New York lawmakers consider bill extending eviction protections as state preps rent relief
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Queens Housing Court is located on the fourth floor of the Civil Court building in Jamaica. Eagle file photo by David Brand
By David Brand
New York renters at risk of eviction could hang onto their homes until the end of August under a new bill that gives the state time to establish a $2.4 billion rent relief program.
Existing protections enacted late last year enable New Yorkers to delay eviction or foreclosure until at least May 1 if they submit a “hardship declaration form,” a simple document indicating that they were financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new legislation, introduced in the Assembly and Senate Friday night, would allow tenants to submit their hardship forms and avoid eviction proceedings until August 31, giving New York’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance nearly four months to set up the COVID-19 Rental Assistance Program. That relief program, funded with more than $2 billion from the federal government and created in the new state budget, will cover back rent for tenants who stopped paying as a result of the pandemic.
“It was our hope that by May 1, things would be a lot better, but unfortunately they’re not,” said Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, the bill’s sponsor. “Things are better in terms of the virus, but the fact is if we do nothing, then countless people will be subject to eviction right now. We want to keep people off the street.”
Dinowitz said he expects a vote on the bill Tuesday or Wednesday and sought to assuage opponents of yet another eviction freeze.
“There’s $2.4 billion implemented for rent relief, and we want to see that take effect and have an impact,” he said. “People are going to say, ‘Are you going to keep extending it, keep extending?’ My goal is to tide people over until the rent relief program can have an impact.”
The legislation, sponsored in the state senate by Brian Kavanagh, has earned praise from tenant advocates who feared the resumption of eviction proceedings before the rent relief program gets off the ground.
Judith Goldiner, the top attorney in Legal Aid’s Civil Law Reform Unit, called the measure “a literal lifeline for millions of New Yorkers” and said it acknowledges the reality of the ongoing pandemic.
Opponents, however, say the extension only delays payment to small landlords struggling to cover their own bills during the pandemic.
"There is no rational or practical reason to extend the state's eviction moratorium because the rent relief bill specifically provides priority to tenant applicants who have pending court cases,” said Rent Stabilization Association President Joseph Strasburg, whose organization represents thousands of New York City landlords with rent-stabilized units. “Another moratorium extension serves as nothing more than an enabler of further, unnecessary delay.”
A spokesperson for the state court system said last week that 36,000 tenants have submitted hardship disclosure forms, though the Office of Court Administration had mailed out more than 465,000.
A series of pandemic-related executive orders, court rules and new laws have all but halted evictions in New York City since mid-March 2020.
During the first 16 days of that month, marshals executed 124 residential and commercial evictions in Queens, according to reports compiled by the Department of Investigation, which oversees marshals.
Over the last 13 months, there have been just three evictions — two commercial and one residential — in a borough of 2.3 million people. Citywide, there have 23 evictions in the past year.
In contrast, there were nearly 1,600 evictions in January 2020 alone, including 331 in Queens.
Queens Housing Court Supervising Judge John Lansden said he and his colleagues, like all New Yorkers, are waiting to see if lawmakers extend the eviction protections.
Throughout the pandemic, Lansden has said judges will likely proceed “cautiously” as the state confronts a potential wave of evictions.
“The fact of the matter is the Housing Court and the Housing Court judges understand we do not exist in a vacuum,” he said Monday. “We understand that we oversee issues that are vitally important to both parties. On the tenants’ side, its whether or not they have a roof over their heads. For the landlords, it’s whether or not they’re going to be able to make their mortgage or utility payments.”
“At same time, we understand the fed government and the state have a vested interest in making people as whole as possible,” he continued. “We’re going to use our experience and knowledge of the law to apply the law in a manner that facilitates that.
