Moratorium ends, Albany sets hearings
60-day stay on evictions ended in New York Friday
More than 200 eviction proceedings were scheduled Friday in City Court, marking the end of the 60-day stay on all evictions in New York.
By far, the capital city had the most hearings scheduled for the day, according to court records, with none scheduled in the nearby cities of Troy and Saratoga Springs; Schenectady had six eviction hearings scheduled.
New York lawmakers late last year extended a statewide eviction moratorium that placed a 60-day stay on eviction proceedings until Friday, and provided a hardship form that tenants can submit to the courts to halt any eviction proceedings until May 1.
Matters concerning “holdover tenants” — who were in the process of eviction when the pandemic descended — and other issues not related to the health crisis are now expected to proceed, though tenants’ rights advocates say it’s likely that some of the cases heard Friday and in the coming weeks are COVID -related and will be halted once a tenant provides the hardship form.
“At a moment when studies have proven that evictions lead to COVID infections and death, it is unconscionable that the city of Albany is making the choice to move evictions forward at this speed and scope,” said Rebecca Garrard, campaigns manager for housing justice at Citizen Action of New York. “It is imperative that every tenant is offered the opportunity to sign the hardship declaration
during these proceedings so that tenants are kept safe and housed.”
Housing advocates have warned for months of a looming housing crisis if nothing is done to address the staggering figure for unpaid rent, which in New York City alone is $1.1 billion for those living in rent-regulated housing.
While there is a hodgepodge of rent relief programs from the federal to local levels, much of the aid has been difficult to get into the hands of those who need it most, whether because of strict guidelines on eligibility or lack of knowledge on where to look for aid.
Since an initial moratorium was enacted in New York, landlords have argued that tenants owing thousands of dollars in unpaid rent are gainfully employed and are simply not paying. Those tenants who complete the hardship form will be able to prove otherwise, and ultimately prevent an eviction until May 1.
Conversely, not all landlords have been flexible and understanding with tenants unable to pay rent due to COVID -related financial losses, with some taking matters into their own hands out of frustration over the inability to evict.
An Albany landlord was recently accused of kidnapping two of his tenants, allegedly tying them up, placing pillowcases over their heads and driving them at gunpoint to a rural cemetery in Columbia County, according to police records. Another landlord in Nassau was charged with harassing a tenant — under the state’s tenants’ law passed in 2019 — after allegedly shutting off power to an occupied apartment on Thanksgiving.
Issues also arose early this year over enforcement of the updated eviction moratorium, with some courts quietly proceeding with eviction cases, prompting state lawmakers to call on the state Office of Court Administration to issue additional guidance on the eviction moratorium for local courts.