Survey shows New Yorkers struggling to pay rent are unprepared for eviction
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A new survey shows New Yorkers are struggling to pay rent. AP File Photo by Bebeto Matthews
By Rachel Vick
Nearly a quarter of New York State renters say they may be in jeopardy of eviction when a statewide moratorium comes to an end later this year, according to a report published Jan. 1.
The report, based on a survey by the firm PropertyNest, found that 23 percent of 1,000 tenants polled said they faced difficulty paying rent, with more than 6 percent saying they were at risk of becoming homeless.
“The number of respondents who have no backup plan if evicted is troubling,” said PropertyNest founder and CEO Ruth Shin.
Shin said the 6 percent of tenants surveyed would equate to about 340,000 people across New York City if the results of the poll were extrapolated to capture the entire population of the city.
Nearly 2 percent said they already had been evicted in 2020.
Overall, 23.2 percent of respondents said they have had trouble paying their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shin said that percentage would equate to 1.25 million renters citywide.
The report was published days before the state enacted a 60-day eviction and foreclosure moratorium, allowing New Yorkers to remain in their homes until at least the end of February. The Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act, signed by Gov. Cuomo Dec. 28, 2020, also gives tenants and property owners an opportunity to seek eviction protection until May 1 before submission a new form known as the “Standardized Hardship Declaration Form.
The document allows them to prove they have been financially impacted by COVID-19 and, in the case of tenants, unable to pay their rent.
Landlords will be able to submit their own version of the form to prove that the pandemic has affected their ability to pay their mortgage or property taxes.
The bill “will help ensure New York tenants, homeowners, and small landlords will not have to fear being kicked out of their homes if they’ve been impacted by this pandemic and economic crisis,” said New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
City marshals have executed one eviction in Queens since the first eviction suspension went into effect in mid-March of last year.
Blanket protections for all tenants expired in November, allowing landlords and marshals to move against tenants whose cases were adjudicated prior to the March 16, 2020 Housing Court shutdown.
The new state law puts most of those evictions on hold until at least March 1.
