Landlords ‘anxious & frustrated’
Sticky NYC evict ban
A federal moratorium on evictions is set to expire on Saturday but New Yorkers who owe back rent have breathing room for at least another month — infuriating landlords who are collectively holding billions of dollars worth of IOUs.
In May, Gov. Cuomo signed a bill that extended a ban on virtually all eviction and foreclosure proceedings past Saturday’s federal deadline through Aug. 31, calling it “critical that we continue to protect both New York’s tenants and business owners who have suffered tremendous hardship throughout this entire pandemic.”
Landlord Clarence Hamer, who owns a twofamily rowhouse in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, said he’s owed $67,000 in back rent by a tenant who hasn’t paid anything since August 2019 — and he hasn’t been able to press his case in Housing Court due to the pandemic.
“There is no court that is going to preside over an eviction case as long as the moratorium is in place,” Hamer said. “I don’t think they should drag it out anymore but that’s what the state and the government are doing.”
Landlord lawyer Melissa Levin of the Long Island firm of Horing Welikson Rosen & Digrugilliers said cases would likely drag on once the courts start hearing them again and get deluged by new filings. “I don’t have the words to express how angry and anxious and frustrated landlords are in New York City,” she said.
David Haberman of Rose & Rose Law in Manhattan said that “the costs of running a building in New York City are very high” and that property owners “are suffering from financial hardship.”
“They need the revenue to run their buildings,” he said.
Olga Someras, general counsel of the pro-landlord Rent Stabilization Association, predicted courts would be overwhelmed by “the sheer volume of cases” once the moratorium ends.
“I think what you will see is a lot of people going into foreclosure, being forced to sell to cash buyers or people able to take advantage of landlords who can’t wait anymore for the court,” she said.
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