Protesters held placards at Brooklyn Housing Court during a national action day of “No evictions, no police” in New York City. | Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images
ALBANY, NY – A ban on evictions that progressed in the New York State Legislature on Monday led to landlord groups pushing back, claiming the measure would harm struggling property owners, while tenant advocates warned that it was only a temporary solution is.
Details: The bill would halt evictions and denials across the state for 60 days and allow tenants and mortgage lenders who lost jobs or income due to the pandemic to file financial statements that would halt the proceedings until May 1st. Government Andrew Cuomo said Monday he would sign the legislation.
The Democratic-led state Senate voted this afternoon with an almost party line, and the Assembly, which is also controlled by the Democrats, could do the same later in the day.
The measure comes as the state struggles with billions of dollars in rents financially harmed by tenants through the pandemic. The National Council of State Housing Agencies drew up a report earlier this year estimating that New York could experience a rent shortfall of as much as $ 3.4 billion by January.
Advocates of tenants have been campaigning for a broad moratorium for months, warning of a spate of evictions when existing protection runs out in January. Several housing groups praised the adoption of the bill, while urging the Legislature to accept substantial rent or forgiveness in the coming months. However, landlord groups say their members cannot swallow months of missed rent payments, noting that many landlords struggle to keep up with property taxes and utility bills.
The measure has benefits for small landlords – those who own 10 or fewer units can have access to negative protection and sale of tax lien. However, landlord groups say that the measure covers too many tenants and that it could be a rental holiday for tenants who do have the means of payment.
The debate: Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program, a landlord group, called the measure a ‘stall tactic’.
“No tenant who suffers financially should be evicted during a pandemic, but the cost of providing free housing cannot be fully borne by the owners,” he said in a statement. “If tenants interpret this bill as a justification for not paying rent, the damage to our economy and local budgets will be great.”
Joseph Strasburg, head of the Rent Stabilization Association, another landlord group, argued that the measure would benefit many tenants who do not need assistance, noting the ‘financial statement’ tenants may need does not require proof of economic distress.
Members of the Republican minority in both houses expressed similar concerns about the breadth of the bill.
‘I’m just afraid because [tenants] do not need a lot of documentation, they do not really have to prove that they are unemployed or that they have any of these things or conditions, ”said Senator Betty Little (R-Queensbury).
Assemblyman Brian Manktelow (R-Lyons) said the existing rental moratorium gave its voters the opportunity to abuse the system, and it helped spread the pandemic.
“They go to places to buy big TVs, new cars, hang out, that’s part of the reason there’s a big spread, ‘he said. ‘I saw it [and] I watched it. ”
State Senator Brian Kavanagh (D-Manhattan), chairman of the housing committee, said the bill was “not a rental holiday” and noted that it would be against the law for a tenant and others covered under the measure , would sign a heavy statement that contains false information.
“The problem we face in New York is that we believe there are about 1 million households left behind on their rents,” Kavanagh said at a committee meeting on Monday. “We have come to the conclusion that any process that pretends to judge which of the people is suffering and which is not, has come to the conclusion.”
What’s next: Legislators said the expanded ban gives them time to set up a more extensive rental assistance program and distribute relief funds. An existing $ 100 million rental assistance program was approved during the summer, but less than half of the money has been distributed so far. New York will receive additional funds for rental assistance according to the latest federal incentive package.
Tenant groups praised the state measure, but insisted on further action.
“This bill is only a temporary solution to the urgent housing crisis we are in,” the Housing Justice for All coalition said in a statement. “To prevent a major economic disaster, our legislature needs to clean up the rents owed by New Yorkers and create a gravity fund for small homeowners struggling to keep their buildings safe.”
Judith Goldiner, a senior lawyer at the Legal Aid Society, said lawmakers “should remain open to improving this legislation if we are still seriously caught in the pandemic in May.”