Angela Weiss/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
The New York Legislature accredited a sweeping eviction ban for tenants residing within the state, giving residents scared of dropping their properties through the pandemic some aid at the very least till Could.
The legislation, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed late Monday, locations a moratorium on residential evictions till Could 1 for tenants who endured a “COVID-related hardship.” Tenants should present documentation explaining their state of affairs to forestall evictions. Landlords can nonetheless evict individuals who do not present that documentation.
The legislation additionally stops residential foreclosures proceedings till Could 1. Owners and landlords who personal 10 or fewer residences also can file hardship declarations with their mortgage lender or a court docket to forestall a foreclosures.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic started, we requested New Yorkers to guard one another by staying at residence. As we battle our method by way of the marathon this pandemic has change into, we want to verify New Yorkers nonetheless have properties to offer that safety,” Cuomo mentioned after signing the invoice.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention’s nationwide non permanent ban on residential evictions expires early subsequent 12 months. It was set to run out Dec. 31, however Congress prolonged that moratorium for one more month within the newest COVID-19 aid invoice simply signed by President Trump. Federal lawmakers additionally put $25 billion into rental help packages.
New York, like many states within the nation, is dealing with excessive charges of unemployment brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Tenant advocacy teams have protested for months, urging lawmakers to do extra to forestall folks from dropping their properties.
A report by the Nationwide Council of State Housing Businesses earlier this 12 months estimated U.S. renters will owe as much as $34 billion in past-due hire by January. That is set to extend eviction filings and impose monetary hardship on hundreds of thousands in just some months, the group mentioned.
Lots of these tenants struggling to pay hire in New York are in communities of coloration, in accordance with Stanley Fritz, political director of Citizen Motion of New York. He mentioned in an announcement Monday that Black and brown tenants are “three to 4 occasions as more likely to be dealing with eviction as their white counterparts.”
He mentioned passing the eviction ban is an “necessary first step” to serving to the 1.4 million tenant households behind on hire.
Landlord critics
The long-term financial affect of unpaid hire for landlords has organizations representing constructing homeowners criticizing the brand new legislation.
Jay Martin, government director of the owner group Group Housing Enchancment Program, accused tenant advocates of getting a broader political agenda by pushing the invoice.
Keep in mind a number of seconds in the past “tenant” advocates mentioned an eviction moratorium was wanted due to the pandemic? Properly it didn’t take lengthy for his or her true agenda to be shared. It isn’t about public well being. It’s about advancing their political agenda. Right here it’s in black and white. https://t.co/eNn3sU3sRu
— Jay Martin (@jaymart222) December 28, 2020
Days earlier than the invoice was signed Martin tweeted that an eviction moratorium is simply “kicking the can down the street.”
He tweeted, “Eviction moratoriums don’t handle the elemental drawback of the prices of housing. An issue for homeowners and renters.”