South Jamaica seniors face looming eviction threat without state action
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South Jamaica resident Carol Thompson is at risk of being evicted soon after a state eviction moratorium ends. Eagle photo by David Brand
By David Brand
Carol Thompson and her husband Harold met 41 years ago in a Jamaica laundromat. She, a public school cook, and he, a library custodian, hit it off and married a year later.
They have spent the past four decades together in a house near Baisley Pond Park, the same home that Thompson, 62, grew up in.
They will soon lose it.
“It’s very scary,” said Thompson, whose family lost possession of the 123rd Avenue home to foreclosure after her aunt, the owner, died. CIT Bank and the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, took over the deed and moved to evict them in 2019.
“I would be out on the street as it stands right now,” she said. “We would be homeless. I have no one I could go and live with. I would be afraid to live in the shelter.”
The Thompsons are one of 14,000 New York City households at risk of losing their homes as soon as state and federal eviction moratoriums expire, according to data compiled by the city. Their experience highlights the uncertainty generated by piecemeal state and federal eviction moratoriums, and a partial eviction freeze by government-sponsored mortgage lenders.
The couple are not protected under an eviction pause established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because they are involved in a holdover case — they have no lease and there is no financial dispute, according to their attorney.
Fannie Mae said the Thompsons cannot be kicked out of the home until Jan. 1 because of the agency’s freeze on evictions. CIT Bank did not respond to questions about when the bank will again pursue the eviction.
Carol Thompson lives in the same home she grew up in near Baisley Pond Park. Eagle photo by David Brand
The Thompsons have few rights to the property they have called home for generations.
In November 2019, following months of Housing Court proceedings, the couple signed an agreement to leave by the end of February.
In the meantime, their plans to move into senior housing fell through when management companies slow-walked their admission, Thompson said.
They remained in the house and were served with an eviction warrant in mid-March. Five days later, the state suspended evictions to prevent people from losing their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state court system have issued temporary orders extending the moratorium. The latest ends Oct. 1. The state’s top judges said last month that they do not plan to extend the suspension, instead leaving the policymaking to the governor and state legislature.
In July, the state enacted a law prohibiting evictions for tenants whose cases began after March 16. That measure, known as the Tenant Safe Harbor Act, does not apply to the Thompsons, whose case was adjudicated well before the pandemic.
The COVID crisis has nevertheless prevented them from visiting potential apartments, Thompson said. She doesn’t have a computer or the internet to search for places and she does not yet know where she will go when the eviction is executed.
To further complicate the situation, her 73-year-old husband has been staying in a nursing home after undergoing a second leg amputation.
“My husband is a dialysis patient, a double amputee, and it’s hard to find a place that’s suitable for us and with this pandemic coming along it made it even harder,” she said.
Thompson said management companies at senior housing facilities have told her that they think the couple’s fixed income is being diverted to the nursing home. She said they have money leftover, despite the medical bills.
The occasional knock on the door now frightens Thompson, who said she worries it’s city marshals coming to force them out.
In some cases, tenants have taken advantage of the eviction moratorium to stop paying rent, straining small landlords who are still on the hook for mortgage and property tax payments.
The Thompsons’ experience is different, said their attorney Brooke Drew of the Legal Aid Society. The home is owned by CIT Bank, a branch of the multi-billion dollar New York City financial holdings firm CIT, and illustrates the real threat of eviction for families throughout New York City, she said.
“It’s concerning that we may not be able to stop an eviction at a time when there is a pandemic,” Drew said.
She said she is concerned that Housing Court judges will not be sympathetic to the Thompsons’ needs because months have passed since the moratorium began.
During that time, however, health concerns and the suspension of in-person apartment viewings have challenged New Yorkers’ ability to find new places to live, she added.
“This is why we need the governor to issue another executive order or the legislature to do something,” Drew said.
A bill introduced by Brooklyn State Sen. Zellnor Myrie would codify the eviction moratorium until one year after Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifts New York’s COVID-related state of emergency. It has the backing of five of Queens’ seven state senators, including James Sanders, who represents the district where the Thompsons live.
“There are too many cases like this where people are crushed under a wave of bureaucracy,” Sanders said. “This absolutely calls out for justice.”
State Sen. Leroy Comrie, who represents an adjacent Southeast Queens district, said he has heard from residents who are also facing homelessness unless the state extends the eviction suspension.
“We have many constituents in economic stress right now and we would appeal to lenders to back off and wait until the pandemic is over,” Comrie said. “It’s really unscrupulous and predatory to ask anyone to leave.”
“This is the worst time to uproot somebody or evict somebody,” he added.
Correction: A previous version of this story identified the bank that owns the home as CitiBank. It is actually CIT Bank.
