Holding off homelessness
The Legislature, compelled to convene at the Capitol in extraordinary session by Gov. Hochul Wednesday, did exactly what they needed to do and extended the residential eviction moratorium for tenants who fell behind on rent because of COVID. The important but simple mission was carried out successfully under Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. Thank you to them and their members.
Hochul signed the measure Thursday amid her response to the devastating flooding in and around the five boroughs, keeping people in their homes until Jan. 15. Now she must help the suffering landlords, some who have gone without rental income for a year-anda-half while their expenses have piled up.
There’s $2.7 billion from Congress meant for the struggling landlords, but the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and Commissioner Michael Hein have done a remarkably poor job of getting the cash to the property owners. Maybe having his name in the paper will spur Hein to improve. If not, Hochul, who has promised to move the money far faster, should find a replacement.
Through the end of August, despite 182,528 applications received, only 23,128 payments have been made, averaging $13,000. That $300 million distributed is just 11% of the available funds, although it’s promising that three times that, another $924 million, has been obligated but awaits final approval before being paid out. Hurry up with that. And hurry up with getting every application processed and validated and paid.
The new law repairs a defect in the state’s prior eviction freeze undone by the U.S. Supreme Court, correctly allowing any landlord to challenge a tenant’s claim of COVID-related financial hardship. It also lets landlords proceed with evictions and kick someone out even if they qualify for the hardship protection but otherwise violate the terms of their lease by being a disruptive tenant who damages property or endangers or disturbs other residents.
That’s as it should be. Being broke due to the pandemic is understandable. There’s no excuse for being a nuisance.