State eviction ban extension sought
With the state’s eviction moratorium set to expire Wednesday night, residents of 14,000 New York City households who were struggling to pay the rent before the coronavirus pandemic could face eviction, according to the city’s Department of Social Services.
The moratorium has halted evictions throughout the state since March, but lifting the ban would leave households that were issued eviction warrants prior to the pandemic vulnerable, according to the city data.
“This is about people who, before the pause, were in danger of eviction. As a city we can’t afford to have 14,000 people, households, in the midst of a pandemic, entering the shelter system,” said Judith Goldiner, the head of the Legal Aid Society’s Law Reform Unit. “We need an extension of the eviction moratorium. … Every neighboring state, all of them have extended their eviction moratorium.”
New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts have all extended their moratoriums at least through August — some as far as October.
The 14,000 households referred to in the data are cases in which warrants of eviction were issued, but no legal representation is on file for tenants and no eviction has yet taken place.
The city sent mailers to the homes of tenants determined to be at risk, making them aware of their right to counsel in housing court, according to a spokesman for the Department of Social Services.
New Yorkers unable to pay rent due to the pandemic would not be subject to eviction because of the Tenant Safe Harbor Act passed in Albany, which prohibits courts from evicting residential tenants for nonpayment of rent if they experienced financial hardship during the outbreak.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Cuomo did not directly address the 14,000 households at risk once the moratorium expires.
“Anyone paying attention would know that Gov. Cuomo signed into law a moratorium on residential evictions for anyone who has suffered a financial hardship, due to the pandemic, for the duration of the crisis,” said Caitlin Girouard, Cuomo’s press secretary.
Girouard also cited $100 million in rental assistance for struggling New Yorkers, letting renters use security deposits to pay for rent, doing away with late fees and extending the ban on commercial evictions through Aug. 20 for anyone struggling to pay because of COVID-19.
She did not say whether or not the governor planned to extend the moratorium.