotline in November. More than 300 were requests for financial assistance from people behind with their rent, plus nearly 150 direct referrals from landlords, providers and social service agencies. In a normal month pre-pandemic, we received an average 450 hotline calls.
People have lost income permanently due to the pandemic and cannot afford to cover the cost of their rent and pay their basic bills in a way we have never seen before. People are terrified they will lose their homes due to economic fallout from the pandemic.
Our homes, where we shelter in place, now overwhelmingly serve as our housing, our workplace, and the space where our children are schooled. Homeless people cannot stay home. We need a real moratorium now.