Economic security deposit

April 1 is an especially cruel date this year. Thousands of New Yorkers, jobless due to coronavirus-imposed economic shutdown, owe first-of-themonth rent — the same deadline day the Legislature works to complete a budget strained to the breaking point from the same crisis.

Given that tension, Albany lawmakers must struggle to balance compassion for renters in dire straits, which is necessary, with the need to keep economic gears turning, even if slowly. Already, some elected officials urge blanket rent cancellation, beyond the governor’s announced 90-day eviction moratorium.

Beware a cascading effect: Caricatures aside, a distinct minority of landlords are Trump-like characters who can easily absorb missing payments. Most owners of rent-stabilized buildings are mom-and-pop operations surviving month-to-month on narrow margins. Cancellation harms their ability to pay mortgages, utility bills and, yes, taxes.

The government is hardly in a position to waive those taxes given its deepening fiscal hole.

A smarter move now, the first month of the shutdown, would be to encourage all landlords to accept a financially-strapped tenant’s security deposit in lieu of rent. Most tenants have at least one month’s security deposit held in escrow, usually to ensure a landlord has enough money if a tenant breaks a lease or departs leaving extraordinary damages.

This moment is extraordinary in a different way.

In coming weeks, Albany should study a more comprehensive balancing of tenant and landlord concerns. Inevitably, a future federal fiscal relief package should address such concerns nationwide.

For now, grab that security deposit.